Sony Ericsson Xperia Play review

Decent hardware, but in current format doesn't cut it for gaming

 


After a while in the mobile wilderness, Sony Ericsson is back with a splash with its new line-up of use-focused Xperia handsets. The Arc is its flashy line leader, impossibly thin and sporting a gorgeous Bravia-powered screen, the Pro its business-focused model and the Xperia Neo (read our review here) a good-quality mid-range option.


But all the hype has been about the Play, the long-mooted 'PlayStation Phone' that comes promising "real" console gaming on a mobile for the first time. Make no mistake, in the wake of the iPhone's App Store success, this is the selling point that Sony Ericsson is focusing on, and for good reason, as the Play is no more than competent in most other areas.

Sony Ericsson Xperia Play: Specifications


It has a perfectly decent 4-inch capacitive multi-touch LCD touch screen with a 480x854 pixel resolution and 16.7 million colours, and a 5.1-megapixel camera-cum-video recorder with autofocus, flash, image stabilizer and geotagging, which knocks the socks off the iPhone but doesn't set the world on fire outside Apple's camera void. It comes fully Gingerbreaded up with Android 2.3.2, which is swift and intuitive, with the usual media player offerings, customisable interface and a very nice cover flow-style integrated Twitter feed. Connectivity-wise it has the expected HSDPA-backed Wi-Fi for internet access, 3G and Bluetooth functionality, as well as A-GPS. There is 400MB of internal memory, but an 8GB microSD card is included and this can be expanded up to 32GB.






So far, so standard. But let's face it, with the frankly gorgeous and similarly priced Xperia Arc rocking a much more impressive rig, not even Sony Ericsson is expecting this to sell on these stats. This is meant to be the first Android handset to kick Apple in the joypads. So what of the all-important gaming inclusion?

Sony Ericsson Xperia Play: Controls

Well, the PlayStation controls hidden within make the handset a little on the chunky side (119 x 62 x 16mm), but less intrusive than we'd imagined. When closed, it's reassuringly solid and expensive looking, unlike the slightly plasticky Neo. At 175 grams it's by no means light, but not as pocket-denting as you might think, so its passes first impressions with flying colours. Get one out on the Tube and people will be impressed, if that's your thing.






The familiar PlayStation controls of a D-pad, four face buttons, two shoulder buttons, select and start, and the not so familiar flat analogue thumb areas, slide down on two runners, but once freed of their casing the build begins to feel a little flimsy. The Play clearly has its design foundations in the reworked PSP Go, although it's noticeable that beyond the iconic square/triangle/circle/cross buttons there's no PlayStation branding anywhere on the handset, and the slide mechanism doesn't feel like it will stand up to much punishment. It's had to be made impossibly thin so that the overall handset isn't too bulky, but the result is it appears eminently breakable under intense gaming.


When playing with the controls slid down, the handset also feels very top-heavy and not particularly comfortable to hold. We didn’t get much gaming joy from the slightly bizarre analogue thumb pads, but we can confirm they do kind of work. The shoulder pads are hidden behind the screen and not at all ergonomically designed, while the D-pad feel plasticky and not firm like we've come to expect on dedicated gaming systems, distancing you slightly from the experience. It's functional but not much more. Importantly, it doesn't really feel like you're playing a PlayStation. Or a PSP, for that matter.

Sony Ericsson Xperia Play: Games

Then there are the games. As advertised, there are more than 60 titles available for the Xperia Play at launch. But only six of these are actually purpose-built, PlayStation-certified ones, which you access through the PlayStation Pocket hub, with the rest standard Android games reconfigured to the Play's controls. But unfortunately this lack of conformity – some would say the defining issue between Apple and Android – means the standard and speed of experience varies wildly, and the button reconfiguration even more so. At present, the term 'PlayStation Phone' seems very much a misnomer.


Qualcomm's 1Ghz Snapdragon CPU and Adreno GPU processor promises smooth 60 frames per second, although this doesn't seem to be being utilised at the moment and it’s a shame it’s not dualcore. While FIFA (10, not 11, unfortunately) is palpably faster than the iPhone version, the graphics are poor and controls so unresponsive, we found it more effective to use the touch-screen's virtual stick instead - although the screen slides around a lot on the control-board's runners, so screen-based gaming is far from ideal. The quoted gaming battery life of five and a half hours also seems slightly optimistic.






Next up, the intergalactic shooter Star Battalion takes a mammoth two and a half minutes to get from app press to actual gaming. After much bashing of all the buttons trying to skip the stuttering loading screens, we found that a simple tap of the touch screen at least skipped the relentless intros, despite this not being flagged up anywhere and you being in PlayStation control mode at the time. Confusing.






The one pre-installed PlayStation-certified game, colourful 3D platformer Crash Bandicoot, is fun but the graphics disappointingly don't fill the widescreen display, with big ugly black borders either side, and while it's initially fun, it hasn't aged well over the 15 years since release. This could be a big problem, as while this is undoubtedly a PlayStation experience, it's a really, really old one. The upcoming NGP will boast PS3-quality games, while the PSP already does a good impression of PS2 titles – a focus on PS1 titles, as Sony’s PlayStation Suite intends to do, feels very regressive, especially when both Apple and Android are doing such a good job of bringing new and dedicated games to market.




