Decide what to buy | the Reevoo.com blog, featuring news on TVs, cameras, laptops, mp3 players & other gadgets, shopping tips and deals, reviews and more

The mornings are getting darker, colder and harder to wake up to so we think it’s time to bring in the cavalry – coffee. If you normally grab a cuppa on your way into work every morning, think how much money you could save by making your own tasty brew at home and investing in a good flask. Plus you get to keep warm as soon as you’ve left the house.

If we’ve convinced you, read on to see our top five coffee machine picks.

We’ve gone for a mixture of filter coffee machines, cafetières and fancy espresso makers that will make all the coffees and hot drinks you’d find in a coffee shop. If you like a wide choice of drinks and you’re too busy to worry about filter paper and plungers in the morning, you might prefer the latter.

If you’re serious about coffee, you’ll know that the best taste comes from grinding your own coffee. The Cuisinart DGB900BCU Grind and Brew machine (2-12 cups) will grind and brew your coffee but not only that, it does both on a timer! Wake up in the morning to the sound of grinding coffee beans and a few minutes later, you’ll have cuppa that you don’t have to put any effort into.

The Bosch TAS4011GB takes “pods” - capsules of different flavoured and styles of coffee - so you can have a different drink for every day of the week. It scores 9.1/10 and is very highly rated for ease of use.

The cafetière of the bunch is this Bodum French Press coffee maker (up to 8 cups). A machine for the style conscious, this is also dishwasher proof so you needn’t worry about mess and cleaning.  It’s also only £15 so you can save even more money on your morning fix.

Simple but oh so stylish, my personal favourite, the Francis Francis X1. It makes espressos, and cappuccinos plus you can either use ground coffee or the E.S.E pods for extra speed in the mornings.

And for those of you who like a bit of variety, the DeLonghi Combi BC0261 Combi Espresso and Filter Coffee Maker (up to 10 cups) does just that – espresso and filter coffee so you can have a  coffee shop selection in your kitchen. It’s £70 and has a milk frother for cappuccinos.

This week’s Green Piece is about washing machines. We all use them but could we be investing in greener options?

LG’s recent Steam Direct Drive washing machines claim to be the greenest. They use 35% less water than other machines and 21% less electricity. Thanks to these stats, they’ve earned a rare A++ energy efficiency rating.

The steam also reduces creases so you will have little or no ironing to do after your wash - another energy saver and particularly fab if you have no time and hate ironing!

These have been out for a while but we wanted to wait until we had LG Steam reviews so that we could tell you what others thought of them. And, much to ours and the planet’s relief, they’re a big hit with their owners. Here are some reviews for the steam driven LG WM1437:

Jason, London:

“It’s looks are great, very easy to use, you can select standard programmes then ‘tune slightly’ e.g. spin speed, rinse cycle etc. It weighs the washing automatically first then calculates cycle times. It is very quiet and has a great estimate to complete timer. It also turns itself off when done to save power.”

Angela, Aberdeen:

“The load size at 8kg is brilliant and the steam option is very useful for engrained dirt. It is a very quiet machine and easy to use and it looks really good.”

“Looks good. washes and rinses extremely well. Very quiet. Environmentally sound.”

It all sounds great but what’s the catch? Well, as you may have guessed, all this washing brilliance comes at a cost. This model is currently around £500 but with your water, energy and ironing saving, it will work itself off pretty quickly.

If that all sounds a bit too much, there are plenty of other washing machines out there. Check out these A-rated washing machines so that you can still do your bit for the planet.

We?ve been looking into design here at Reevoo. Good product design is becoming more and more important and clever and innovative designs are what consumers look for to save time and make their lives a little easier.

So we looked into which brands were coming up with the best designs. When a shopper buys something from one of Reevoo?s 55 retail partners, they are sent an email asking them to rate it. One of the categories they rate is the design of the product.

Looking at 22,000 products, with over 15 reviews, we took these design scores and ranked all of the products in terms of their score for design ? the product with the highest score at the top.

What we found was pretty impressive for one brand in particular. In the top 100 products for design, a whopping 51 of them are from Samsung! It?s a real result for the brand that has put a strong focus on design in recent years.

LG in second place and Sony and Apple in joint third made up the top 3.

If you?re a regular reader of Decide What to Buy, I?m sure you can guess at which product Numatic had in the top 100? Hetty! She?s had a stonking 2008, already topping the best vacuum cleaner list back in June and in March.

But we wanted to look deeper into the data so we split the products up into categories. We looked at Home Entertainment, Mobile Phones, White Goods, Computing and Home and DIY in more detail to see which brand?s products performed the best for design in each category.

