The NXE is likely to breathe even more life into the Xbox eco system

New interface ; Great price ; Loads of games ; Many of which run better on Xbox than PS3 ; Xbox Live is the best

No Blu-ray

The mass of high-quality titles in the Xbox 360's game library alone too - both on disc and digital - make it a real force to be reckoned with as far as gaming goes - and the 360 versions of many multi-format titles such as Fallout 3, which suffers ...

Time hasn't been very kind to the Nintendo DS

Portability ; Battery life ; Excellent catalogue of innovative games

Graphics performance ; User interface (post iPhone) ; Display size and shape

Finger tip control on the touchscreen, perhaps with haptic feedback, would also help bring the DS up to date

Nintendo has managed to take the Wii outside the traditional realms of gaming.

Great playability ; included Wii Sports is compelling ; Unique controllers ; Easy-to-use menu system and media functions

Graphics can't compete with the Xbox 360 and PS3 ; Games still expensive ; Opera browser not included as standard ; Needs Flash upgrade ; Media functions could be better ; Poor battery life for controllers

Elsewhere on the hardware, USB slots enable charging of devices and other add-ons while a SD slot enables storage and photo browsing on your TV

Sony has opted for an understated look for the PS3

Expandable hard drive ; Excellent Blu-ray playback quality

More expensive than its rivals ; Hi-def games performance

Overall, PlayStation's third incarnation has a great deal of top-end functionality and its price is very competitive with its arch gaming hi-def rival Xbox. When the dust settles, choosing between the two is likely to be less about which is the better ...

In architectural terms, the Elite is not a major departure from the existing design

Improved storage ; HDMI support and included cable ; Small price premium over standard 360

No Wi-Fi as standard ; HD DVD drive still an add-on extra

However, if you're just about to take the Xbox plunge for the first time the extra outlay Microsoft is asking for the Elite looks like reasonable value. The guaranteed HDMI port alone makes it very hard to resist

You can net a first-generation PSP like this for as little as £90 now

Can be found for a good price, Good potential image quality, Easy to use

Proprietary formats, New UMDs overpriced and limited

It also handles music and photos, and includes a web browser. Given its infamously unimpressive games library, it's turned out to be far better media device than it is a handheld console

Imagine streaming TV from a PlayStation 3 over the Internet to a PSP. Sony's LocationFree technology will make it happen-

One of the secret pleasures of having a decent home cinema system is running games through it. Hook up a PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube or Xbox - or in my case, all three - and you can enjoy a spectacular audiovisual experience.

Fantastic graphics

Only prog scan

Those readers who have been sitting around counting the days before the shutters go up on our high-definition TV future can finally breathe a sigh of relief. The Xbox 360 represents the first part of a radical shift from standard to highdefinition ...

Motorola's plug-and-play HomeSight system transforms your PC into a broadband-connected home security system.

Plug-and-play ; easy setup ; expandable home automation

Low-resolution camera ; limited scope ; expensive starter kit

Home automation with a friendly face, but it's limited in scope and overpriced.

We don't expect companies like AJP to make anything that actually looks nice. Developing laptop chassis is an expensive business, so small firms like AJP tend to buy them in from Far Eastern factories. That's why so many non-main-brand laptops all ...

New Centrino features, Great battery life, Excellent performance

Looks are a bit staid, Poor software bundle, Slow hard drive

£880 isn't a greedy asking price for all this. There's cheaper bric-a-brac in PC World, of course, but you won't get anywhere near this level of specification. Unless portability is your biggest demand, or you want to play games and run other graphics ...