Funnily enough, there's a video output that lets you play your games on a big screen if you so wish, effectively turning it into a portable PlayStation One, but you can pick the original PS1 and a bundle of games up off eBay for less than a tenner, so this seems of little consequence. It also puts the £5-£7 retail price for Play games into perspective.




The Play retails at £460 off-contract but if you shop around online, you can get the handset for free on a £25 a month contract from several providers if you're prepared to put faith in the slide mechanism lasting 24 months, though some companies, including O2, Vodafone and 3, have delayed its release for a variety of reasons, from stock delivery issues to software bugs. T3 was sent and reviewed a final boxed version of the Play, but in the light of three of the biggest operators postponing release, possible future updates may change user experience.

Sony Ericsson Xperia Play: Verdict

Despite it being rumoured for nigh-on half a decade, the 'PlayStation Phone' actually feels like it's been rush-released, and as such its compromises mean it falls between two stools. There are better and cheaper handsets for everything other than gaming, and at present there just aren't enough dedicated, optimised games worthy of people's attention for it to survive as a handheld that happens to make calls. If you’re someone who just wants to play Android games with a proper control pad, this is the best there is, but bear in mind the current crop of games weren’t designed with this configuration in mind and play as such. We'd like to reassess the Xperia Play once the PlayStation Suite service is properly up and running, and there are a range of purpose-made games to test, but right now we'd struggle to recommend it for either of the fronts it’s fighting on, although we’re sure this won’t prevent it from finding an audience.




Sony Ericsson Xperia Play launch date: Out now, link Sony Ericsson


Sony Ericsson Xperia Play price: £460-£599 online

Sony Ericsson Xperia Play Specifications

* OS: Android 2.3

* Storage: 400MB int, 8GB or 16GB card supplied Micro SD

* Screen: 4-inch 854x480

* Connectivity: WiFi 802.11 b/g/n Bluetooth 2.1, microUSB, A-GPS

* Camera: 5MP main, VGA front

* Video: 720p 30fps

* 385 minutes

* Dimensions: 119 x 62 x 16 mm

* Weight: 175g

Responsive web design

With sites being accessed by an increasing array of devices and browsers, users deserve a quality experience no matter the size of their display. Ethan Marcotte explains how our designs can become more responsive

A professor of mine once told me that every artistic movement was a response to the one before it. Bebop threw off the melodic strictures of swing, while film noir countered the glossy sheen of big studio comedies with gritty antiheroes. George Lucas watched a few too many Kurosawa films and a bunch of old Westerns, and Star Wars was the result.

Influence and inheritance: it’s an old song. The still-young field of web design is no exception, and is very much influenced by its predecessor, print.

Unlike print, though, much is out of our control: browser incompatibilities, a reliance on locally installed fonts, an ever-changing browser window: it’s enough to drive a poor designer mad. So in the face of every inconsistency, we impose constraints on our medium to better establish a sense of control. Fixed-width layouts and minimum screen resolution are two such constraints: they better help us isolate the problems we feel we can solve from those we can’t. Divide, quarantine and conquer.

But the web is becoming more unpredictable, not less. There are more devices, more browsers than ever before. The explosive adoption of excellent small-screen browsers such as Mobile WebKit has further compounded the effect.

Unfortunately, our early attempts at designing beyond the desktop have felt all too similar to our divide-and-quarantine approach from the past. Here’s a quick example: I was working on my laptop when a friend emailed me a link to an article she’d just read on her phone:

Note the webkit subdomain: the site’s owners had quarantined the ‘mobile experience’ on a separate subdomain, fixing the width to 320px. Once that link was shared (via email, or saved to Delicious or Instapaper), readers were locked into that context, regardless of browser. As you might guess, the reading experience was less than optimal (read: “awful”) on a desktop browser.

Fragmented content

You could argue that this example simply suffers from poor execution, that some simple browser sniffing could easily redirect users to the “full” article. But I think it’s symptomatic of our general approach to designing beyond the desktop: in the face of the many uncertainties, we place constraints on our designs, such as a minimum screen resolution, to better isolate the problems we can fix from those we feel we can’t. But fragmenting our content across different “device-optimised” domains is a losing proposition. We simply can’t compete with the pace of technology, updating our sites each time a new, competent browser hits the market.           

Rather than creating disconnected designs, each tailored to a particular device or browser, we need to treat them as facets of the same experience. Responsive web design means creating an adaptive design that’s aware of the context it’s viewed in and optimises its display accordingly. And we can do so simply by embedding standards-based technologies in our work. By starting with a flexible grid (with flexible media), we can incorporate media queries to create that responsive design.

To illustrate this, I’ve built a simple little (fake) site called ‘Robot or Not’ (see above). It’s the definitive answer to who is and isn’t a robot. Your cat? Not a robot. K-9? Totally a robot.

Find our case study at robot-or-not.com

The design is straightforward, draped across an eight-column grid (see below). Our first challenge: how do we take a fixed-width mockup built in a graphics editor, and translate it into a fluid grid that can expand and contract along with the viewport?

