As soon as I saw this watch on Amazon, I knew I wanted it; the only problem was I just could not decide which variant as all 4 look magnificent on the web pages. Thankfully, the reality matches the images - this watch looks pretty stunning. I've already had a compliment that it looks like a much more expensive watch.

It has a solid feel, a real quality to it, with fine detailing like the Haas & Cie name on the case side, and buckle. The leather strap is excellent too.

I did read that Haas & Cie were bought by Samsung in the 90s, not sure if they still own them, but there is a classy Haas & Cie website which doesn't mention this in the history section.

The instructions are one minus point. From the description, I was expecting a glossy, pictorial guide, but instead is a little booklet for multiple languages, and very confusing indeed. It's hard to tell which page applies to which model at times, and there are contradictions in how to set the day, which made me think mine was faulty at first. Please don't let this put you off though - I am slightly impatient at the best of times and prone to rushing.

The watch is presented in a smart box but they should remove the little 'made in China' sticker off the underside! Presumably things like this account for the great value of the timepiece, but still no need to declare this perhaps..

But back to its appearance and feel; I wear a lot of black and this is going to compliment such attire so well - though would go with anything really. I don't necessarily need a chronograph, but loved the 3-dial appearance. There's so many nice watches out there, and this one, whilst not being specifically radical, grabbed me right away.

I'm half-tempted to buy another variant - it's such a lovely watch.

Borderline whether to give 2 or 3 for this.

At first I thought I'd got a total bargain; it's superbly designed, has a quality feel, great screen, good menus, lots of options, sounds excellent...

But, a major issue:

Shuffle mode doesn't function correctly. After the 2nd track, it will go back to the 1st one again. I've seen other players with shuffle faults, and my guess is this is a known issue not a defective product. Ridiculous to knowingly release something with this problem.

Overall - otherwise good, but a little disappointed. I wouldn't expect Archos to release something with this issue.

Odd thing is, 5 years ago my old, bulky HD players which were much less flashy, had none of these types of issues. I could happily play the thing all day on shuffle, from any folder or sub-folder (e.g. Treo, ATMT).

So slightly a case of style over substance.

***March 2011 - revised comments***

I've become so enraged with this piece of junk that I have posted the following comments to another site and wanted to shared them here to warn off buyers further:

Cannot believe people are rating this rubbish so highly, and here's why:

- Unresponsive buttons

- 'OFF' failure - you have to hold it down 3 seconds, and often it doesn't register your first click, so you're waiting a while before realising you have to release and re-click. So very annoying.

- Random play DOES NOT WORK. I checked other forums in case mine was faulty, but no, just like Sony and Apple, Archos have released a product with a known fault. UNACCEPTABLE.

If the above were not the case this would be a great player, but they are serious flaws and I have just binned mine. Junk like this tarnishes a brand's image; why not ensure quality is present on the cheaper items not just the flagship ones?

Very good little player, great build-quality, superb vivid screen. Easy to use with sensible menus and decent options for such a small player.

Mine was a bargain as bought it in "reconditioned" state for [...], but it's immaculate - as new!

Two slight issues though:

1. You can't play via folders you've created yourself. You can load these in, but then the songs are only accessible via their tags - i.e. artist / song / album etc. Fine if you only upload complete albums, not so good if you want to play your own compilations or have a collection of unofficial live audience bootlegs.

2. If playing in shuffle mode, when you power down, it doesn't pick up from the place it had got up to. This makes the idea of shuffling / playing anything more than an album pointless - and is a problem I've encountered on other players. **Edit - this problem resolved itself soon after my original review - score increased to 4 stars**

Still, excellent MP3 player aside from those issues.

***April 2011 - revision***

Oh dear - after what has been very little use, it developed a fault whereby it would simply refuse to switch on. I tolerated this a few times, before eventually growing impatient and putting it in the microwave for 1 second. After some pleasing blue sparks, this actually did make it power up again, but the sound is all distorted so that's the end of that.

This is a thoroughly enjoyable and amusing game which is fun to play alone and even better with friends, perhaps after the pub or during a night in with some drinks. It's an off-road racing game on all-terrain vehicles, with different types of race and widely varied tracks.

