The same question comes back with each new version of Windows: how much RAM do you need to run the OS?  With Windows 7 now available, we wanted to have a look to see if adding more RAM would speed it up. Encoding, gaming, 3D rendering or loading--how much memory are you going to need for Windows 7?

To put the question to the test, we used two spearate computers: one entry-level option and a very high-spec machine.  By the time we'd finished running no fewer than 120 spearate tests to give you an idea of the differences between the 32 bit and 64 bit versions.

If you're keen to cut straight to the chase, then there are some graphs showing the different performance of each system.

> Windows 7: How Much Memory?

LG has recently launched a new range of 'borderless' TVs, but the new name could well lead to some confusion.  The manufacturer's marketing team certainly seems to have been taken in ...

Having tested a representative of this new collection, the LG Borderless SL8000, we can say that they're very elegantly finished with an outside layer that hides the edge of the frame, and leaves the image and the frame at the same depth.  But there's still a thick black frame around the edge of the screen, as you can see in this photo of the TV switched on:

LG 42SL8000     Electro Centre 962.20 Digitech Electronics 962.25 Electrical Experience 963.00 Beyond Television.co.uk 964.00 Amazon Marketplace UK 1099.00 Compare prices

Because a lot of LG's product photos show the screen switched off, some publications have suggested that 'borderless' means that the image onscreen goes right to the very edge--but it doesn't.  You'd think that LG thought the same thing to judge by some of its videos ...

What annoys us the most in this video is the fact that, one minute into the video, you first see a TV switched on that looks like this:

Can you spot the difference with our photo above?  How can LG let this happen?  It's entirely removed from reality--this is a mockup of what LG is hoping to make in three years time, by which time it plans to have reduced the frame to just 0.7 cm.  For the time being, the current borderless models have frames that are entirely normal.  

It's exactly the same with the 9000 version, with LED backlighting.  After a whole minute of black screens, the video shows what you'd think was the SL9000:

 Here's the whole video:

What we'd like to ask LG is whether or not it's reasonable to leave videos like that online?  Isn't the design itself enough to sell these products?  You've told us otherwise, and we're prepared to believe you.  Even though we were disappointed to see borders on this 'borderless' on this TV, we can do without lies like this factual errors in product marketing.

To mark the return of a Product Survey that it's fair to admit we've neglected a little recently, we've decided to mix it up and look at two different sizes of external hard drives.

LG XD2 500 GB     E-buyer 49.98 Amazon.co.uk 49.98 Compare prices

We're glad to see the return of 1.8'' hard drives in the form of the Samsung S1 Mini 120 GB and the Transcend StoreJet 18M 120 GB.  Both are almost impossibly small but have a decent amount of storage space.

On the other hand, two 2.5'' drives are also on test: the LG XD2 500 GB and the Verbatim 2.5'' Portable Hard Drive USB 2.0 500 GB.

> Product Survey: External Hard Drives.

Apple has responded to the launch of Windows Seven with a new TV ad in its 'I'm a Mac, I'm a PC series'.

In the latest version, PC, in his suit, comes to brag about the benefits of Microsoft's new OS, explaining that this time, it's changed for good and will have none of the drawbacks of the previous version.  Mac, on the other hand, seems to remember that that's what they said about Vista, and XP, and Me …