First ingredient: the fluid grid

If you’ve ever sized text with ems, you’re well prepared to answer that question. Let’s assume my body element has a font-size of 100% – which, by default, is equivalent to 16px. Further down in the document, I have a headline that’s supposed to be sized at 22px in the comp, but I want to set it in nice, relative ems. To do so, we simply take the target value for the headline’s font-size in pixels, and divide it by the font-size of its container – ie, its context. The result is our desired font-size, expressed in proportional, em-ready terms. In other words: target ÷ context = result.
We can take our pixel values and plug them into this formula. To properly set our headline in relative terms, divide the target value (22px) by the font-size of its context (16px): 22 ÷ 16 = 1.375.

The design for our robot site is modest, and so is the eight column grid that it’s based on

There we are: our headline is 1.375 times the default body size, or 1.375em, which we can copy directly into our headline’s font-size property.
We've just described a font size not as pixels, but as proportions measured against an element’s container. But every element of our grid – and the elements laid upon it – can be expressed proportionally in exactly the same way. In other words, we’re looking not just at the desired size of a particular element, but the relationship of that size to the element’s container. Doing so will allow us to construct a grid whose pixel-based width might change, but whose intrinsic proportions will remain intact as it resizes. All by reusing our trusty type formula: target ÷ context = result.
Looking at the design (see below), we can see that the content area is designed to be 637px wide, with two significant elements inside it: the main content, floated to the right, is 420px wide; the metadata is floated to the left, and sized at 204px. And if we were content with pixels, we’d be done with our job by now:

1. #blog .main {

2. float: right;

3. width: 420px;

4. }

5. #blog .aside {

6. float: left;

7. width: 204px;

8. }

Of course, we can do much better. The pixel values from the comp are simply our target values, which we can express in relative terms. Let’s start with the main content area, whose target value is 420px. The element’s contained, however, within the designed width of 637px – the width of the entire blog module. So all we need to do is divide the two: 420 ÷ 637 = 0.659340659. Move the decimal over two places to the right, and we get 65.9340659%, a width we can drop directly into our CSS (resist the urge to round that number; browsers are actually adept at taking care of that for you):

1. #blog .main {

2. float: right;

3. width: 65.9340659%;      /* 420px / 637px */

4. }

A visual inventory of the blog, which we’ll use to construct a simple, flexible grid

Let’s see if we can do the same with the metadata’s target value of 204px. Using the same context (637px) as before, we get 204 ÷ 637 = .32025117. As before, we can take that 0.32025117, or 32.025117%, and apply it directly to the metadata’s width:

1. #blog .aside {

2. float: left;

3. width: 32.025117%;      /* 204px / 637px */

4. }

So we’ve completed the large, macro-level columns. But we’re not quite done; there’s a pullquote embedded in the main content block, floated to the right. According to the comp, it’s the same width as our metadata (204px) as each occupies exactly one column in our grid. But while we were proportionally describing .main and .metadata in relation to the full width of our design (637px), our blockquote is nested inside of .main. Our context has changed.

Without any CSS constraints, images will just overflow out of their flexible containers

Rather than dividing by 637px – 204 ÷ 637 = .32025117, we’ll need to divide it by the width of .main, its parent element, and our new context: 204 ÷ 420 = .48571. With that, we’ve finished our little mockup. Our new width is .48571, which beautifully describes the width of our pullquote in relation to its container – all in flexible, proportional terms.

1. #blog blockquote {

2. float: right;

3. width: 32.025117%;      /* 204px / 637px */

4. }

Constructing a fluid grid is that simple: dividing your target pixel value by context results in a rational, flexible width. As the viewport expands and contracts, the pixel widths of individual columns change but the proportions of our grid stay intact.

With max-width: 100% applied, images work perfectly in a flexible environment

Of course, a number of CSS frameworks have recently stepped up to the challenge of creating flexible grids since I came up with the initial approach. Nicole Sullivan’s OOCSS grids module is phenomenal; designinfluences.com/fluid960gshttp://designinfluences.com/fluid960gs has a ‘fluid port’ that might be of interest to users of that framework. But if you’re working with irregular grids, or you aren’t interested in frameworks, the target ÷ context = result formula is all you need to build your own flexible, grid-based designs.

Second ingredient: flexible images

With our grid in place and resizing beautifully, let’s focus on incorporating some fixed-width elements. After all, it’s painfully simple for text to reflow in a flexible container; what happens when we introduce fixed-width elements? Well, I hear images are going to be just huge on the web, so let’s start there.
What happens when we drop in an oversized graphic we know to be larger than its container? Awful, unspeakable things. Our image is over a thousand pixels wide, and there aren’t any constraints on its width. It’s simply overflowing its container, and breaking our page pretty thoroughly. But what if we could say that our image should reflow and resize itself proportionally, and should never exceed the width of its container? With a quick dab of CSS, we can get exactly that:

1. img {

2. max-width: 100%;

3. }

First discovered by Clearleft’s Richard Rutter, the max-width: 100% technique ensures an image never exceeds the width of its containing element. If the width of its container changes, the image resizes proportionally in nearly all modern browsers. The max-width: 100% treatment also applies pretty well to other embedded media, such as video:

1. img, video, object {

2. max-width: 100%;

3. }

Of course, IE doesn’t support max-width pre-IE7. If that’s a concern, workarounds are available. Some include JavaScript-based patches to implement max-width-like behaviour; others use proprietary, Microsoft-only CSS expressions to simulate the effect. I advise a simpler approach: just drop this rule into your IE-specific stylesheet:

1. img {

2. width: 100%;

3. }

Our first media query can repair our broken masthead, optimising the layout for a smaller display

Note this is a drastically different rule: whereas max-width: 100% says that the element should never exceed the width of its container, width: 100% says that the element should always match the width of its container. As a result, I recommend scoping the IE-specific rule to elements that you can predict will be oversized in relation to their containers, like so:

1. img.full, .entry img, .entry object {

2. width: 100%;

3. }

We’ve now completed a design that expands and contracts proportionally with the browser window. But responsively speaking, our job’s not quite done.

