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

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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

2. Samsung F480 Tocco

3. Blackberry Storm

4. Sony Ericsson C902

5. Samsung Omnia

6. Samsung J700

7. Samsung Soul U900

8. BlackBerry Bold 9000

9. Sony Ericsson Xperia X1

10. LG KF750 Secret

TOP TEN HIGHEST RATED MOBILE PHONES OF 2008:

1. BlackBerry Bold 9000

2. Sony Ericsson W980i

3. Apple iPhone 3G 8/16GB

4. Samsung F480 Tocco

5. Sony Ericsson K660i

6. Fly SL600

7. Sagem my411C

8. Samsung J700

9. Samsung Steel

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.

If you’re bored of the iPhone already, be a little different and get your hands on a BlackBerry Storm. You can pre-order one from Phones4U from tomorrow and they’re officially released on Friday, exclusively on Vodafone. But if you really want one, just beware of the potential crowds you might encounter on Friday because it’s rumored that newly crowned champion, Lewis Hamilton, will be making an appearance.

If you’ve forgotten what the BlackBerry Storm is all about, check out the details:

For more info, check out the BlackBerry website

Read other BlackBerry reviews

It seems that the iPhone has won even more fans in the shape of HSBC chiefs. The powers that be over at the global bank have decided to look into using iPhones as their executive weapon of choice. That would mean replacing their fleet of around 300,000 BlackBerry devices.

Now that the new iPhone 3G is compatible with Microsoft Exchange servers, it has become more attractive to business as well as consumers. Its larger screen and applications geared towards trading and accounting are adding to the iPhones capability to become a serious business competitor.

News from the BlackBerry camp is that the BlackBerry Thunder, equipped with a large touch screen, will be released later this year to go into direct competition with the iPhone. Watch this space for a smartphone stand-off…

It’s official. Women may like to spend money on expensive handbags and shoes but when it comes to the living room, boys shell out the most cash.

According to the latest research from Reevoo, kitting out a bachelor pad with huge plasma TVs, top of the range laptops, games consoles, high-end stereos and other gadgets puts the bill up to £4,678.97.

Reevoo looked at the highest rated products with over 30 reviews to compile the research. According to shoppers, the best wide screen plasma HD ready TV is the Panasonic TH50PZ70B which can be nicely accompanied by the top DVD recorder, the Sony RDR-HX510. Just these two cost over £1,500.

Every man’s need and desire to put as little effort into living as possible has been accounted for. There’s the Proline TTR 65 P mini beer fridge which can be plugged in right next to your sofa so that cold beer is only a short stretch away, the Hewlett Packard Pavilion DV9605 laptop, so you can check up on your stocks and shares while you’re watching the footie and an Xbox 360 Elite for when you run out of DVDs.

Other items to complete the perfect bachelor pad include the Philips HD7810/60 coffee machine, the Blackberry Curve 8310, and the Miele G1222SC
dishwasher, so that you don’t have to get involved in any of that mucky washing up.

So girls, next time you get an earful off him indoors, direct him to this handy bit of research before you head for the shops.

Here’s a full list for those who want to create the perfect pad:

Panasonic
TH50PZ70B 50 inch HD ready plasma screen TV £1,351.00

Xbox 360 Elite
games console £250.00

Panasonic FZ50 digital
camera £306.00

Sony DCR-SR 32E handycam
camcorder with 30GB hard drive £259.00

Blackberry Curve
8310 mobile phone £274.99

Denon D-m 35 DAB hi-fi
mini system £150.00

Apple iPod touch 16GB black
£229.00

Wharfedale
Diamond 9.1 bookshelf speakers £129.00

Hewlett Packard Pavilion
DV9605 laptop £699.99

Pure Talksport DAB
radio £40.00

Proline TTR 65 P mini
fridge £69.99

Philips HD7810/60
Coffee Machine £50

Miele G1222SC
dishwasher £493.00

Philips HQ8150 electric
shaver £78.00

Sony RDR-HX510 DVD
Recorder £299.00