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

No one plans on spending much time in the kitchen at uni - unless it’s where everyone plays ring of fire and watches Diagnosis Murder re-runs - so you’ll be needing some kitchen basics which won’t put a dent in your loan and which will survive daily abuse.

We’ve come up with some best value appliances which will ensure that you can live off the three student staples: toast, tea and beans…and a little something to make sure no one makes off with your beer.

Tesco have a great range of value products and we’ve found a Kettle, toaster and sandwich toaster all for under £30.

kettle - Tesco Value JK07 - £10

toaster - Tesco Value 2T07 - £9

sandwich toaster - Tesco Value Sandwich Toaster - £10

With a microwave, you can pretty much live pan-free. Take a look at the 20 litre Daewoo KOR6L15. It’s a bargain at £38 with five power steps and auto-cook function.

This final item may not be seen as an essential but you’ll soon realise that beers in the fridge disappear quickly. Keep them safe by investing in this Matsui MTT507WW mini fridge which can live in the safety of your room. It’s £72 plus delivery and has a 60 litre capacity…that’s a lot of beer!

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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It’s not a particularly great time to be moving house at the moment so for those of you who just want to spruce things up a bit, you can do so for less than you think.

The kitchen is where all the action happens, food action, that is. It’s also one of the most expensive rooms to totally redo because of all the appliances that have to go in it. But there are some great bargains to be had in the appliances department. We’ve been through all the reviews to pick out a load of cheap appliances that have great reviews from their owners.

We’ve even managed to find a fridge-freezer, washing machine, oven, hob, dishwasher and microwave all for under £800!

We’ve also included some smaller items like kettles and toasters. Check them out:

Best cheap appliances

Washing machine - Indesit WIB111 - £175

Oven - Indesit FI21KB - £135

Hob - New World NWGHU60Ss - £78

Fridge-freezer - Hotpoint RFA52 - £209

Microwave - Russell Hobbs SMS21 - £40

Dishwasher - Beko DWD4310 - £160

All the above for under £800!

Kettle - Kenwood Mona Kettle - £15

Toaster - Kenwood TTP103 - £18

Food processor - Kenwood Delia’s Cheat Gadget - £17

Some real bargains there. I can’t believe that food processor is only £17! It’s been reviewed by 333 people and has a score of 9.1/10 so it’s definitely a little gem. It was also recommended by TV chef extraordinaire, Delia Smith, so it must be good.

There are plenty more bargains to be had too but just make sure you read the reviews first to ensure the product is actually any good.

Back in the day, our kitchens were filled with mug trees, chip pans and egg slicers. Well a lot has happened since then and we now go home to plasma TVs, grilling machines and bread makers. Making meals from scratch has given way to microwaves, ready meals and expensive gadgets that cut down the time and effort we have to put into cooking. In fact, a survey conducted by Reevoo showed that in the 1970s, we cooked seven meals a week from scratch compared to only four today. We also spent 116 minutes a day in the kitchen whereas we only spend around 74 minutes nowadays.

Check out the stats below that show how our kitchens have changed in the last 30 odd years.

The survey also looked at regional changes and found that those in the North East were more likely to own chip pans in the 70s and in the North West and Northern Ireland, kitchens are more likely to come complete with games consoles, HiFis and plasma TVs today. However, gadgets aren’t as important in the North East – they are the least likely to have a dishwasher.

People in the East Midlands spend the least time in the kitchen with those in Northern Ireland spending the most.

Interesting stuff. Although, I do think that the culture of cooking from scratch is on its way back in. With more and more scare stories about packaged food, problems with our diets and the guilt factor pushed onto parents, I think that we are cooking a lot more than we did 10 years ago. It is a little worrying that more people have coffee machines than scales but here’s hoping that we all start putting a bit more effort into cooking healthy meals. The big issue is time but with all these gadgets, it has made things a little quicker than they would have been in the 70s.

