20 amazing new PC uses - Part 1

It's the beginning of the working day and you've just fired up the PC. So what's the first thing you would usually do? Spend some time reading through your emails before responding to any that demand attention?

Savour your morning coffee while surfing a few news websites? Launch Excel so you can log the previous day's expenses? Indulge in a quick mosey around Minesweeper or maybe a swift hand of Solitaire?

Perhaps the answer is all of the above, followed later by some Word-prepared correspondence and the creation of a PowerPoint presentation or two.

The fact is that most computer use is routine: the same few jobs and operations played out day after day, week after week. But it doesn't have to be that way.

Today's computers are enormously versatile tools and, with a little imagination, they can perform in ways you may never have considered.

To help you out, the Personal Computer World team has engaged in a heads-down huddle and come up with 20 unusual uses for your PC. So, as one industry figure once famously put it: think different.

Hidden charge
Ordinarily, you mightn't think of a machine weighing several kilograms as an ideal tool for juicing up a portable telephone, but attach a Telecharger to your desktop PC and it'll be transformed into the largest mobile phone charger you've ever seen.

As simple as it is useful, the Telecharger cable slides into a USB socket and uses that connection to charge a mobile handset attached to the other end of the cord.

While it can draw power from any USB socket, the device is intended to appeal to notebook-packing travellers: mobile workers can dispense with phone chargers knowing that the Telecharger can do the job instead, wherever their travels might take them.

Manufactured by Teleadapt (020 8233 3000; www.teleadapt.com), the Telecharger costs £14.99 and is available for most Ericsson, Motorola and Nokia handsets.

If you're the owner of a Siemens, Panasonic or Alcatel handset, APC's USB Mobile Phone Charger range extends to models from these manufacturers. They're cheaper, too: £9.40 from APC (020 8990 6400; www.apc.com).

Clone home
Does your computer have a soul? Probably not, but it almost certainly has a personality. Every menu choice you've ever made and every option box you've ever ticked will have contributed to putting the 'personal' into your PC.

The upshot of all this unconscious customisation is a computer that's attuned to your way of working, and three cheers for that.

However, a big snag arises when you upgrade to a new computer, or sit down to work at someone else's machine.

One Windows interface might look much like another but, beneath the surface, the environment can be utterly alien. Program shortcuts aren't where you'd ordinarily find them, home-made macros are missing and myriad settings and configurations of favourite applications are at odds with your own preferences.

If you're switching from one Windows XP-based PC to another then the operating system offers a partial solution to this problem in the guise of the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard.

Found under System Tools, within the Accessories menu, this step-by-step utility will transport the bulk of your computer's inner spirit - files, folders and some application settings - but it's far from perfect.

Depending on your requirements, a better option might be to invest a few quid in a commercial alternative to the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard.

A program such as Miramar's Desktop DNA, for instance, affords much finer control over proceedings. The utility can be used to create a self-extracting 'DNA file' that a user can carry around on CD in readiness for application to another PC.

More importantly, Desktop DNA will unravel any changes it makes to a new computer, retuning the machine to its original state. Desktop DNA can be purchased as a $39 (approx £25) download from www.miramar.com.

Robotise your laptop
As strange as it sounds, you can turn your laptop into a roving robot around your home or, even better, the office reception area at work.

Not only will it impress friends and clients, it will do - within reason of course - what you program it to do.

The ER1 Personal Robot System from Evolution Robotics comes with a lightweight aluminium frame, webcam, programmable software and various movable bits and bobs.

It's perfect for enthusiasts and gadget lovers alike and an ideal way to put any old laptops to good use. Prices start at $500 (£312) and you can place international orders via www.evolution.com. Coffee anyone?

Synching feeling
In days of yore, you might have noted the contact details of friends and colleagues in a pocket diary or paper organiser, like a Filofax. However, the times they are a-changing.

According to figures from telecoms regulator Oftel, 80 per cent of UK householders now possess a mobile phone and most owners rely on the electronic facility provided by their handset to store and retrieve acquaintances' telephone numbers, which is just dandy until the phone is lost or stolen.

Then it's panic time as you realise that your entire collection of contacts has gone the same way as the handset.

Yes, your mobile phone contract might include handset insurance, and your airtime provider will obligingly disable the lost Sim and issue a replacement, but the names and numbers are gone forever.

However, it needn't be this way. Attach a device like the Chipy SIM Card Reader to your PC and you can use the computer's hard disk to back up all those important contacts.

