Advantages: Extremely quite, beautiful machine
Disadvantages: CPU Cooling fan & the floppy drive connector are placed

...manual covers both the Intel and AMD XC cubes in brief detail. There's absolutely no mention of the BIOS, features or settings. It presumes a prior level of knowledge on the user's part. A fold-out installation guide simply refers to how one should plug the keyboard and mouse into associated ports! Leaving me to wonder if they are having a bit of a laugh. one of the most important things to consider when building a system is your choice of CPU. AOpen's, as we know, has opted for AMD's Athlon XP range. The performance blot arrives in the shape of a maximum Front-Side Bus support of 166MHz, thereby limiting the EZ18 to an Athlon XP3000+ processor. Which is not bad, but with other systems now being capable of taking AMD's Athlon 64 Model 3400+ and Intel's 3.4GHz Extreme Edition without issue, truly high-end performance is beyond the EZ18's reach... Read review

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Advantages: Very silent, very stylish and very good at performing
Disadvantages: Not too many expansion possibilities, no DVI.

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Advantages: Cheap, Good battery life, Long range
Disadvantages: Lacks Features, Small screen

...After my cheapy binatone phone broke after a few weeks of buying it, I bought my BT Freelancer XC100. It was quite cheap, I got it for £15 so its available to pretty much anyone. The phone looks really nice, much better than in the picture and it is comfortable and light too. The reception is always good too, so I can sit in the garden whilst chatting to friends, which is always useful :) The sound quality is ok, it isn't as clear as a normal phone but its slightly better than a mobile phone. The battery life is good too, I can leave it away from the charger/base station for days and it will still have enough power to make a call. As with all BT products, its a high quality phone made out of strong plastic. It would be better if the screen was bigger, you can't really fit much on there. Its only really suitable for the numbers... Read review

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Advantages: Cheapish, good wet traction
Disadvantages: Easily punctured, encourage punctures!

...My Tioga factory XC's have not really lived up to their name. If indeed they are a cross country tyre, then I guess Tioga designed them for a very flat and uneventful country indeed. I have caught flats on innumerable occasions with these tyres, as for some reason, they embed debris into the tube far too forcefully. They do provide excellent traction in wet mud however, but their rolling resistance is a little greater than desirable on some tracks. Cornering can be a bit of a underwear laundry moment too. The edges don't give too confident a feel to the bike's handling, and on gravel you often find that gnarly descent looking like a trip to casualty is on its way towards you! On the whole, probably a good tyre for light trail work, but leave thanm off the higher spec bikes as they are not really up to the job.... Read review

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Advantages: Good durability, great for all day rides
Disadvantages: None

...Although to many tyre choice on a bike tends to come down to what the local bike shop have that's cheap, there's a few things beyond that which mountain bikers look at when buying tyres. The first main thing tends to be the use that the tyre's going to get. Shove a slick tyre with no tread on a bike that's going to get used in the mud, and you're going nowhere. Put a mud tyre on and go and ride on a hard surface and you'll be puffing and panting like Ivor the Engine with the flu. The Fire XC Pros fit in somewhere in the middle of the two extremes. As the XC in the name implies, this is a cross country tyre. Cross country riders expect some grip in the mud, but not at the expense of putting so much grip on the tyre that it's hard going all the time. Panaracer seem to have managed that quite well with the Fire XC Pro, although... Read review

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Advantages: Grip, durability and looks
Disadvantages: Costly

...The Panaracer Fire XC Pro has proven itself to be one of the wisest, if costly, upgrades to my Cannondale Jekyll. In our murky winter (and summer) months you need a tyre that will cope in the claggy conditions, providing grip and shedding mud quickly and efficiently, but not so aggressive in tread pattern that it hinders progress on fire-roads and tarmac – The Panarcaer achieves this and is one of the most striking designs available, with its white writing emblazoned on the sidewall. It has performed admirably in the mulched leaves of the Dorking Redlands Trails; it kept my fatigued body moving on the punishing mud, roots, rock gardens, hairpins and drop-offs of the Afan Skyline Trail and has dug me out of the sticky Cotswold clay. A true all-round performer that is perfectly suited to our changeable climate. There are a great number... Read review

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Advantages: Well built, good performace,
Disadvantages: None so far...

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Advantages: Great sturdy all round XC mountain bike. Sheer exhilarating fun.
Disadvantages: Tyres.

...I bought the 2007 model at the end of 2007 - paid £730. I love this bike. It is so flexible. The frame is excellent, very strong and has great geometry. I'm 5'10" and I bought the medium frame. It is great for down hills and XC as the name suggests. It's well built, well balanced and comfortable to ride. The gears are well chosen, I have not found that I needed a wider range. Changing gear could be better, replace the LX with the Shimano XT and renew the cables when you smash the old deraillers. I would also change the tires. Traction is lacking on the ones provided and they clog with mud quite quickly. Watch the wheel bearings, they are individual bearings with cones, but are fine when kept clean and well greased. Brakes, steering and suspension are all good with no niggles at all. The 100mm travel is more than adequate. I have come... Read review

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Advantages: Light, nice ride, good brakes
Disadvantages: Chain should have shield,brakes bit squeeky,only availible from halfords

...I brought this as my last bike, a saracen, died on me, it was really in a terrible mess! I brought this for £400 in Halfords, which is a pretty good deal for what you get. The technician was very helpful in there, otherwise I probably would have brought a bike from a Local Bike Store. So, what do you get for your £400 here? Well, a light and strong bike, with hyrdaulics, 24 gears, thick tyres, nice wheels with strong spokes. "GT Triple Triangle Aluminium frame with butted tubes Suntour XCR 100mm travel fork with hydraulic rebound damping and on the fly lock-out Tektro Auriga Comp hydraulic disc brakes 180/160mm rotors Shimano Deore/ Alivio 24 speed gearing Truvativ Isoflow chainset Tioga Factory XC tyres WTB SX24 rims SDG Bel Air saddle GT over size bar and stem" All in all, a good bike for you money. So far, been so good. My main... Read review

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Advantages: Educational, entertaining, develop problem solving skills, patience & perserverance, excercising parts of brain, a possitive distraction
Disadvantages: addictive

...I recently bought a Rubix Cube, walking pass a stall and my eyes fell on them. There I stood, literally with a smile on my face, remembering the days of the Rubix Cube! "Like a friend i havent seen in a while." I obviously had to buy one with delight! I absolutely loved the rubix cube. Only now, in my adult life can I understand the beneficial qualities the rubix cube had and contributed to qualities & abilities later in life. An added bonus for me is the memories going with my rubix cube. Even now, as an adult, the cube instills in me qualities I need to develop and improve upon. Good example, patience. If you don't cheat yourself and you are impatient, entertaining yourself with the cube Will "force" you to develop your skills. Technique, trying different ways to solve the cube. I experience the cube to also be a stress reliever... Read review

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