Top seventies kitchen items

1.     Teapot and cosy (63%)
2.     Kitchen scales (61 %)
3.     Tupperware (59%)
4.     Chip pan (58%)
5.     Salt and pepper shakers (57%)
6.     Bread bin (56%)
7.     Hand-held whisk (52%)
8.     Casserole dish (49%)
9.     Spice rack (44%)
10.   Pressure cooker (43%)
11.   Tea strainer (42%)
12.   Mug tree (41%)
13.   Toasted sandwich maker (38%)
14.   Souvenir tea towels (37%)
15.   Shaped jelly mould (36%)
16.   Egg slicer (36%)
17.   Lolly makers (35%)
18.   Food mixer (35%)
19.   Soda stream (34%)
20.   Electric carving knife (33%)

Top items found in today’s kitchens

1.     Microwave (70%)
2.     Electric kettle (69%)
3.     Toaster (68%)
4.     Saucepan set (57%)
5.     Knife set (55%)
6.     Automatic washing machine (53%)
7.     Wok (49%)
8.     Sandwich maker (40%)
9.     Blender (38%)
10.   Hand held blender (37%)
11.   Tumble dryer (36%)
12.   Steamer (35%)
13.   Dishwasher (32%)
14.   Grilling machine (31%)
15.   Coffee machine (26%)
16.   Grill pan (26%)
17.   Slow cooker (26%)
18.   Electric scales (24%)
19.   Water filter (23%)
20.   Bread maker (22%)

It seems us Brits are baffled by modern technology that was sent to help us. According to a poll of 2000 people (by the folks over at Reevoo), mobile phones, SatNavs and even TV remotes send us into panic and rage when we can’t figure out how to use them. In fact, a whopping 32% of people admitted to throwing a complicated gadget across the room when they couldn’t work out what to do with it.

Digital cameras were voted the most complicated with SatNavs and mobile phones close behind. Interestingly though, people are obviously happy to live in confusion with their SatNavs, as only 6% actually read the manuals!

More alarming is that the same numbers of us are as baffled by our laptops as our ovens (the nation’s health crisis suddenly makes sense now…). And people are more inclined to read their TV manual over their oven’s. Hmmmm.

And even when a device goes wrong, more than a quarter will try to fix it themselves, or even buy a new one, instead of turning to the instructions.

Here’s the full list of things we find complicated:

1.    Digital Camera - 26%
2.    GPS navigation    - 21%
3.    Mobile phone - 19%
4.    Washing machine - 18%
5.    Camcorder - 17%
6.    DVD player - 15%
7.    Games console - 13%
8.    TV remote control - 13%
9.    MP3 player - 13%
10.    Microwave - 12%
11.    Computer - 12%
12.    Digital photo frame - 12%
13.    Scanner - 11%
14.    Laptop - 10%
15.    Television - 10%
16.    Modem - 10%
17.    Oven - 9%
18.    Printer - 9%
19.    Answer machine - 9%
20.    Freeview box - 8%
21.    Broadband - 8%
22.    Sky - 8%
23.    Dishwasher - 7%
24.    Digital TV - 7%
25.    Hi Fi system - 7%
26.    Tumble dryer - 6%
27.    Iron - 6%
28.    Telephone - 6%
29.    Clock Radio - 5%
30.    Smoke alarm - 5%
31.    Electric timer - 5%
32.    Smoothie maker - 5%
33.    Alarm clock - 4%
34.    Blender - 4%

…and how many people bother to read the manuals for these items:

1.    I don’t read manuals - 46%
2.    Mobile phone - 19%
3.    Washing machine - 17%
4.    Television - 16%
5.    Digital Camera - 14%
6.    Microwave - 11%
7.    Oven - 10%
8.    DVD player - 10%
9.    MP3 player - 9%
10.    Laptop - 9%
11.    Computer - 8%
12.    Printer - 8%
13.    TV remote control - 8%
14.    Broadband - 8%
15.    Telephone - 7%
16.    Tumble dryer - 6%
17.    Iron - 6%
18.    GPS navigation - 6%
19.    Camcorder - 6%
20.    Dishwasher - 6%
21.    Hi Fi system - 6%
22.    Scanner - 5%
23.    Freeview box - 5%
24.    Answer machine - 5%
25.    Alarm clock - 5%
26.    Modem - 5%
27.    Smoke alarm - 5%
28.    Clock Radio - 5%
29.    Games console - 5%
30.    Sky - 4%
31.    Digital TV - 4%
32.    Digital photo frame - 3%
33.    Electric timer - 2%

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.

