• Easy to use and practically self-explanatory
• Good quality results

• Full version will cost you US$19.95

PhotoStage from NCH Software creates and saves video slideshows using your pictures, video clips and tunes. It can save your slideshows to your PC, burn them on a DVD, send them to a mobile device or upload them to a website. With drag-and-drop capability, video conversion and download-on-demand features, it proved a capable tool for creating multimedia slideshows.

PhotoStage has an efficient layout that takes a step-by-step approach to creating slideshows. We began with Step 1, adding photos, music and video clips to the Media List, which also let us insert blank spaces. Step 2 involved selecting effects from a tabbed menu, including Crop and Rotate, Pan and Zoom, Text Titles and some basic video effects. Step 3, Record Narration, let us narrate our presentation and save it as an audio file. It automatically identified our audio inputs, including microphones (which you'll need to record your voice). Before we clicked on Step 4, Save Slideshow, we needed to create one, which we did quickly by dragging photos from our Media List to the clips track below. PhotoStage automatically configured each clip for our overall display time and each transition for our selected duration and effects, including a fade. Dragging sound clips to the audio track below the clips track added them to the production; likewise we could intersperse video clips easily by dragging frames from the saved conversions into our slideshow. We watched our production in the preview window, and satisfied, saved it to a directory of our choice. It played normally in Windows Media Player when we clicked in it. PhotoStage's Save File wizard also gave us the option to burn our slideshow directly to a DVD, send it to a mobile device or save it as an image slideshow.

At every step, PhotoStage was easy to use and practically self-explanatory, yet yielded top-quality results, quickly creating a desktop slideshow that we could share with friends and relatives. It also integrates with NCH's other video and media tools via the NCH Toolbox on the toolbar, should you choose to use it. If you're looking for a better slideshow experience, give PhotoStage a try.

Editors' note: this is a review of the full version of PhotoStage Video Slideshow Software 2.03. The free trial version is limited to 14 days. Via Download.com.

• Windows Live Movie Maker
• Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum
• Corel Digital Studio 2010
• Apple iLife '11

• Intuitive interface
• Fast scanning
• Thorough and accurate results
• Supports JPEG, GIF, PNG and BMP images

• No way to delete dupes in batches

Duplicate images can take up a lot of space on your hard drive, but identifying and deleting them can be a major hassle. Awesome Duplicate Photo Finder promises to make this process easier, and it does, to some extent. Depending on the number of duplicates you have, this may or may not be the program for you.

The program's interface is attractive and intuitive. Users simply select the folders they want to scan for duplicates and then click the Start Search button. Awesome Duplicate Photo Finder scanned our hard drive quickly and then displayed the results as a list of file names, with duplicates listed side by side. A preview pane let us visually compare each set of images, and a similarity rating let us know exactly how similar the program found the images to be. This part of the program worked great; it was fast, and the results were thorough and accurate.

The problem came when it was time to start deleting images. There's no way to delete them in batches, and if you're working with a large number of duplicates, it can get quite tedious to delete them one at a time.

That said, those who don't mind deleting each duplicate individually will find little to complain about with Awesome Duplicate Photo Finder; the program works great otherwise. We also liked the fact that it supports JPEG, GIF, PNG and BMP images. A Help file would have been nice, but it's not really necessary; anyone with basic computer literacy will be able to figure it out without problems.

Download Awesome Duplicate Photo Finder here.

Via Download.com

• Stop iPhone photo syncing from clogging your hard drive
• Creative Zen X-Fi2 32GB
• Snow Leopard (Mac OS X 10.6)
• Sony BDP-S5000ES

• Gran Turismo 5
• Gran Turismo for PSP
• Forza Motorsport 3
• Cars Race-O-Rama

It's a little difficult to choose the "best" from a quite frankly average list of titles. However, if you're interested in investing in a PlayStation Move, here's the pick of the lot... so far.

• Best PlayStation 3 games
• Sony PlayStation Plus
• Best televisions for gaming
• Logitech Harmony Adapter for PlayStation 3

• Best role-playing games
• Best PlayStation 3 games
• Best fitness games
• Apple iPod Touch (4th generation)

• Sony PSP Go
• UMD conversion a no-go for PSP Go
• Sony announces PSP Minis, Digital Reader, PSN update, and more
• Nintendo DSi vs. Sony PSP Go

The walls surrounding rock'n'roll are breaking down. Where once there was a group of elitist, mop-haired louts sneering at you and your inferior on-stage equipment now stands ... well ... everybody. Games like Rock Band 3 and Guitar Hero have brought rock music to the masses.

This crossover has filtered down into the tech space, too, with gadgets like the Orange OPC Computer Amplifier Speaker and the Pure Marshall Evoke-1S conjuring up the majesty and "glamour" of rock (read sticky carpets and days without showering).

God gave rock and roll to you

While not based on any guitar amp in particular, this radio brings Marshall touches to the existing Evoke-1S. Gone is the wood panelling and IKEA-like handle - replaced by "authentic" black vinyl wrap and a carry strap. The main control panel has been replaced with a brass faceplate - the colour of Marshall amps - and the control pots replaced with amp-like knobs which, naturally, go to 11.

The Evoke is a DAB+/FM radio tuner, which comes with 30 presets and features a 3-inch speaker with 7 Watts of power. It features a two-line OLED display which features TextScan support for rewinding text.

Despite the rock touches this is first and foremost a digital radio: ie, there's no input for an electric guitar. However, it does offer an Aux-in plus a stereo out, headphone and aux-speaker input for connecting the suitably rockified S1 speaker for stereo.

If you want to get out and about, the 1S offers a ChargePack holder for attaching the optional AU$99 rechargeable battery.

I wanna rock!

As you'd expect, the Pure Evoke-1S Marshall is a lot of fun to use. It's quite rugged and will make quite the talking point at your next festival or social greet.

It's fairly simple to operate, though we did find that tuning FM is laborious due to the dented knobs.

Like the amplifiers themselves, the presentation of the Marshall is warm with a substantial bottom end. While the sound may not "bite" enough for some, it delivers talk, dance stations and, of course, rock stations with plenty of oomph. We've criticised local broadcasts for sounding too shrill in the upper register and the Marshall does its best to hide these shortcomings.

In comparison, we found the Pure One Classic to be a little drier sounding, though more extended into the treble. However, it's got nowhere near the build quality of the Evoke.

Despite our hopes about using the Marshall as an external tuner for a hi-fi system, connecting the Stereo out doesn't defeat the on-board speaker. You can use the headphone connection, of course, but the sound is then at the mercy of the volume control and on-board amp.

My only friend, The End

For the money we defy you to find a better built radio that also has this much rock cred. The radio's looks won't please everyone, but if you're a true rock fan you'll find this radio lives up to the Marshall heritage.

• Pure Evoke Flow
• AmpliTube iRig
• Cambridge Audio Azur 650T DAB+
• Best DAB+ digital radios