Innehållsförteckning för December 2017 från Tech Advisor

Microsoft’s Windows 10 S is what happens when a once-easygoing operating system has children and turns into a helicopter parent. Windows 10 S, a locked-down version of Windows 10 found on the Surface Laptop and a small group of low-cost, third-party notebooks, keeps students safe and secure by restricting them to the Windows Store. But as our review shows, the lack of freedom chafes. Locking your PC away from the big, bad, outside world makes sense when your children are going off to school or university, at least according to Microsoft. But even the most dutiful parent will wonder why their child can’t use Chrome to beam YouTube videos to a Chromecast, print on some local printers, or protect their PC with anything other than Windows Defender. There’s always an…

It’s been a long wait, but AMD’s high-end Vega graphics cards have arrived, providing a much-needed alternative to Nvidia’s enthusiast-grade cards, matching the GeForce GTX 1080 on both price and performance. Building on technologies introduced with the RX Fury, the Radeon RX Vega range is a big step up from the Radeon RX 500-series cards (which launched only recently), and includes a host of new features designed to dramatically increase performance. The RX Vega currently comes in three varieties: the RX Vega 56, the faster RX Vega 64 and a high-end RX Vega 64 with liquid cooling. Here, we’re concentrating on the standard Vega 64. Price We’ve reviewed one of AMD’s ‘own-brand’ reference boards, which isn’t actually available to buy, unlike Nvidia’s Founders Edition cards. RX Vega cards from partners…

The Lenovo IdeaPad 720S is a laptop with it all. It looks great, feels expensive, is powerful enough for most people’s needs and is even much better at gaming than virtually all style laptops twice the price. Those desperate to be negative could call it a jack of all trades. And, sure enough, you can find lighter, longer-lasting models if you look. However, at the price this is a jaw-droppingly versatile machine that is extremely likeable and a fantastic buy if you like to unwind with a game or two on occasion. While a lovely laptop even without its extra gaming credibility, the Lenovo’s discrete GPU is a key reason to buy. You don’t often see laptops this slim that can handle games reasonably well. Price The IdeaPad 720S we’re…

One of the most difficult things in choosing a budget tablet is knowing how far you should compromise on specifications and performance. You don’t expect a powerhouse with an amazing screen, but you also don’t want to waste your money – no matter how small an amount of cash that is – on what is in essence a rubbish device that you’ll probably bin in a few months. Two of the most popular budget tablets on the market right now are Amazon’s Fire 7 (£49 from tinyurl.com/ydzcc6g2) and Fire HD 8 (£79 from tinyurl.com/y9kwbmgy). We think they’re great tablets, well-priced and -sized for children especially, but they have one massive drawback in that they don’t support Google services, including Google Play. If you are buying one for a child then…

Both beauty and the beast, the gorgeous Note8 has an extraordinary feature set and magnificent performance. It’s expensive, but can you really afford not to consider it? Find out what we made of Samsung’s brand-new flagship in our in-depth review. Design Samsung’s Note 7 was a gorgeous handset, but the Note8 is in a different league with its Infinity Display. It’s not entirely bezel-less, but it’s close enough, with a screen-to-body ratio of 83 percent and an 18.5:9 aspect ratio. In real terms, there’s about a centimetre of frame visible above and below the display, but the rest is all immaculately polished and largely fingerprint-free glass, with a load more space for enjoying media and games, and for working with multiple apps at once. On either side the panel curves…

Do you want to build really cool Lego robots, and then control them with your tablet? Yes, please. Lego Boost is aimed at children aged seven to 12, so I was a little worried that it would be too hard to enjoy with my son – he’s five just started school. But while I had to direct the complicated builds, controlling the finished robots and vehicles with the iPad app was well within his grasp – and so much fun for both of us. Lego Boost teaches children in two ways: the builds themselves are a lesson in mechanics, showing how the motor, gears, and pieces fit together to make a moving robot. Plus, the tablet app is full of programming challenges to direct the robot to do what you…