This week's hottest reviews on TechRadar

Amazon Kindle Fire HD
Amazon Kindle Fire HD 7"

This week we've got the definitive verdict on Amazon's new Kindle Fire HD 7-inch, while we've also updated our Hands on review of the hottest Windows 8 tablet around - the Microsoft Surface which goes on sale next week for £399.

We've also checked out one of hottest bridge cameras around - the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200.

Enjoy this week's reviews on TechRadar and prepare yourself for a bumper week of tech next week, with iPad mini and Windows 8 laptops and tablets also taking a bow. On with the show...

Amazon Kindle Fire HD 7" review

While the standard Kindle Fire has been lightly revised and reissued to actually make it to Britain for a mere £129, the new Kindle Fire HD is Amazon's true effort to fight off the Nexus 7 and upcoming Nook HD. With a totally new build, notably enhanced display, and front-facing camera, it's a marked enhancement over the original Fire model, but are Amazon's custom UI and ecosystem still holding it back for power users?

Whereas the base Kindle Fire model sports a rather clunky, utilitarian build, the HD feels smoothed out – it's a little taller (7.6 inches vs 7.44) and notably wider (5.4 inches vs 4.72) when held in portrait orientation, though it's also slightly slimmer (0.4 inches vs 0.45). Weight-wise, it drops only .2 oz to 13.9.

Hands on: Microsoft Surface review

Microsoft Surface

Black, bevelled and beautifully designed; has Microsoft actually got a decent iPad competitor in its Windows RT-toting Surface tablet?

Magnesium chassis, vapour deposition coating, cutaway edges, ClearType HD display; the design credentials and the specs for the Microsoft Surface Windows RT tablet are impressive. In the flesh this is a delightful piece of hardware that looks good – and is practical too.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200 review

Lumix DMCFZ200

Bridge cameras are perhaps sometimes unfairly dismissed as not being tools for 'proper photographers'. Perhaps what this niche has needed is a newcomer to storm onto the scene with a specification list that will make all the dedicated DSLR users out there do a double-take.

Perhaps the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200 is that camera.

With an impressive list of numbers and features, the Panasonic FZ200 could very well be the first small bridge camera to truly make DSLR owners - or those thinking about upgrading to a DSLR - rethink their plans.

Other reviews on TechRadar this week

Compact Cameras

Nikon P7700 review

Canon PowerShot SX50 HS review

Nikon Coolpix S6300 review

Graphics Cards

Zotac GeForce GTX 650 Ti review

Headsets

Plantronics Voyager Legend review

Plantronics headset

Mobile phones

Samsung Galaxy Note 2 review

Verizon Jetpack 890L review

LG Intuition 4G LTE review

Motorola MotoSmart review

Sony Xperia Miro review

Motherboards

Asus F2A85-V Pro review

Asus F2A85-V Pro review

Asus F2A85V Pro

ASRock Z77 OC Formula review

Gigabyte G1.Sniper M3 review

NAS drives

Transcend StoreJet Cloud review

Operating systems

Microsoft Windows Server 2012 Standard and Datacentre review

Processors

AMD A10-5800K review

Projectors

Epson EH-TW6000W review

Tablets

Hands on: Amazon Kindle Paperwhite review

Hands on: Asus Padfone 2 review

Asus Padfone 2

Televisions

Toshiba 46TL963 review

Panasonic TX-P50VT50B review

Contributor

Dan (Twitter, Google+) is TechRadar's Former Deputy Editor and is now in charge at our sister site T3.com. Covering all things computing, internet and mobile he's a seasoned regular at major tech shows such as CES, IFA and Mobile World Congress. Dan has also been a tech expert for many outlets including BBC Radio 4, 5Live and the World Service, The Sun and ITV News.