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

3D video is a hallmark of futuristic technology for any film set in years to come - remember Jaws 19 3D in Back to the Future II? - but recent announcements by Sky, Channel 4 and TV makers mean that 3D TV in your living room could be a reality in a matter of months.

This week Channel 4 revealed they’re going to broadcast a week of 3D TV this autumn. The mini-season will include a magic show by Derren Brown, 3D movies, 3D footage of the Queen’s coronation shot back in 1953 and (because this is Channel 4 after all) a clip show of the “100 greatest 3D TV moments”. Sky recently announced their plans to broadcast a 3D channel next year, concentrating on live music coverage, films and sport. Sky has already recorded 3D footage of Usain Bolt, the world’s fastest man, sprinting 150m earlier this year.

In fact, Sky has already experimented with 3D broadcasting: in December last year it was the first UK TV company to broadcast in 3D to a home television, and this April it also acheived another first, broadcasting the first live event in 3D.  3D films are already available on Blu-Ray, coming with a handful of the familiar cardboard 3D glasses.

3D signal is all very well, but it would be absolutely no good to home viewers without the equipment to display it. Sky is at the forefront in the hardware arena too: Sky+ HD set-top boxes are already 3D ready.

3D-ready TVs have been a niche market in previous years - and a struggling one, as manufacturers have tried and (largely) failed to acheive the nirvana of 3D TV: a TV that displays 3D signal without needing viewers to wear those silly glasses. Channel 4’s one-off 3D series will require viewers to wear these glasses, which will be made available at Sainsburys stores across the country.

There have already been 3D TVs on the market: anyone who bought a Samsung plasma PS50A476 a couple of years ago already owns one. Philips mothballed its 3D TV division this year but Panasonic, LG, Sony and Samsung all had 3D TVs to show off at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (a big electronics industry event in Las Vegas). No word yet on exactly how soon these could be available in the UK, but Sky seems to be banking on there being enough viewers with 3D-ready TVs in 2010 to make its 3D broadcasts worthwhile.

Industry pundits have predicted 3D becoming widespread in home entertainment set-ups in as little as 3 years. 3D broadcast and technology is likely to be no more than a novelty for years to come, so don’t despair if you’ve just upgraded to an Full HD model.

If you can’t wait this long, you’re in luck. The next 12 months sees the release of the biggest crop of 3D films ever, pretty much one from every studio. Everything from a family-friendly 3D sequel to Ice Age, to the much-hyped sci-fi blockbuster Avatar will be popping out of IMAX screens across the country.

For those of a more Eeyore-ish disposition, T3 magazine is happy to remind us of past 3D blunders.

Images:
3D glasses: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dominicspics/ / CC BY 2.0

Yesterday we looked at how to recycle old electronic goods.  Before you rush off to the local recycling facility with your old freezers, CD players or CRT TVs, take a minute to think if anyone else could still get some use out of them.

Three million children live in UK households that cannot afford to replace broken electrical items. If your electrical goods haven’t reached the end of their useful life, but you don’t fancy the effort involved in putting them up on ebay, here are some alternative ways to get them to people who really need them.

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The only problem with buying yourself a great new gadget, or fitting out your kitchen with up-to-the minute appliances is what to do with the things they replace. Disposing of old electricals can be a bit of a headache and they often end up gathering dust at the back of a cupboard or in the attic.

At the moment, over 75% of old electricals end up in landfills, polluting the soil. Every year Britain produces enough electrical waste to fill Wembley Stadium 6 times over. And this mountain of junk is growing - Britain produces 5% more electrical waste every year.

The irony is that over 85% of the materials that make up electrical goods are recyclable, and recycling them has never been easier. Here’s our quick guide to the right way to get rid of old TVs, kitchen appliances, gadgets and mobile phones.

What can I recycle?

If your product has a plug or a battery it can probably be recycled.  Double check by looking for the crossed-out wheely bin symbol somewhere on the product case or manual.

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Cars aren’t the greenest of things so we’re always glad when we find something that we can use to save energy in them. This week’s Green Piece is all about the Sunsei 150 solar car battery charger. It will trickle charge a 12v car battery but can also be used in tractors, small boats, motorbikes and other small vehicles.

It’s ideal if you’re trying to use your car less or take it off the road but you’re worried that the battery will go flat. It will also save electricity if you need to charge your battery via a mains charger. And, of course, it will help all of us who don’t have that handy bleeping noise that alerts us to the fact that we’ve left our lights on when we get out of the car.

All in all, a pretty handy green gadget. You just mount the panel on the inside of your car window, using the suction cups and connect it to the cigarette lighter or directly to the battery with the crocodile clips provided.

You can pick one up here for £29.99 if you’re in the UK or here for $48.88 for US readers.

If you’re always getting lost, you may also want to invest in a sat nav - just think how much petrol you waste and how much CO₂ you emit when you’re correcting ‘navigation malfunctions’!

