In our newsletter last month, we asked you all to let us know how the credit crunch was affecting your shopping. The results are in and amazingly, all of you had the same attitudes towards shopping and money saving:
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We’re onto DVD recorders this week. I know that most Christmas telly is awful but you do get the odd great film that’s worth recording. They’re also really handy for recording series of your favourite dramas and sitcoms so that you have your own set.
Top ten DVD recorders
1. Samsung DVD-R155 - £101
2. Sony RDRHXD890 - £160
3. Panasonic DMR-EX78 - £205
4. Panasonic DMR-EX768 - £171
5. Panasonic DMR-EZ28E - £115
6. Sony RDR-HXD870 - £100
7. Toshiba RD-17 - £100
8. LG DRT389H - £103
9. Panasonic DMR-EZ27 - £100
10. Sony RDR-GX350 - £80
The Samsung DVD-R155 has some impressive reviews, despite its lack of a tuner which means that you won’t be able to record two programmes at once:
“Good solid recorder, easy to use, very impressed with the upscaling.”
“Does what it says on the tin. Great quality recorder/player for the money and looks slick.”
“Not multi regional but you can re code it for all regions easily from the internet”
If you want a good all-rounder that’s great value for money, go for the £155 Panasonic DMR-EZ28E. It comes with built-in a Freeview digital tuner and it will play and record on most discs.
When you’re looking for a DVD recorder, make sure it has the functionality you require. If you like recording the odd episode of Eastenders quickly, make sure it has a hard drive so that you don’t have to fiddle around with discs before you can record anything. Also check for how many tuners the machine has. If a DVD recorder has more than one tuner, it will let you record more than one programme at the same time. Do you need a recorder with built-in VHS so that you can still watch all your classics? And finally, make sure it will play and record on the discs you’ll be using.
A summary of views from around the web of the Pioneer BDP-LX70.
CNet
Pros: outstanding picture quality, 1080p/24fps output, upscales non-1080p content
Cons: not HDMI 1.3, won’t play some discs with Blu-ray Profile 1.1 features
On the one hand, the LX70 deserves to have praise showered upon it for showing just what exceptional picture quality Blu-ray is capable of producing. But on the other, it’s practically impossible to recommend that anyone but the filthy rich consider spending the best part of a grand on it. It not only caters for just one side in an unresolved format war, but it’s also about to go out of date.
Trusted Reviews
Pros: Performance, LAN connection for viewing content from a computer
Cons: not HDMI 1.3, won’t play some discs with Blu-ray Profile 1.1 features, expensive
Overall the LX70 makes us sad. For while a big part of us wants to jump up and down and shout from the rooftops about how unprecedentedly great its HD pictures are, another big part of us tragically has no choice but to accept that unless you’ve got enough money to upgrade from this deck in just a few months time, when more fully specified Blu-ray models start to come along, you’re probably better off leaving the LX70 on the shelf.
TechRadar
Pros: Best performing Blu-ray player at time of release, 1080p/24fps output
Cons: Not cheap, not HDMI 1.3, won’t play some discs with Blu-ray Profile 1.1 features, expensive
In one sense £1,000 doesn’t seem a crazy amount to pay for the best-performing Blu-ray player yet - especially if you already own a recent Pioneer plasma TV and so can get the most from its 1080/24p talents. But it does seem a lot for a deck that lacks an HDMI 1.3 jack and won’t, therefore, play all the features of future Blu-ray discs.
HDTVorg
Pros: Excellent HD performance, build quality
Cons: Ordinary DVD performance, price
Combined with one of Pioneer’s plasma flat panel offerings, the BDP-LX70 is a compelling option, and possibly the finest HD picture you will achieve. The BDB-LX70 is a good player in any context, but at around £1000 it is just too expensive.
Time for another question from a reader:
I am looking to buy a new tv of around 37 to 40in and I am considering the Panasonic TH-37PX80B or Sony’s KDL 40V4000.
I will be watching standard defintion via Sky+ and DVDs. I do not intend to move to HD for some time.