The theme of the game is similar to the more comical snowboarding titles such as SSX or Amped, in that you perform tricks to earn points and power-ups, and these tricks are exaggerated to a ludicrous extent, creating a game full of laughs whilst retaining a strong challenge.

The learning curve is great; you'll soon be pulling off awesome tricks, but it will take quite a while to reach full power-ups and be able to pull off the top stunts available.

The standout point of the game is the graphics, which are absolutely amazing. Lots of vehicles on-screen at once, yet superb smooth framerate and scrolling (including side-scrolling where many older titles fell down on). The circuits look incredible, with rich detail, vibrant and realistic colours, fantastic backgrounds and an amazing sense of height and perspective.

The whole game is superbly presented and one feels it is one of those titles where the developers got it spot on before they released it; there is a quality feel to the menus, with animated characters and light-hearted descriptions of their personalities.

This game is an absolute bargain at its current price and a great example of how superb graphics can merge with entertaining gameplay on a modern console.

Nice one!

This is an awesome racing game..

The first Forza on the 360 was a great game, mainly due to the sublime physics engine and car handling. What was missing was a bit of charisma in the visuals, something to bring it to life like the amazing GT series did on the Playstation consoles....especially with GT5 looming up in the wing-mirrors.

The upgrade is fantastic. Cars look amazing, you get a real buzz when right up behind an opponent, with a big BMW badge or something right there in front of you. Detail to wheels and bodywork is excellent, and lighting effects reflecting off paintwork very convincing. There are a fantastic variety of cars, including old classics like a 1970s BMW.

Tracks also look streets ahead of Forza 2, being vibrant and colourful, yet realistic. There's a nice blend of circuits, with some stunning scenery in the road-based ones. Overall they don't quite match the imaginative magic of the GT series' tracks (Trial Mountain etc. were simply amazing) but they are a fine attempt nonetheless.

A great feature of this game is that you can pick up and play without a frustrating learning curve, by tailoring the driving assists, and using the braking line feature. The latter illuminates yellow / red on the road and is great if you don't have too much time for gaming and learning the tracks. It removes all the frustration in one clever swoop - brilliant.

AI is variable though in general good. If you try to overtake from way back, launching into a space dangerously, you'll often come unstuck, whereas a methodical, sensible pass will be more effective. However, opponents will sometimes mash into you for no good reason, even when you make a fair overtake on the inside line; this can be annoying.

Car handling is outstanding, with a superb sense of realism. Some cars will let you wrestle them around the track applying power recklessly, whereas some will spin or oversteer if you try to accelerate whilst cornering. It's very satisfying to drive the latter type, and get the hang of braking in a straight line, cornering, then getting back on the power. You can also realistically induce oversteer and drift, for example using braking and weight transfer going into corners (or, by not braking for example, then drifting in).

The framerate is marvellous, fast and smooth at all times, which makes the experience realistic with a great sense of speed. There is an in-car view, which is fun, and the usual views. As usual with these types of games, it can be confusing to decipher exactly what the bumper and bonnet cams are for, as some will give you a decent driver's eye-level view whilst others are fractionally too high or low for this purpose, though not always noticeable unless tailgating someone.

Adding to the fun is how well this works with a decent wheel and pedals; I'm using a Logitech system and it feels perfect.

Overall this is a masterfully crafted race sim which has clearly had huge amounts of time and effort spent on it and is highly recommended!

This is an absolutely delightful, engrossing book which is very hard to put down. Michel Roux jr details the various stages of his upbringing and culinary training, with revealing insights into his family life and how it integrated with the Roux family's ethic regarding food right from the start.

The book is a mixture of autobiography and recipes, and both aspects reveal an honest, down-to-earth and humourous personality which one might not expect given the cool, disciplined magnificence of Le Gavroche. The recipes vary between simple and challenging, but in many instances one gets the feeling that the results are achievable, if the ability is present, rather like a musician interpreting a classical piece.

Michel's tales are full of fun and intrigue, outlining the antics of youth, the sexual tension in the kitchen, and of course the ongoing pursuit for the highest standards in food. The book is also revealing in its insights into how a restaurant is run, with interesting and varied accounts spanning the author's own career.

This is a fascinating and utterly joyous book, which succinctly represents the sheer talent and charisma of this wonderful chef and his love of food.