And here are the results:

Home Entertainment:
1. Toshiba 46XF355D (television)
2. Samsung LE37A656 (television)
3. Toshiba 40XF355D (television)
4. Samsung LE37A436T (television)
5. Samsung YP-K3JAB 4GB (MP3 player)
6. Samsung YP-P2JCB 8GB (MP3 player)
7. LG 32LG5010 (television)
8. Sony Bravia KDL32W4000U (television)
9. Pioneer Kuro PDP5080XD (television)
10. Samsung PS50Q97HD (television)

Mobile Phones:
1. Samsung F480 Tocco
2. Apple iPhone 8/16GB
3. Nokia 8600
4. Motorola PEBL U6
5. Samsung P520 Armani
6. Motorola W375
7. Sony Ericsson W890i
8. Sony Ericsson T650i
9. Motorola ROKR U9
10. Nokia 7500

White Goods:
1. Bosch KTR18P20GB (fridge)
2. Miele GT 316 ES (freezer)
3. AEG-Electrolux Santo 75348KG (fridge-freezer)
4. Baumatic BF207SLM (fridge-freezer)
5. Kenwood GT/AL17 (microwave)
6. Samsung RSA1DHMH (fridge-freezer)
7. Daewoo ERF336MB (fridge-freezer)
8. Samsung RSH1DTMH (fridge-freezer)
9. Miele KFN 8762 SDed (fridge-freezer)
10. Samsung RSH1DBBP (fridge-freezer)

Computing:
1. Apple MacBook MB403
2. SONY Vaio VGN CR31Z
3. HP DV9646EM RECON
4. ACER M1100
5. Dell Inspiron 1525
6. HP DV9702EA
7. Compaq Presario V6642EM
8. HP V6630EM
9. HP DV9705
10. Toshiba Equium P200-1ED

Home & DIY:
1. Numatic Hetty (vacuum cleaner)
2. Neff B1442NO (oven)
3. Neff B1442S0 (oven)
4. Neff U1322N1GB (oven)
5. Electrolux Insight EKT6045X (oven)
6. Bosch HBN1315 (oven)
7. Prestige 47433 (steam cooker)
8. Bosch HBN131251 (oven)
9. Aeg B41014 (oven)
10. Neff B1422 (oven)

A few very odd reviews in this week’s Funny Friday…

"Good to send to the man who has everything. High Five! Hey may send you pictures… give me a labotomy" Borat Mankini Swimsuit

"Takes a little time for anybody with average computer skills and over 40 to get to grips with…And Since losing my "super cool" position within the family i have been forced to remove my underwear from the fridge!" APPLE I-MAC 24 - we weren’t too sure what this review was all about but it did make us chuckle

"the SEXIEST way to turn on a TV ever!" Samsung LE40F86BD

"the glass screen is far too reflective so its like your watching a half tv half mirror. useful for doing your hair in" Hitachi 15WDVB

"the muscles are a tad big- my kid can hardly eat when he’s got it on" Spider-Man Reversible Costume

If you like your wine, you might want to get your hands on one of these. It?s a nifty device that can age wine - or any other alcohol that benefits from age, like Whisky - almost instantly. The Ultrasonic Wine Ager looks like a common ice bucket but it uses ultrasound to collide alcohol molecules which artificially ages the alcohol. In 30 minutes, your wine will taste like it?s been aged for decades.

It?s also great for preventing hangovers because the process purifies the alcohol and makes it easier for your kidneys to absorb.

So you can take a cheap supermarket bottle of vino and change it into an oak-aged vintage in no time. Or take a bargain Whisky and turn it into an eight-year-aged single malt.

Casey Jones, inventor of the device, even tried it on orange juice and said it made it taste a lot fresher and look brighter too.

It improves the taste, look and bouquet of the drink ? I?d imagine you all saying that in the voice of Jilly Goolden… But although you could quite happily turn a cheap bottle of plonk into a masterpiece, the price of this gadget is definitely not cheap. It?s ?350 at the moment. A little steep but if you?re into your wine, I reckon it would pay itself off in no time…just beware of restaurants trying to make you pay a fortune for paint stripper..

As I was browsing Reevoo, trying to find a present, I decided to see which were the top rated DVDs to help me find something. I have to say that they were the strangest collection of titles and definitely not what I expected so I thought I?d share them with you all.

The top 10 most highly rated DVDs* on Reevoo.com were:

1.    Long Way Down
2.    Gavin & Stacey
3.    Dirty Dancing
4.    Sharpe
5.    Shaun the Sheep ? The Christmas Giftset DVD
6.    Peppa Pig Vol.4
7.    Lazytown
8.    Genesis - When In Rome
9.    Fifi Bumper Collection DVD
10.  Dancing On Ice

*with over 15 reviews

Pretty odd, hey? Unfortunately we can?t control people?s taste but it got me thinking about my favourite movies.

If you had to pick your top three movies of all time, what would they be?

If you?re bored of buying batteries for your all your children?s toys, here are some to give you, and the planet, a bit of a break.

First up is the wind-up radio that also works as a mobile phone charger, suitable for old and new Nokias as well as Samsung, Sony Ericsson and Motorola handsets.

As well as relieving the planet from batteries, the radio also comes packed in bio-degradable packaging.

You can get your hands on a red football radio or a pink heart radio. Both are ?8.49.

Next is the Bat Torch. He requires no batteries and will never run out. All you need to do is squeeze him to operate the light.