"the big button dropped off after a couple of days, glue technology obviously not having reached the point in Taiwan where it can be successfully used to stick things together" HTC Touch Dual

"Reversing the doors turned out to be an absolute lesson in self control and anger management" Hotpoint FF187E

"Doesn’t come with a free Nigela Lawson clone : /" LG MS1944JL

"Not overly keen on the ‘jolly’ little jingle it plays when it has finished" SAMSUNG WF7604NAW

It’s all about kitchen gadgets today. First up are the indestructible Grab-it oven gloves. Made of plastic, they withstand temperatures of up to 250 degrees. I don’t know if you’ve ever had the misfortune of getting traditional oven gloves wet and then tried and pick up a hot baking tray but if you have, you’ll know it’s not on the top-ten list of fun pursuits.  These laugh in the face of water. And grease. And oil. There’s no need to stick these in the washing machine and then have to wait for them to dry as they just wash under the tap or in the dishwasher.

You’ll also never be in a situation where your apple crumble is burning and you can’t find the oven gloves because these handy fellows stick to most surfaces with their clever suction cups. I suggest sticking them on the front of the oven for maximum convenience.

They fit every size of hand and can be used by righties and lefties alike. You can pick them up from the Orli Shop for £9.99. My only issue is that they only come in packs of one which isn’t too handy for the weak wristed among us…

Next is a gadget that’s not technically for the kitchen but it’s a kitchen appliance on tour. Wavebox is the world’s first portable microwave and it’s now available in the UK. It costs around £135 and can be powered three ways: with a standard plug, direct to 12-volt battery or via any vehicle power socket rated at 20 amps or higher. It’s aimed at people with mini-vans, trucks, boats etc and classy builders who fancy a change from the humble sandwich. It also comes with a cool bag so that you can keep everything cold before you nuke it. Check out the Wavebox website for more info.

And just for fun, some mood toast. Unfortunately, it’s not bread that senses your mood and spreads itself with the appropriate topping. It’s a pack of nice stamps to leave messages to your fellow toast lover in their toast. You can pick from “Good morning” or “I love you”. For those who have a more sinister message, I suggest using a sharp implement.

GeekySpeaky: Submit Your Site!

It’s spring time and lots of people are having improvements made to their houses. If you’re looking to get a new kitchen, we’ve put together all the top kitchen appliances, rated by people who’ ve bought and used them, so that you can be sure you’re spending your money wisely.

We’ve concentrated on products with 30 reviews or more and have included even the little essentials like the all important kettle and food processor.

Let’s start off with the big stuff:

You can’t have a kitchen without an oven. We’ve gone for the top freestanding one which happens to be the Cannon C60DHK with 9.1/10. Purchasers love its value for money and performance. Richard from Surrey keeps things concise when he says: “Dual fuel, easy to keep clean, well built, quality materials, efficient.”

Reviewers name the Beko AB910s the best fridge/freezer. It gets 9.1/10 and a load of very positive comments. One review reads, “Excellent capacity. Very quiet. Attractive and functional.”

Miele have done pretty well with reviewers, they get top spots in the washing machine and dishwasher categories. Their W 3922 WPS SOFTRONIC washing machine not only scores an A-rating for energy efficiency, it also scores highly with consumers, one of whom says it “delivers the best wash I have ever seen.” Other purchasers hardly have a bad word to say about it and as a result, its overall score is 9.5/10.

With positive comments like “This is a high quality machine and is built to last”, and very few negative comments, Miele can also be proud of the G1222SC dishwasher’s 9/10 score.

As temperatures are getting hotter, you want to spend less time labouring over a hot stove, nuke your grub instead with the Panasonic NNCT766M BPQ. It apparently “has everything you could want from a multi-function microwave”, according to Alan in Whitley Bay. It scores 8.8/10 with particularly high scores in the performance category.

Treat your rosey lea to some top quality treatment with the Breville JK121 kettle. It gets 8.7/10 from its fans.

Mixing stuff has never been so fun and reliable…if you use the Kenwood FP 920, that is. With 8.9/10 and attachments and gadgets aplenty, you’ll ask yourself why you never invested in one before.

Hope you got all that. If you didn’t, here’s a recap:

Freestanding Oven – Cannon C60DHK
Fridge/freezer – Beko AB910s
Washing machine - Miele W 3922 WPS SOFTRONIC
Dishwasher – Miele G1222SC
Microwave – Panasonic NNCT766M BPQ
Kettle – Breville JK121
Food processor – Kenwood FP 920