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

To celebrate the arrival of the cold season, we’ve found a sub zero deal on the Beko CDA539F fridge freezer, down to £211 at Pixmania.  And it scores 8.6, being described as a “Good all rounder”.

Being a Nikon user through and through I was thoroughly excited to get to play with a Canon camera, especially one with such high reviews. It has an average score of 9.3 and a staggering 9.7 for both features and build quality.

Colin, whose review was voted most helpful by Reevoo users, had this to say on the Canon Powershot G10:

Positive: The G10 is extremely versatile for a compact and has many features found on more expensive, larger DSLR’s. As a hill walker, I was attracted to the reported image quality, raw recording and the size/weight compared to a DSLR and have been delighted by the results.

Negative: Pricey for a compact, but you do get what you pay for. The multitude of features and recording options may be daunting to the novice, however, to buy this camera and only use it in “point and shoot” mode would be a crime.

I think Colin’s last point is extremely important. This camera is expensive for its type but is worth every penny, but only if you are prepared to make the most of it. With deep menu systems and a multitude of different settings it has a lot to offer. The navigation is extremely well laid out and intuitive so don’t shy away if you are a novice. Just think about buying it if you want to really progress your photography skills.

Images are sharp at low ISO ratings which means that in good lighting situations you can get photo quality comparable to higher end DSLR cameras such as the Nikon D300. However, when you start to work in low light the quality quickly degrades. This is not something uncommon in compact cameras and is to be expected but I was hoping for more from this little battle tank.

The screen is really bright, clear and easy to use but I was a little disappointed to find that when shooting in RAW format (the best possible quality and a rarity in compact cameras) I was not able to zoom in afterwards at full quality. This is annoying, especially when you are taking photos in tricky situations and want to make sure you’ve got the focus and shutter speed right.

There are many reviews of the G10, especially on its Reevoo.com product page, so I wanted to focus my attention particularly on one ingenious aspect, the panoramic mode.

The Canon Powershot G10 has a panoramic setting that makes taking impressive wide angle photos a doddle. Switch to the panoramic mode and take your first photo. After having done that the camera will display it on its big 3″ screen as well as a live feed of what you’re pointing your camera at. This allows you to move your camera and line up the next shot in the scene where your previous shot finished. You can take as many shots as you want and then use the provided Canon software to stitch them together. Providing you’ve taken your photos well, which is made even easier by an auto exposure compensation as the light changes across your panorama, the stitching software works a treat and produces fantastic results.

Not being one to stick to the rules I thought I’d be clever and do a vertical panoramic. For a first attempt I was quite impressed with how easy it was to do. The only complaint I have is that too much of the screen was taken up by the overlaid previous image so I felt I was taking 10 photos where I could have taken 5. I think with more experimentation I could probably have found a way around that problem.

The Canon G10 looks like it means business, feels like it means business and for the most part acts like it means business. It’s well weighted, sturdily designed, has a great menu system and well positioned button lay out. Its optical zoom function is deceptively good and at 14.7 megapixels a digital crop zoom is definitely not out of the question on any shots taken below ISO 400. After ISO 400 noise is bad but the camera has a much welcomed flash hotshoe built in meaning you can get really professional photos even in low light if you are happy to buy an accompanying flash such as the Canon 430 EX II.

Overall if you are looking for an innovative and sturdy compact with much of the power of a Digital SLR but none of the backpack space then the Canon G10 is worth considering. Just make sure if you’re willing to spend the money that you are going to make the most of it and delve deep into its menu system and plethora of settings.

If you want to look at reviews for Nikon’s answer to the Canon G10, go to Reevoo and look at the Nikon P6000.

Reviews, product information and price comparison on the Canon Powershot G10 can be read Here

We’ve had a bit of a break but people have been missing our Funny Friday Reviews so much that we’ve brought them back early. Here are some of the more humorous reviews over on Reevoo

“If you dont like the mindless pursuit of slaughtering zombies, this may not be for you”

“Many times i am watching tv and the bell goes off and i don’t hear it. Ending up with burnt pizza, er i mean spoilt home made Chicken casserole.” Indesit FI31

“Not much help with pronunciation, not that I expect to use it for conversation very much!” Cambridge Latin Course 1

“As soon as I saw this I new it would be perfect for my nephew and as soon as it arrived I knew it would be perfect for me!!” Spongebob Squarepants Karaoke

“Used them for driving in Southern USA. Got a really dark tan. Went into a golf clubhouse with a golf club in my hand and was mistaken for Stevie Wonder.” Scott Glasses

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.