Third ingredient: media queries

Flexible or fixed, no design scales well beyond the context for which it was originally designed. When made smaller, the background sprite used for the navigation becomes clipped at smaller resolutions, and our content becomes illegibly narrow. Conversely, when viewed on a widescreen display, the images grow freakishly large.
Enter the media query. Part of the CSS3 spec, a media query enables us to inspect the physical characteristics of the device rendering our design. If the device passes the test outlined in the query, then the CSS contained within is loaded. As our flexible layout resizes, we can apply media queries at different resolution ranges to surgically correct issues as they appear – whether in a widening desktop browser window or on mobile devices.
For example, let’s tackle some of the smaller screen displays. Since issues crop up when my browser window is 660px or lower, I can create a media query that targets that range:

1. @media screen and (max-width: 660px) {

2. …

3. }

Our widescreen display is a drastic shift, but one responsively optimised for that reading context

With that in place, I’ll include a few rules to reorient some of the masthead elements, optimising their display in a smaller viewport. For example, I could isolate the logo from the navigation by placing each on its own row, and have each primary navigation item occupy roughly a quarter of the screen.

1. @media screen and (max-width: 660px) {

2. #logo a {

3. display: block;

4. float: none;

5. margin: 0 auto;

6. }

7. #nav {

8. clear: both;

9. padding-top: 0;

10. }

11. #nav li {

12. margin-right: 1.5053763%;

13. width: 23.87096774%;

14. }

15. }

But what if it’s viewed on a smaller resolution, or just reoriented in portrait mode? No problem: I can easily shift the navigation to a stacked, two-column layout, all by adding another media query:

1. @media screen and (max-width: 340px) {

2. #nav li {

3. width: 49.247311827956989247%;           

4. /* 458px / 930px */

5. }

6. }

It’s not just about ‘designing down’, though: we can use media queries to optimise for the higher end of the resolution spectrum as well. By including an @media screen and (min-width: 1100px) block, I can introduce an alternate layout that optimises my content for larger displays. And with these three media queries in place, our site’s finally finished.

Working together

It’s tempting to reduce the concept of responsive web design to one of its component parts, that it’s simply about ‘triggering alternate layouts with media queries’, or perhaps ‘designing for mobile.’ In fact, the three components are inseparable: devices or browsers without support for media queries can still avail themselves of a flexible layout that affords a measure of resolution independence.
Of course, that’s not the end of the challenges before us. How does a highly art directed layout adapt to a changing browser window? How do we rethink complex, interaction-heavy interfaces on a smaller display? Responsive web design offers us a foundation, a framework for tackling these problems – both now, and in the years to come.

Wireframe tools: the top 10 solutions

Create your next prototype the easy way with our guide to the best wireframing tools out there

Every website design has to kick off somewhere, and in most cases, this initial starting point comes with the creation of wireframes. Choosing the right wireframe software can be a complex business, depending on your needs. There are plenty of straightforward and user-friendly online wireframing tools that will sort you out with a quick prototype in no time at all, but if you want to create a more detailed site prototype, then you may be looking at shelling out a hefty wedge of cash to fulfil your needs. Whatever you desire from your wireframes, there is more than enough choice to provide you with what you're after. So, here are 10 of our current favourites for your delectation.

1. Omnigraffle ($99.95)

A longstanding favourite with the Mac community (it's not available for Windows), Omnigraffle makes it easy to create interactive wireframes using its intuitive WYSIWYG system. Although originally designed as a diagram creation tool, Omnigraffle's wide range of free stencils from the likes of Yahoo makes it an ideal solution for prototyping. A 14-day trial is available.
Download the Omnigraffle free trial

2. Axure RP ($589)

Boasting a client list that encompasses many of the most successful companies around, Axure RP is a one of the most comprehensive pieces of wireframe software around. Available for both Mac and PC, Axure makes use of widgets, custom libraries and master documents  to streamline the process of creating wireframes, while annotating tools enable you to insert descriptions wherever necessary.

3. Balsamiq Mockups ($79)

If Omnigraffle and Axure RP aim to be one-stop shops for your wireframes from start to finish, then Balsamiq Mockups is unabashedly for people who want a quick and dirty layout. Built on Adobe AIR, so you'll need to have this installed beforehand, Balsamiq Mockups places a variety of hand-drawn pre-built objects at your disposal, with which you can fashion the beginnings of a mighty web presence.
Check out the Balsamiq Mockups web demo

4. Mockingbird (Free)

What could be easier than dragging your intended page elements onto a blank page to generate your shiny new wireframe? How about doing it all online, without having to sign up first, and with the option to share your creations with a simple click? Mockingbird is still in Beta, so expect the odd glitch.

