New Technology Reviews!.: Cleaner

Dyson reinvents the vacuum cleaner

<img src="http://cdn.mos.techradar.com//classifications/images/DC35_IRSRIBL_05A5_Ws(3)-200-200.jpg"> While we rarely get that excited about new developments in domestic cleaning technology, Dyson's latest reinvention of the good old vacuum cleaner certainly caught our eyes this week. This is mainly because James Dyson's latest vacuum cleaner has done away with wires, with the bag and with most of the rest of the appliance as well! 15 minute charge Dyson's new Digital Slim vacuum cleaner is totally cordless, being powered by rechargeable batteries that, somewhat strangely, only last for 15 minutes on each charge. (After all, whoever likes to spend more than a quarter of an hour cleaning their house each weekend?). James Dyson claims: "Our digital motor has taken over ten years to develop. Because of its speed – it spins five times faster than a Formula 1 car engine – it can be smaller, stronger and efficient. The digital motor is light, small and powerful, which means DC35 can be light, small and powerful." Despite recently 'restructuring' much of its manufacturing away from the UK to the far east, Dyson also claims to be doubling the number of engineers and scientists in the UK from 350 to 700, the company announced in the launch release for the Dyson Digital Slim. These new UK-based staff include design, mechanical and acoustic engineers, increasing the company's UK staffing level to 1,600, out of 2,500 worldwide. Dyson claims that its digital motors are the fastest, highest power density motors ever developed for domestic appliances, turning at 104,000rpm and making up to 3,300 adjustments each second. The battery-powered Dyson Digital Slim will set you back £199 and will be on sale at <a href="http://www.dyson.co.uk/">http://www.dyson.co.uk/</A> and The Conran Shop from 4 January 2010.

Dyson reinvents the vacuum cleaner

While we rarely get that excited about new developments in domestic cleaning technology, Dyson's latest reinvention of the good old vacu...

Review: Furutech PC-2 optical disc cleaner

<img src="http://cdn.mos.techradar.com//Review%20images/Hi-Fi%20Choice/HFC%20341/HFC341.minitest.Furutech_pc2-200-200.jpg"> Furutech has been an increasingly familiar figure in the world of tweaks recently, thanks to a range that includes cables, mains connectors and more esoteric devices such as an LP flattening oven, a sort of Corby trouser press for vinyl. The PC-2 looks pretty ordinary and there are lots of bottles of fluid allegedly ideal for cleaning CDs, DVDs and other flavours of optical disc. This one, however, caught our attention because its makeup is unusual. Instead of using organic solvents (which do remove most contaminants, but are frequently bad for the environment, bad for the user and are alleged to induce or worsen static charge problems) this one uses a 'combination of enzymes and ions' – in other words it is a biological cleaner. We recall the good results we've had with a couple of those on LPs. Furutech packages this water-based fluid in a handy puffer bottle and throws in an exceptionally soft micro-fibre cloth to use with it. In terms of removing visible contamination it works as well as any, though when we tested disc error-rate we found it no more effective than a clean shirt-tail (!) – both restored error rates to the levels before (deliberate) contamination of the test disc. And yet we were convinced that discs both pristine and well-used gained just a little extra precision and lifelike immediacy after PC-2 treatment. It's not a major effect, but like so many tweaks it's the sort of thing one feels reluctant to forego, having once heard it. Application takes very little time and a bottle seems set to treat several dozen discs, making it inexpensive to use.

Review: Furutech PC-2 optical disc cleaner

Furutech has been an increasingly familiar figure in the world of tweaks recently, thanks to a range that includes cables, mains connectors...

A Good Registry Cleaner Extends Computer Life

In the early days of personal computing, experts discovered the average life expectancy of any new product was about eighteen months-not that it would blow-up and evaporate after only a year-and-a-half in service, but that it would become obsolete. Since then, the product cycle has grown shorter and shorter as netbooks and handhelds rival desktops and laptops for computing power, user-friendliness, and overall coolness. For the average PC user, accelerated innovation has two consequences: First, if you run new applications and internet widgets on a middle-aged computer, you frequently use-up your available memory, slowing or crashing your system. Second, because your budget cannot keep pace with technological wizardry, you have to keep using your middle-aged computer, mitigating the consequences of frequent slow-downs, freeze-ups, and crashes. You must become proficient at deleting your temporary files and clearing your browser history. Most of all, however, you must make a habit of running your registry cleaner.Your registry cleaner maximizes your available hard-drive space. Using your registry cleaner simply to scan and clean your file registry assures that obsolete and damaged files do not block your CPU's path to the data it needs. A good registry cleaner sorts and organizes file trees and "H-keys" to assure your PC runs at peak efficiency. But a good registry cleaner can do more to improve your system's performance. Use the "help" files or play with the user interface on your registry cleaner, discovering the benefits of "de-fragging," "optimizing," and customizing. In other words, learn to compress your files to free-up memory, become skilled at checking your system's available storage and optimizing its use, and turn off features and applications that do nothing but slow-down your machine. Ask yourself, for example, how much the shadow effects on your desktop really mean to you; how many icons and shortcuts do you really need? If you have hung onto little gimmicks and gadgets just because they are cool, it may be time to let them go.Protect yourself against theft and fraud. Your registry cleaner will not replace an up-to-date security suite, but it will work with your anti-virus program to protect your system's integrity and guard against piracy. Your system and the personal information you have stored in your hard drive are more at-risk than ever. Viruses and malicious software programs proliferate at the rate of more than 100,000 per day, and the FBI now estimates that at least 80% of identity theft now takes place via hacking and piracy. The experts used to concede that you might run your registry cleaner and other security software approximately once each week, more or less as part of your housecleaning chores. Now, the technorati very strongly recommend you run your updated security programs and registry cleaner at least once each day. The most innocuous-looking pop-ups frequently do the greatest damage, and one hard-drive eating worm can cut your PC's life-expectancy from years to seconds.	 	 		 			 				 					 						In our <a href="http://www.bestregistrycleanerhelp.com/registry-cleaner-comparison/" target="_new">review</a>, we found that Registry Easy is the <a href="http://www.bestregistrycleanerhelp.com/registry-cleaner-comparison/" target="_new">best registry cleaner</a> for speeding up your computer.

A Good Registry Cleaner Extends Computer Life

In the early days of personal computing, experts discovered the average life expectancy of any new product was about eighteen months-not ...