I watch a lot of sport and I am concerned that the Sony could be subject to motion blur.
The awards in What HiFi have the Panasonic as the best 37in and the Sony as the best 40in.
My problem is which to chose between the tv?
- Paul, 51, Nottinghamshire. (’Man Utd fan’)
The main difference between these TVs, apart from the screen size, is that for ~£100 extra, the Sony is Full HD and has a higher reported contrast - but neither feature is particularly important if you’re planning to watch a lot of sport.
The Sony is also more highly rated than the Panasonic by confirmed purchasers on Reevoo.
A couple of the Sony reviewers did mention that this TV might not be great for watching football, but several of the reviews of the Panasonic mention positively that it doesn’s suffer from motion blur.
For me it would be the Panasonic of those two, but you should also consider the other highly rated 37 inch TV options.
For example this LG 37LG510 gets a good rating for image quality, with no-one reporting motion blur problems, and its even cheaper than the Pana.
After our best mobile phones of 2008 post last week, we’ve moved onto digital cameras.
Whether you’re after a nice compact or a DSLR packed full of features, we’ve got the highest rated and the most popular in both categories on Decide What to Buy.
All ratings are by consumers who have all bought the products. They voted the £182, 13 megapixel Sony CyberShot DSC-W300 as the top compact digital camera of 2008.
There are great reviews on this camera with comments like:
“the picture quality is amazing”
“Brilliant little touches to the camera, like the musical slide show playback and the photo doctoring within the view back, love this camera!!”
It also gets great scores for categories like image and build quality:
And the compact that everyone’s looking at in the run-up to Christmas? It’s the 10 megapixel Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS5. It came out a few months ago but people still love the fact that it’s packed full of features. It’s currently around £125.
When it came to SLRs, the highest rated was the £478 Canon EOS 450D. With the same image quality score as the CyberShot DSC-W300, this camera really impressed its owners. One reviewer said it was “outstanding”.
The most popular SLR is the Olympus E-420. It’s a nice upgrade from last year’s E-410 and has face detection, shadow adjustment technology, 3.5fps continuous shooting rate for up to 9 Raw images and a one-touch white balance function. It’s around £350.
Here are the rest of the favourites:
TOP COMPACT DIGITAL CAMERAS
TOP FIVE MOST POPULAR COMPACT DIGITAL CAMERAS IN LAST 30 DAYS:
3. CASIO Z200
5. Canon IXUS 980 IS
TOP FIVE HIGHEST RATED COMPACT DIGITAL CAMERAS OF 2008:
TOP SLR CAMERAS of 2008
TOP FIVE MOST POPULAR SLRs IN LAST 30 DAYS:
3. Nikon D300
5. Canon EOS 1000D
TOP FIVE HIGHEST RATED SLRs OF 2008:
3. Nikon D90
5. Nikon D60
This week’s gadget watch is possibly one of our favourites. If you’re a peanut butter fiend, read on.
The Peanut Butter Machine allows you to create your own buttery peanutness at home! Just add peanuts! And it will take care of the crunchy/smooth debate too - just pick which kind you like and it’ll deliver it in minutes. You can use any kind of shell nut so you can create your own nutty buttery mixtures and best of all, you’ll know exactly what’s going in them - no additives or other nasties. Try macadamia or even cashew butter for a really interesting spin on a classic.
These fabulous machines are available for US $49.98 and will soon be working their way over to the UK. We’ll keep you posted!
You might not have heard of Blu:sens yet, but the chances are that you soon will. Blu:sens is the top-selling MP3 player manufacturer in Spain, and it now has its eye on the large UK portable player market.
First up to be released in the UK is the Blu:sens KEIA, a dinky sporty player for people after music on a shoestring. Comparisions to the Apple Shuffle are obvious.
Similarly to the Shuffle, the KEIA features a clip so you can attach the player to whatever funky clothing you happen to be wearing. Also included is a standard mini-USB port, a microphone, and a tiny 3-tone LCD display. Hidden somewhere inside is a radio tuner. The casing is a some what tacky-looking plastic, available in a range of colours. Storage capacity on this model is 2GB.