5. Jumpchart (from Free)

Any tool with a website as gorgeous as this one has to be good, and Jumpchart thankfully delivers on its promises. It uses a different input method to any other wireframe software we've tried; instead of dragging and dropping on a WYSIWYG interface, you chose elements from a drop-down menu. In the editing view, things can get quite confusing, but when it comes to previewing your work, everything is as it should be.

6. ProtoShare (from $29/month)

ProtoShare is the professional option when it comes to wireframe software, with names like Sony and Motorola plastered all over their site. Collaboration is key, with discussion fields present in all wireframes, not to mention the lure of real-time collaboration. Throw in the usual drag-and-drop components, as well as the ability to use CSS and Javascript, and you have a monster of a wireframer. It'll cost ya, though.
Download the free ProtoShare trial

7. Lumzy (Free)

We know what you're thinking: what the world really needs is an online wireframing tool called Lumzy. Despite the baffling name, Lumzy actually delivers the goods, offering a totally free service that comes across as a much, much smaller Axure RP. It might not be one for the design purists, but the results speak for themselves.

8. HotGloo (from $7/month)

If online help, a straightforward interface and a nice, cosy atmosphere were the markers to perfect wireframe software, then HotGloo would romp home with every title. In fact, HotGloo delivers on every front, with object selection about as easy as you could imagine, as well as a host of other features which should make your wireframing life a whole lot easier.
Check out HotGloo

9. FlairBuilder ($24/month or $99/life)

The aims of FlairBuilder should be familiar to you now: give users the chance to quickly and easily build wireframes and prototypes. With a host of features and a very speedy interface, FlairBuilder does the job, and gains even more marks by allowing you to assign a vast array of interactions to any element on the page.

10. iPhone Mockup (Free)

No wireframe software round-up would be complete these days without a nod to the iPhone at some point. This dedicated online service allows you to create basic layouts for your iPhone apps or sites and, while it doesn't do much else, its iPhone wireframe tools are superb, with all of the standard interface elements at your disposal, as well as a choice between illustration or pencil effect.

Actually A Fantastic Idea: Hasbro’s My3DNow 3D iPhone ViewMaster

Most people over the age of 20 will remember the ViewMaster toys that let you see slideshows from your favorite movies and cartoons in 3D. Shabby, static 3D, but still. Well, Hasbro has put out a product that, while it sounds ridiculous at first, is actually sheer genius. Replace the slide wheels with an iPhone! It’s brilliant!
What you do is download an app and some content, then attach the iPhone to the end of the viewer goggle-thing by means of a special bracket (there’s one for every iPhone or iPod touch model). It sits securely in there and shows the two stereo images, which the goggles make into one awesome, totally self-contained 3D content.
Add headphones and your kids will do this for days. Right now there are no brand names, and the programs (Shark Simulator, Santa Monica Pier Simulator, Starfish Simulator) might not actually be enough to hold a kid’s attention for more than 15 or 20 minutes, but hey, it’s just the launch titles. The idea is solid as hell. And it only costs $35! More for the apps, of course, but hey!
It’ll be available at Target on April 3rd, and you’ll probably be able to order it online shortly after.

Google Wants To Make Your Face Searchable (Updated)

Google is planning to introduce a smartphone app that can identify faces. If you capture someone’s head shot on your smartphone, Google will search their database of photos to try name them. We were pretty excited when Google Goggles came out. But this is a bit excessive.

Google, not wanting this news to contribute to their already-precarious reputation regarding privacy, set some requirements to become searchable. People have to first agree to be identifiable by the app; by doing so, they agree to give Google permission to access their pictures or profile information.

This strikes me as bit strange. After all, if you are close enough to someone to obtain a clear headshot — on your smartphone — isn’t it likely you already know them, and therefore don’t need to search for them? A simple introduction is all that’s required, if you don’t already know the person. I guess it could help you remember who the people are in group photos.

Way to be creepy, Google!

Update: It turns out CNN was running with a pretty thin story. Google says they won’t release a mobile app with these capabilities unless a good privacy model is in place. “As we’ve said for more than a year, we will not add facial recognition to Goggles unless we have strong privacy protections in place. We’re still working on them. We have nothing to announce at this time,” said a Google spokesperson.

PC won't boot up? How to find out why it so....

You press the power button and your PC won't boot up. What do you do next? Don't write it off just yet.

The first thing to do when faced with a PC that won't start up is remain calm. They're modular devices, and it's likely that a single component among many is the culprit. Fixing or replacing that component should bring your machine back to life. The trick is finding out which one it is.

We recommend a systematic approach to the problem, starting with observation, moving on to elimination and ending in diagnosis and treatment. Don't worry, you won't need a degree in engineering to fix a poorly PC. The process will probably be much easier than you expect.

We'll take you through a troubleshooting procedure that should help you fix the majority of near-fatal hardware faults. In many cases, you won't need a great deal of technical know-how to get your PC working again.

PC power problems

There are many reasons why your computer might fail to start. Let's have a look at the possibilities, one probable scenario at a time. The first sounds like the worst, but could actually be one of the easiest to diagnose.