The unit connects via the serial port and accepts standard GSM-style Sim cards, while the supplied software handles the job of managing stored contacts.

The Chipy SIM Card Reader costs £19.96 inc VAT from the mail-order division of bargain merchant Morgan Computers (0870 120 4930; www.morgancomputers.co.uk).

Follow-me MP3
It's common for computer-owning music fans to build vast collections of digital music files - MP3s, wavs and the like.

If that sounds like you and you'd like to retain access to these audio delights when away from your main PC then you should consider installing Muse.net's Agent program.

The Muse.net service is designed to allow real-time access to both audio and video files stored on a remote computer. In other words, you can listen to your music collection when you're working away from the desktop.

To download a trial version of the software, or to find out more about the service, surf on over to www.muse.net.

Put the (virtual) needle on
Got an old collection of vinyl LPs that you fancy converting to MP3 format? The traditional way to go about it would be to connect a turntable to your PC's sound card and use an audio-capture program to grab tracks as the disc plays.

But why go to all that bother when you could simply use your scanner to capture a digital image of the record's grooves before applying a virtual needle to play them?

No, we're not joking: point your web browser at www.cs.huji.ac.il/~springer and delight in Ofer Springer's super-geek programming project.

The benevolent chap has made his Digital Needle source code available for download so, if you fancy building your own virtual turntable, the job's half done. Be sure to let us know how you get on!

Emulation station
When is a PC not a PC? When it's a Sinclair Spectrum, Commodore 64, Atari VCS, Gameboy, Playstation, or any one of 100 other computer platforms past and present that your mind might care to conjure up.

That's the joy of emulation software: with the right software installed, your PC can play-act at being almost any make and model of computer or games system.

The reason might be for pleasure, perhaps reliving a misspent youth by having your PC emulate a favourite 8bit computer platform, or more productive purposes like running Mac applications on a PC, or vice versa.

Either way, an emulator can make your PC do something that you never realised it was capable of doing.

The Emu Unlim website (www.emuunlim.com) offers a list of emulator links and downloads sorted by platform, while Classic Gaming's Vault section (www.classicgaming.com/vault) has a vast database of old games and software titles for use with emulator programs.

Clocking on
Like the watch on your wrist, a computer's internal clock can lose a few seconds each day. Over weeks and months these time units can tot up, potentially making the Taskbar clock inaccurate by a margin of minutes.

Windows XP users can offset this slide by having their operating system synchronise the computer's internal clock with an ultra-accurate atomic timepiece.

To do this, right-click the Taskbar clock and select Adjust Date/Time from the context menu. Now choose the Internet Time tab from the Date and Time Properties dialogue box and tick the Automatically synchronise with an Internet time server box: the dropdown menu offers a choice of online services, should you feel the need to specify a preference.

If you're not an XP user, you can still benefit from molecular-level time-keeping by downloading the Atomic Clock Sync program from www.worldtimeserver.com.

PC Plod
When you're away from home, your PC can be employed to keep an electronic eye on things.

The Incontrol Quadcam connects to your computer using a USB socket and can subsequently be used to control up to four colour CCTV cameras, one of which is included in the £199.95 asking price.

Passive infra-red sensors combine with microphones to keep a constant watch on the target area, with the supplied software kicking in to record any detected activity.

Install the Incontrol Receiver program on another computer and you can even indulge in some remote surveillance. The Incontrol Quadcam system is available from Digital Cybermasters (01892 730 999; www.digital-cybermasters.co.uk).

Along the same lines is the Veo Wireless Observer, an all-in-one movement-detecting webcam that connects to the host computer cordlessly, so it can be positioned anywhere with ease.

Due for release in the UK around about the time you read this, you can find out more about the £139.99 Veo Wireless Observer at www.veo.com.

The PC TV VCR
Using a PC as a TV is nothing new, but how about turning your hard disk into a digital video recorder? With an add-on like the PCTV Deluxe from Pinnacle, you can do just that.

The £169 box of tricks taps into a USB socket and adds not only television reception to a computer, but the ability to record programmes in mpeg1 or 2 formats.

Moreover, the PCTV Vision software allows live broadcasts to be paused, while the hard disk continues picking up the slack.

More information is available from Pinnacle Systems on 01895 442 003, or visit the company's website at www.pinnaclesys.com.

20 amazing new PC uses - Part 2