Transfering music to the KEIA is simple enough, a case of dragging and dropping MP3s into the external drive that appears when you plug the KEIA into your computer’s USB port. Mac users should note that M4A files aren’t supported.
When first turned on, the KEIA presents you with music symbol. Pressing left or right presents symbols for the radio, microphone, the folder system, and settings. Pressing the middle button selects the option you’ve highlighted. Working out how to use the KEIA wasn’t the easiest thing in the world, and I’m still not quite sure how to pause it! However, I didn’t have access to a manual for this review, which may well have helped. Once I’d learned how to use it the interface was reasonably efficient.
One big advantage the KEIA has over the Shuffle is the presence of a screen. The KEIA’s OLED screen certainly isn’t going to set the world alight, with a display reminicent of a 90s arcade game, but there’s no denying that it does help a lot with navigating your way around your playlist.
Music quality seemed reasonable, although I wasn’t able to test the headphones that will be supplied with the KEIA. The radio tuner seemed to lack power indoors, with static interupting the signal if I moved across the room.
In summary, the KEIA appeals to the trade-off that dominates most of the MP3 player market today: do you go with Apple, who offer style and useability, or with the competitiors, who offer more features (here radio, a mic and primative screen) and flexibilty (without tying you into iTunes) at a cheaper price?
Apart from the Shuffle, the KEIA is competing with models from Philips and Creative. At £30 from Amazon, the KEIA will face some stiff compeition as it lands on British shores.
Just in time for Christmas, Reevoo has launched its own iPhone web application. This means that all you lucky folks who own iPhones will be able to take Reevoo with you to the shops. If you’re looking to buy an MP3 player, camera, laptop or any other product that is available on Reevoo.com, you can check out what people have said about it before you buy. Not only that, but you will also be able to see how much it is online! Very useful for saving some valuable pounds over Christmas.
If you’d like to have price comparison and helpful reviews in your pocket this Christmas, just follow these three simple steps and Reevoo will guide you through all your Christmas shopping.
To add the Reevoo iPhone app to your home screen just take your iPhone:
1. Open Safari
2. Go to http://www.reevoo.com/iphone
3. Tap the + button in Safari and choose ‘Add to Home Screen’
And to use it:
1. Simply tap on the Reevoo icon on your home screen
2. Tap search and enter the product name - you’ll get a list of search results with scores and the cheapest price available online from over 100 retailers
3. Tap on the product itself and you’ll be taken through to read the 10 most useful reviews (as voted by our community) on the product.
We’d love to hear your feedback on this app. If there’s anything else you’d like to be able to access or if you’d like to see something done differently, just let us know at feedback@reevoo.com.
Mums can be tricky customers when it comes to Christmas presents. It’s very easy to find them gifts that they’ll need but will they be something they actually want?
We’ve come up with a few suggestions to help you out on your quest to find Christmas presents for Mums:
For Mums who like to look their best - These Babyliss 2099U straighters (£28) have great reviews and they’re pretty cheap too. One reviewer even claims “i have tried expensive straightners..such as ghds and since trying the babyliss, i will never go back to any others”.
For DIY mums - Let’s face it, some Dads are useless at DIY so in some households, it will be Mum who does all the handy work. Make it a little more fun with this Rolson 25 Piece Pink Tool Kit (£20).
For Mums who love to cook - they can create hundreds of different types of breads and cakes in this Morphy Richards 48245 (£50) bread maker. It’ll save them loads of time as it mixes and does all the kneading too - that leaves more time for extra cakes in my book!
For Mums who love to take photos - Get this Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS3 (£87) compact digital camera. It’s not too expensive, has great reviews and owners say it’s especially easy to use. So even if your Mum isn’t a tech whizz, she shouldn’t have many problems with this.
For Mums who need a break - All that housework can be such a bore. Treat your Mum to this Domotec Roomba 560 Robot Vacuum Cleaner. It’s a little pricy at £199 but it will single handedly tackle all the rooms in your house, switch from carpets to hard floor mode and even take itself back to its charger to be charged up before getting back on the case again!