You switch on your computer and nothing happens. No lights, no fans, no drives whirring into life and, crucially, no POST (Power On System Test) beep. Somewhere in the chain, power isn't getting through.

Work your way through this checklist. Unplug all peripherals except the keyboard, mouse and monitor, and make sure these are connected correctly. Check the obvious possibilities: make sure that your power cable is fitted correctly, the mains is switched on at the plug and the power switch is on at your computer.

If you're using an extension cord or multiblock, take those out of the chain and plug your PC's power cable directly into the mains socket. You should also try a spare kettle lead if you have one, in case a break in the cable is responsible.

THE BASICS: The PC itself may not be at fault. Check your fusebox first, along with fuses in multiblocks and plugs

Go to your main fuse box and check that all the fuses are still working. Check and replace the fuse in your computer's plug. Some PCs have a fuse in place before the Power Supply Unit, accessible near the power socket - you should replace that too. Only if you've eliminated all these possible weak links in the chain and your computer still refuses to power on should you move to the next stage.

The power supply

Problems with internal cabling are a common cause of power-on failure. Expansion caused by heat, movement in transit or a good old bump can dislodge connectors and cut power to your machine.

Open your PC case and make sure that power cables, especially those connected to the motherboard, are firmly seated and in place. Also pay close attention to the cable that connects the power button on the front of the case to the motherboard. If you're not sure which one that is, check your motherboard manual.

PRESS FIRMLY: Unseated cables and cards can cause a host of problems, from POST errors to a machine that won't power on at all

When you've done that, make sure your cards and memory are firmly seated too. Any dislodged cards could break the circuit in your machine, stopping it dead.

Next, check the heatsink and fan protecting your CPU. Are they aligned correctly and securely? Check that the feet securing the fan to the motherboard are fixed and solid. Your machine may not start at all without a properly positioned and fitted heatsink.

The diagnosis

If, after all this tweaking and testing, your machine is still failing to power up correctly, you're looking at four potential issues. If you're lucky it'll be the PSU (power supply unit) or the power button. Why is that lucky? Because these issues are both fairly easy and cheap to rectify.

There are two ways to verify a failed PSU. The existing PSU can be swapped out and another one tried in its stead. It's best if you can try one from an old PC you no longer use, to avoid unnecessary expense.

PSU TESTER: Using a PSU tester will enable you to determine if a faulty power supply is the problem

The other approach is to buy a dedicated PSU tester. Maplin sells one for as little as £20, but considering a new 750-watt PSU costs around £30, it's only worth buying a specialised tester if you expect to continue testing power supply units in future.

If a replacement PSU doesn't work, you might still have a power button problem. Again, cannibalising an old PC may be the best way to test your theory. The alternative is to search for and buy an ATX power switch on eBay. This should cost £3-5.

If you have an itch to confirm your diagnosis first, Maplin stocks a tool you can use to test the switch for £5. Visit the site and search for 'Domestic multi meter'. If the switch is working, you'll be able to pass a current through it.

If you've eliminated all the possibilities above and your machine still refuses to power on, then we're afraid that - finally - you're entering dead computer territory. It's likely that you have a fried motherboard or CPU, and a replacement - or a whole new computer - may be required.

Listen to the beep

You might encounter slightly different behaviour when your machine turns on. It may power up, beep, then hang indefinitely and seem to do nothing more. Careful diagnostics should be able to help you track down the component.

MOBO TESTER: You can make diagnosing POST errors easier by investing in a motherboard testing card

The first clue will come from that start-up beep. We referred to the beep earlier as the Power On Self Test or POST beep. When your motherboard is powered up, it runs a diagnostic of the motherboard itself and the attached hardware. If all is well, you should hear a single short beep and your hard drive will whirr into life, booting the operating system.

If the POST encounters a problem, you'll hear a different sequence of beeps.

New hardware

If you hear an unexpected beep sequence, it might be caused by several different things. If you've recently added new hardware to your PC - memory or a new video card, for example - there's a high likelihood that could be the problem. With the computer powered down, open the case and reseat all cables and cards. Any of them could have been nudged slightly or dislodged while you were fitting that new component.

If you've ruled that out, try removing the new hardware component. If it's a component that the PC needs to run, like a video card, replace it with the old, previously working component. Close the case and switch it on. Is it still not working?

It's likely that a component in your system is damaged. Time to research those beeps. Make a note of your BIOS manufacturer's name and note down the beep sequence. You may hear more than one short beep, or you may hear a more complex sequence. For example, a failure in the video system with Award BIOS may generate one long and two short beeps.

You can find a comprehensive list of POST beep codes at BIOS Central. It'll help you narrow down the source of the error and decide whether to fix your machine or fling it in a skip.

Graphics card failure

Video cards are common failure points in modern systems, and when one goes it can make your system appear to be dead when it's working perfectly well. With powerful GPUs on board and many relying on passive cooling, they're prone to overheating or blowing if you experience a power surge.

Diagnosing the POST beep will help you reach a swift conclusion, but there are other clues that can tell you if the video card is what's on the fritz. In many cases, your machine will complete its boot sequence and load the operating system. It could be waiting politely for you to enter your username and password.