He will also stand upright so that he can act as a nightlight. You can pick one up for ?4.99.

And here?s an interesting one. A women?s cooperative in the Philippines make these bags from recycled juice cartons. Seeing as the juice cartons use non-biodegradable foil on the inside, they would otherwise be sent to clog up landfill sites or be incinerated, so it?s a great way to reuse the cartons.

They make loads of different bags but as we’re all about little people today, these kids? backpacks are good and come in loads of different fruits and colours. They’re ?12.99.

You can find out more about the cooperative here.

If you’re looking for more normal toys, you can read toy reviews over on Reevoo to help you decide what to buy.

There are 15 days to go before the Beijing Olympic games and this year will be the first time we can watch them in HD in the UK. Pretty exciting stuff. For those of you who don’t know, HD is high-definition and it’s all about more pixels and much clearer pictures for our TV sets.  It makes watching sports events, wildlife programmes - well, anything really - way better.

We’ve looked at all the full HD TV reviews over on Reevoo to find the best ones. TVs are rated on their design, sound quality, image quality and value for money. People are then asked if they would recommend the TV set.

Here’s the top five:

1.    Sony Bravia KDL40X2000 - £999
2.    Panasonic TX-32LZD80 - £724
3.    Samsung LE37A656A - £679
4.    Panasonic TH42PZ80 - £724
5.    Panasonic TH42PZ85B - £864

And here’s how we got there:

So top of the list was the Sony Bravia KDL40X2000 but interestingly, it lost out to the Panasonic TH42PZ80 for image quality and the Samsung LE37A656A for design.

If you’re looking for a top all-rounder, the Sony is obviously the one to go for but it’s also the most expensive. The Panasonic TH42PZ80 leads the pack for image quality, which should be one of the top considerations when buying an HD TV. It’s also over £200 cheaper and it’s been recommended by 96% of the people who bought it. This would be my choice.

If you’re not convinced about HD, there are lots of other TVs around. You can check out all of the TV reviews over on Reevoo.

Unveiled at the British Motor Show this week was the waterproof, multi-use navigator from Garmin. The nüvi 500 is great news for cyclists, drivers, walkers, and folks in boats as it can customise itself to whichever form of travel you undertake.  It’s waterproof and built for adventure, providing turn-by-turn directions to get you when you want to be.

The different maps include TOPO for outdoor navigation and Blue Chart cartography for marine usage.  Boat fans can also add the optional BlueChart g2 Vision marine cartography, which will show them wrecks, port plans, inter tidal zones and other clever boaty things.

Walkers will also feel special as there’s a digital elevation map option, compass page and tracklog so that you can track where you’ve been - great for knowing who to blame when you get lost.

All the usual suspects are also onboard (sorry), such as Garmin’s “Where am I” feature, which tells you your exact coordinates, traffic avoidance and millions of points of interest.

You can also navigate by photos by using the “Connect Photos” option which will give you access to Google’s Panoramio.

This would be a great little device for people that want navigation for all their forms of travel.

The nüvi 500 has a 3.5 inch TFT screen, weighs 215g and has a battery life of 8 hours. It’s set to be released in the UK in September for £299.

We thought it was about time we carried on our rooms on a budget theme. This week, we’re looking at kitchens on a budget.

We’ve looked at everything you’d need for a kitchen – minus the cabinets themselves – and our budget kitchen comes in at £1114.

Obviously everybody’s kitchen will be different colours so we’ve gone for standard, yet sleek, black and stainless steel.

First up are the essentials, sink, oven, hob and fridge-freezer. 

We’ve gone for the attractive Astracast KO10RS sink. It’s £150, 98 cm wide and has a bowl size of 43 x 50 cm.

Everyone knows that if you want the best control over your cooking, the only way to go is gas. We’ve found this great stainless steel hob and oven pack from Baumatic. It’s £200 and has been rated 9.1/10 on Reevoo.

The top rated and best value for money fridge freezer we could find was the Indesit TA5S. It’s £240, has more fridge room than the large American-style fridges and it’s got some great reviews. Lots of owners are very impressed with its capacity, quality and value for money.

Ok, so far we’ve covered the essentials and we’re up to £590. Not bad for a fridge-freezer, oven, hob and sink?

Let’s move on to appliances.

The Breville JK123 kettle is simple to use and great value for money at £16. The matching Breville TT48 toaster is only £19. It has independent controls for each slice and a digital display.

This £51 Kenwood SJSS25 microwave has been rated 8.5/10 by the people who have bought it. Its capacity is 25 litres and it also has a grill function. One review reads “Easy to use, attractive, cost effective, efficient, fast, easy to wipe clean and maintain”.

For a dishwasher, we’ve gone for the Hotpoint FDL570. It’s £215 and it’s only 49 decibels so you won’t annoy the neighbours.

And finally, the washing machine. The A-rated Hotpoint WF321 is £223 and it has a larger than average load capacity of 6kg. Pam  from  Salisbury says “It is easy to use, not too noisy, nice big door and nice looking”.

So there you have it, a stylish kitchen for a little over £1000. Job done.