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.

This must be one of the simplest green gadgets we’ve ever featured on Decide What to Buy. The Paper Potter is a simple wooden tool that helps you to make pots out of your old newspapers.

Simply cut your old newspapers into strips, roll a strip around the Paper Potter and fold the excess paper over the end of the tool. Press the end into the base of the Paper Potter and hey presto! A mini pot for your plants that can be planted in the garden. Totally biodegradable and the growing roots will be able to push through the paper as it rots away in the soil.

The Paper Potter is made from wood from sustainable forests and comes in a recycled cardboard box. Not only that but you’ll save loads of money on pots! Great fun for kids too.

They are £9.95 in the UK but they ship globally.

With households around the land worrying that it’s time to tighten belts, we thought we’d help show you how you can get the most from your purchases and do your bit to save the planet at the same time – after all, who wants another summer like we’ve just had?

In addition to Reevoo’s normal job, of using real customer reviews to help you decide what to buy, Reevoo now allows you to search by which household products are the most energy efficient. With energy prices up by 20% this year, we thought this was pretty smart, as well as green.

So, what difference will this really make?

We took one of the market’s top energy rated fridge freezers, the Indesit BAAN134, which has an A* energy efficiency rating and carries the Energy Savings Trust Feature, and compared it to your average light bulb.

At roughly HALF the power usage of a 60 watt lightbulb, not only will the Indecit keep your beers chilled but it might tempt you to live by fridge-light during fast approaching autumnal months.

We wouldn’t expect you to compromise on quality either, the Indesit scored 9.2 out of 10 by those that bought it and 93% of buyers would recommend it.

So, if you’re interested in making your home as cost and energy efficient as possible, or just want to find out which washing machine uses less power than your iPhone, check out the home product reviews on Reevoo.

[Guest post by Matt]

There’s no need to worry about being music-less when you’re on the move again. These solar powered headphones with FM radio will run for up to 20 hours when fully charged. And one hour of sunlight will provide one-three hours listening. There are no wires to get in the way of walking, running, or whatever you fancy doing. Just music. The radio has a powerful internal antenna and extended base so you can keep everyone else entertained at the same time – sure to be popular on trains. And it recharges itself even when you’re listening to it, as long as you’re in the company of sun.

Heads big and small will love these headphones because the adjustable headband will accommodate all sizes. Plus you’re doing your bit for the environment at the same time. You can pick up a pair here for £19.95 with global shipping.

We’ve talked about eco kettles in the past so we thought it fair to offer up an alternative to the somewhat disappointing offering we’ve had already.  This Eco Kettle helps with the problem of not knowing how much water to put in your kettle every time you boil it. Most people end up boiling far too much and wasting a whole heap of electricity. In fact, the folks over at The Big Green Shop claim that on average, we boil twice the volume of water needed. This means twice as much energy and twice as much time. With a 3kW kettle that’s the same as wasting the energy of around 50 light bulbs!

So why is this kettle different? Well, it’s got two water chambers. A central reservoir can be filled up and then a button allows a certain amount of water to move into the second chamber, which will then get heated. You can decide how much water you send through from one cup to full capacity, so that you know exactly how much you’re boiling (rather than standing at the sink, trying to estimate, filling it too much, having to empty some out, emptying too much out, having to fill up again – I think you get the point). Apparently, the Energy Saving Trust did some consumer trials and found that the kettle used 31% less energy than standard kettles, on average. There’s a complicated sum that measures how much we could save a year here too. These kettles are £29.99. For those of you in the US, you can pick one up from the Enviro Centre. They’re a little more expensive but they ship globally.

But before you rush off and buy one, we checked out some of the reviews. There are people who are very happy with their purchase, however, a few others aren’t. Check out the eco kettle reviews for yourselves.

We all love our pets so this week’s Green Piece is concentrating on green products for pets.

First up, the not so nice subject of bagging up your dog’s mess when you’re out walking. Not everyone’s favourite job but you might as well be helping the planet while you do it. These “Dump It Onya” bags are 100% biodegradable and come in a refillable bag made from strong parachute material. There’s even room to keep some dog treats. They’re £8.95 for 100 in the UK or $10.95 for 25 in the US.

We’re also full of cat love here at DWTB, so we’ve found some herbal cat litter that is not only good for your cats, but also for the environment. It’s made from whole kernel corn and claims to have “amazing odour control properties combined with outstanding clumpability” – well what more could you want?! 3kg for £9.99 here in the UK and a close equivalent at $14.99 for 7lbs in the US.

We had to add some toys to the list so we’ve found these great dog toys which are designed to be recyclable and to create virtually no waste during the manufacturing process. Hucks are non-toxic and extremely durable. They also come in lots of different colours, they’re recommended for aggressive chewers, pullers, and fetchers and they’re dishwasher safe. £7.99 over here and $8.50 in the US.

Eco-friendly pet products - check.