HAND-ME-DOWNS: Most people have an old computer collecting dust, so re-use the components you can either for testing or for a new rig

The problem is, you won't know that if the video's not working. Signs to look for are a POST beep that indicates video failure, drives powering up as normal, drive lights and power lights on the front of the system. We've had circumstances where, even though the video wasn't working, we were able to connect an affected computer to a network to retrieve data. This is handy if you need to access files quickly.

The cure for such a problem is simple. Install a new video card. It doesn't have to be a fancy one to get the machine going again, so feel free to pull one out of an old PC if you can find one with compatible components.

Drive failures are among the most frustrating computer problems. They can come back to haunt you again and again if you don't take the right step first time. With most drive failures, the boot sequence will complete. You may even get a clear POST test, with a single beep.

After that, the OS loading sequence will help you determine how damaged a drive may be. If it fails to boot at all, think corrupt boot sector. If the operating system starts to load, then hangs or loops (restarts infinitely), there may be corrupted drivers, corrupt DLLs, Registry problems or a device conflict.

If you haven't installed any new hardware recently and all your internal cards and cables are seated firmly, suspect software error.

The first thing to do is retrieve as much important data as possible from the drive. That said, it always pays to install a new hard drive if drive corruption has been the problem.

If your hard drive crashed hard enough to corrupt data, chances are it crashed hard enough to damage the disk. Even if you're able to wipe the old drive and reinstall Windows successfully, a little scratch might continue to cause problems, leading to multiple failures in the future.

Mac OS X 10.7 Lion: what you need to know

Steve Jobs and other senior Apple employees provided a glimpse into Mac OS X 10.7 'Lion', making clear Apple's philosophy regarding the future of its desktop operating system.

In short, OS X 10.7 Lion is all about bringing the ideas Apple created on the iPad back to the desktop. Back then we got our first look at innovative new features like Launchpad, Mission Control and full screen apps.

Then on 24 February 2011 a new Developer Preview of OS X 10.7 Lion was released and even more exciting new features like AirDrop, Versions and a new Mail 5 were revealed.

Want to know more about Lion and what it's going to do for you? You've come to the right place. Here's our round up of everything we know about Lion, when to expect it and how much we think it will cost.

The big OS X 10.7 Lion features are...

1. Mission Control

Throughout Mac OS X's life, Apple has created a number of functions for managing windows, widgets and multiple desktops. In Lion, Exposé, Dashboard and Spaces - along with the aforementioned full-screen views - will be merged into Mission Control.

It's essentially a one-screen overview of everything that's running right now on your Mac, including Dashboard and full-screen apps, all in one place.

MISSION CONTROL: Mission Control aims to combine Exposé, Dashboard and Spaces, along with providing access to applications in full-screen mode

2. Launchpad

Mirroring iOS, the new Launchpad feature provides application 'pages' for the Mac. When Launchpad is invoked, application icons appear above the desktop; these can be clicked and arranged, and multi-touch gestures enable you to swipe between pages of applications.

The implications are clear: the Dock is now perhaps considered a place to store only your most-used applications, and a spatial pages-based system is more intuitive for many users than digging down into the Mac's Applications folder to launch items that aren't stored in the Dock.

This kind of launcher also makes sense when you consider Apple's shift towards full-screen applications, outlined below.

LAUNCHPAD: Lion will include application home screens, navigable via multi-touch gestures

3. Full-screen apps

With Lion you can make a window in an app full screen. This isn't full screen in the Windows sense, but a 'take over everything' view akin to an iPad app. The main benefit is that it cuts down on distractions, but there's more, you can switch between full screen apps using a swipe gesture on a Mac's trackpad akin to the sideswipe on the iPad.

Important but subtle workflow shifts were evident: iPhoto '11 already provides an idea of how full screen apps will work, since it has a full screen mode, together with in-app email (commonplace in iOS) and distraction-free work views, along with an iBooks-style Project view. Full screen apps have system-wide support, so 3rd party developers will be able to implement them too.

FULL-SCREEN APPS: Distraction-free and space-efficient full-screen views will be a major component of Mac OS X 10.7

4. Multi-touch gestures

iOS devices rely on touch input, but the Mac has traditionally been mouse-driven. previewing Lion, Jobs dismissed the idea of a touchscreen MacBook, due to poor ergonomics.

He said touch surfaces "don't want to be vertical", because a user's arm will get tired pretty fast. Apple's testing has shown the best way to approach multi-touch on the desktop is with large horizontal touchscreen input devices, such as laptop trackpads and the Magic Trackpad for desktops.

Gestures are a far more important component of Lion than Snow Leopard. For example, a five finger-closing gesture on your trackpad opens Lauchpad, and you can swipe through pages of your apps with ease. A flick upward opens Mission Control in a flash. Also, you can tap to zoom into a web page or document or pinch to zoom in and out (again, just like using an iPad).

MULTI-TOUCH: Jobs shows the wrong way to go about touchscreen interfaces - unless you enjoy arm-ache

6. The Mac App Store

Already available as a free software update for Snow Leopard, the Mac App Store is akin to the App Store for iOS. With a million downloads in its first day of business its already a success. Unlike the iOS version, the Mac App Store isn't the only way to get applications on to your Mac, but it's definitely the simplest.