For Mums who love pink - If your Mum is still girly at heart, there are loads of pink gifts from pink laptops and MP3 players to pink mobile phones and cushions. Find them all here: www.reevoo.com/pink
For Mums on the go - Get them a mobile so that you can always keep in contact. With all the free minutes deals around at the moment, you could even talk for free. This Nokia 2630 phone is not only stylish but it’s also user-friendly (prices vary according to contract). One reviewer says, “Everything is easy to use and the design is very nice and compact”.
For Mums who like to be organised - Why not invest in this family calendar (£8)? There are five columns which can be used for different members of the family so she’ll never have to miss a football or music class again.
For healthy Mums - All Mums want to make sure their families eat healthily. With this Philips HR 1861 juicer (£63), she can make tasty juices and ensure everyone gets their daily intake of fruit and veg. This juicer has great reviews too. One reads, “Best juicer around for the money. Powerful motor and large feeding tube. Looks great on your worktop…Highly recommended.”
Presents on a budget - Everyone likes music, get her a CD that she’ll love. At the moment, the Mamma Mia Movie Soundtrack is particularly popular and it’s a bargain at £7.
Right, hopefully that’s helped you out a little bit. If anyone else has any other ideas, just leave a comment.
Following on from our Christmas present guides, we’ve decided to focus on a popular gift - mobile phones. There are so many on the market these days that it can be a nightmare to read up on each one. But don’t worry, we’ve done it all for you.
We’ve read all the reviews for over 200 mobiles and picked out the most popular - the ones people are looking at in the run-up to Christmas, and the most highly rated phones of 2008 - focusing on what people think after they have bought and tried out their phones. We’ve also got our recommendation for the best value for money mobile.
So, I bet a lot of you will be thinking that the iPhone must be a key player in this year’s favourite mobiles but surprisingly, it’s not in the top 10. Problems with application crashes and battery life meant that people rated this year’s 3G iPhone lower than you might have expected. It gets a score of 8.2/10 which is even beaten by its predecessor, the original iPhone, which scores 8.3/10.
The UK’s favourite phone of 2008 is actually the BlackBerry Bold 9000. Here’s what some reviewers had to say:
+ Great keyboard for e-mailing and texting. Cracking screen which is nice and bright and videos look lovely on it. The sound from the internal speaker is really good. Just a great phone overall.
- Out of the box battery life is bad but gets better with regular charges.
+ The Bold is undoubtedly the most impressive Blackberry yet. One of its greatest advantages is that in spite of many new features, it feels very familiar. Web browsing is almost broadband speed.
But what about the most popular phone? The phone that everyone’s looking at in the run-up to Christmas this year is the Nokia N96. But although it’s created a lot of hype, it actually gets marked down by reviewers for poor battery life and software problems. It’s also a little expensive at around £500 for Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) customers, but it does do the business with its design and features. One reviewer writes “great picture and video quality, very easy to find your way around, fantastic features…looks good”.
So let’s take a look at the most popular phones, which are getting lots of atention, and those that actually get rated the highest when consumers take them home:
TOP TEN MOST POPULAR MOBILE PHONES IN LAST 30 DAYS:
1. Nokia N96
6. Samsung J700
10. LG KF750 Secret
TOP TEN HIGHEST RATED MOBILE PHONES OF 2008:
6. Fly SL600
7. Sagem my411C
8. Samsung J700
10. Sagem my300C
If you had your heart set on buying someone, or yourself, a stylish yet affordable phone this Christmas, we think the Samsung F480 Tocco is the one to go for. Whilst other phones with similar features tend to get poor scores for battery life, the Tocco impresses with 7.7/10. Here’s what some other phones score for battery life:
Nokia N96 - 5.8
iPhone original - 6.8
iPhone 3G - 5.6
BlackBerry Bold 9000 - 6.3
The Tocco also impresses with its design and features and is £150 for PAYG customers or free on some contracts.
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