I have one of these for work, and it is afflicted with the infuriating problem whereby the cursor keeps jumping to random points on the screen when you're typing. It also randomly highlights text and 'clicks' - though the first problem is the most common, occurring every day.

I did a Google search and was astonished to find how many other users have similar problems, and not just confined to Dell laptops. There must be a common denominator, whether it's the o/s (XP in my case), a chip on the board or whatever. It's not a hardware fault in terms of the actual touchpad or keyboard stick, that much is known.

There just doesn't seem to be a fix for this problem, which is ridiculous.

I feel it's a total disgrace for products to be released with problems of this kind, when the manufacturers must surely know about them.

Other than that, this laptop would be a gem. The keyboard is super-springy and quick, the machine is silent, quick, and with a superb build quality and feel to it.

I have another Dell, an older Inspiron, which is fine aside from you cannot use hibernate and stand-by (seemingly another known issue they refuse to acknowledge or offer a solution to). It's actually been a superb laptop, but Dell and others - including Microsoft if need be - need to get their act together on this issue.

*edit: assume the person who did not find this useful is some daft fanboy without a brain (please grow up) - how can it not be useful to be warned about a known issue on a laptop which has no fix?*

This delightful film explores the life of Pierre, who suddenly finds his life might soon be over as he waits for a heart donation which might not work. Meanwhile, his sister cares for him whilst wistfully searching for love, harbouring some bitterness from previous experiences. Initially, this leaves her somewhat cold, and slightly indifferent to Pierre's bad news, which adds to his sense of lonliness and helplessness.

As a downbeat Pierre views Paris from his balcony, in beautifully shot, atmoshperic scenes, he realises that people take life for granted, and feels sadness and a sense of injustice as he watches other characters "carefree" in the city.

These other characters blend in and out of love, using people, hurting each other, and generally displaying typical human behaviour. We are constantly reminded that they are lucky to be able to enjoy life, albeit with their various problems, whilst Pierre has seemingly little hope for the future.

At the same time, and with a fair degree of irony, poor immigrants from Cameroon try just to get into Paris at all.

Yes, at times the Paris-dwellers and their spontaneous love match-ups seem a little ridiculous, but this is deliberate; in satarising them, it draws our attention more strongly to the irony that we overlook the simple things available to us.

The magic of this film is that it takes well-worn, simple ideas, but presents them in a way which we can easily relate to. We empathise with characters whose problems, mainly in relationships, seem depressingly real, yet we are soon reminded to put things in perspective by the bad luck suffered by Pierre.

There is also a superb score accompanying the film, in particular the downtempo tracks which perfectly capture the mystery and bustle of the city at the same time (I enjoyed the music enough to find out who the artist is and make a purchase).

The messages are simple and deliberately presented in a refreshingly innocent, almost naive manner, creating a charming film.

In this fascinating and absorbing film, we follow the lead character's dodgy dealings in Paris, as he (Tom) works with his associates to swindle his way to riches from seedy property transactions.

In a similar manner to Harvey Keitel's character in Mean Streets, we soon start to see that Tom does in fact have a moral compass underneath, and is a complicated individual with cravings not just for power, but also for music, and women. Of the latter, we see the full spectrum of his traits and emotions, from womanising, to insecurity.

It is gripping to follow Tom as he is torn between his gangster-style life and his rediscovery of music. Scenes where his petite Chinese tutor is first scared of his outbursts of impatience, and then finally snaps and tears into him, add to the charm and symmetry of the film and its characters.

Tom seems to make the right decisions in the end and has a new, pleasing life, when he suddenly comes close to losing it all in a moment of madness, when his past turns up to haunt him one last time. I will leave the reader to discover whether Tom can control his urges, or whether we see a sad ending.

A marvellous film, and just to add, Amazon's review mentioned that the film might have risked being a "hokum tale on the power of art" - but as films like this prove, in life, art is absolutely very real and genuine to those who feel its importance and beauty.

I played a sample of the first track out of curiosity, and right away could hear that the guitarist has made no effort whatsoever to learn the guitar parts properly. Either that or he can't really play. It's just stupid, and utterly pointless. A tribute album done properly would be cool, but this is just moronic.