APP STORE: The Mac App Store is on the way; unlike on iOS, Apple won't make it mandatory for developers to use

7. Mail 5

Lion has a brand new version of Mail, Apple's much-loved email app. Its look and feel has clearly been inspired by the iPad's Mail application, and you'll notice that chunky scroll bars and buttons are out and fine lines and a widescreen display is in.

A new Mailbox bar gives one-click access to your most commonly used Mail folders, and there are new search options that make it easier to find emails in your inbox than ever before.

Mail 5 has a new Conversations view, which groups email conversations together, much like the iPad's Mail app does, so you can follow a particular conversation in a more natural way. Under the hood, Mail 5 now has support for Microsoft Exchange 2010, whereas Snow Leopard only had support for the 2007 version, bringing it nicely up to date.

8. Auto Save

If you've ever lost a file, you'll know how important auto save can be; this could easily become Lion's 'Quick Look' - a feature somewhat overlooked at first, but that soon becomes essential to your Mac experience.

So, how does this work in practice? Cleverly, Lion's Auto Save can save changes in the working document, rather than creating copy after copy, so you don't eat up disk space. Obviously, there are times when this won't be a good idea, so there's a lock feature, that prevents you in from saving inadvertent changes and there's a revert feature which always takes you back to the version of the document

7. Versions

Going hand-in-hand with Auto Save is Versions. This neat new feature enables you to step back in time and see different versions of the document you're working on. It's effectively like a version of Leopard's Time Machine, but just for a single app.

It even uses the same Time Machine interface, enabling the novice to use it with ease. It's not full-on version control, but it does have some nice features like the ability to cut and paste from an old version into the current document. We can see this is going to be a feature that many people come to rely on,

8. AirDrop

AirDrop is a remarkably simple feature - it's gives you the ability to share a file with anybody on your Wi-Fi network, although it only works with other Lion users, so it runs the risk of being a nice feature that nobody actually uses because Windows-users are cut out of the equation, not to mention Mac owners running an older version of the OS.

9. Resume

One of the nice things about an iPad is that when you turn it on its exactly as you left it. With Lion, Apple are trying to bring that same ease of use to the Mac with Resume. When you restart your Mac all the same apps are running exactly as you left them.

It even works when you quit an app; launch it again and it will start in exactly the same place you left it, with the small caveat that this will only work with apps specifically made to support the feature. There's also no hint that Resume will work after a full shut down, but it sounds like a great time-saver, nevertheless.

10. New File Vault

File Vault is a Mac stalwart - it enables you to password protect and encrypt your Home folder - the place where you store all your documents. Lion takes File Vault's security a step further by providing encryption for a whole drive, whether its local or external.

It also gives you the ability to wipe data from your drive instantaneously, which might come in useful if you work for a government intelligence agency, but probably has limited value for the average home user.

11. Aqua

Aqua defines the look and feel of OS X, and Lion adds in several new system-wide interface elements that are, again, found in iOS. Two we know about are popovers (more exotic-looking drop-down menus) and Overlay Scrollbars (which only appear as an overlay over a window once you start scrolling).

12. OS X Lion Server

The final piece of the puzzle is Lion Server. For the first time Apple is going to unify both the normal and server editions of its OS into the same edition of OS X. Highlight features are a new Profile manager, making it easy to set up profiles for Lion, iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices, Wiki Server 3 and wireless file sharing for iPad users to access, copy and share documents in the server from Apple applications.

OS X 10.7 Lion beta

Want to try out Lion now? Well, the good news is that you can, but for a price. For $99 a year you can join the Mac Developer Program [http://developer.apple.com/programs/mac/]and get access the the Lion beta, together with heaps of other stuff.

OS X 10.7 screenshots

Apple's NDA, which Mac Developer Program members have to agree to, prevents screen shots of the beta version of Lion from being published. So, Lion screen shots that we can legally publish are currently few and far between, but Apple has provided some official screen shots for media use, which we've included here.

The first is Mission Control, showing everything that's running on the Mac in one screen:

And the second is of the App Store running in Lion:

More screen shots, and a video, can be found on the Apple web site, in its page all about Lion.

OS X 10.7 Lion price

There's no word from Apple yet on price, but we'd confidently predict OS X 10.7 Lion is going to cost a lot more than the £26/$29 for an individual license, or £41/$49 for a Family Pack that Apple is currently asking for OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard.

Lacking any serious new features, Snow Leopard was more of a cut-price upgrade to OS X 10.5 Leopard, and was priced accordingly. OS X 10.5 Leopard originally retailed for $129 for a single license and $199 for a Family Pack. We'd expect Lion to appear in the same pricing band.

OS X 10.7 Lion release date

Still slated for release in Summer 2011, there's no reason to suspect that Lion will slip, and Apple has a reputation for shipping new versions of OS X on time, if not a little bit early. A good time for Apple to announce Lion would be at Apple's WWDC (World Wide Developer Conference).

This annual event in San Francisco, especially for developers, has been used to launch new versions of OS X in the past. While no date has been confirmed for WWDC 2011 yet, the 2010 dates were June 7-11.

By bringing the best features of a mobile OS to the desktop Apple is once again bringing innovation to the home user. Lion is shaping up to be an exciting update for all Mac users, although its Intel-only, so owners of really old Macs will have to think about upgrading their hardware if they want to enjoy the benefits of Apple's latest big cat.