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

Off to a festival in the next few months? Take a look at our festival survival gadgets to make sure you avoid all the usual festival pitfalls.

Don’t lose your tent or your friends this year, use Google Maps with Latitude to keep track of both. Go for the popular Nokia N97 or the new Apple iPhone 3G S and, while you’re at it, download the Shazam app which will recognise a tune within a few notes and then helpfully take you to iTunes to purchase the track.

Grab yourself a wind-up charger too, to make sure your mobile never runs out.

If you’re after a festival-proof camera, the Olympus MJU 1050 is tough, waterproof and shockproof so it should last the summer. It’s 12x digital zoom and 30fps video capture mode will keep your festival memories for ever. Owners love this camera and it receives a score of 8.6/10 with one reviewer labelling it “virtually indestructible”.

Going to the loo is a mission at festivals but there’s no need to miss out on all the action while you’re in the queue. This Roberts Solar DAB radio is, as the name suggests, solar powered, so running out of batteries is not an option. It’s rated 8.9/10 by very impressed owners.

After the artists have finished, the music doesn’t have to stop with the Sony NWZ-A816 Walkman which scooped gold in the Reevoo Customer Choice Awards earlier this year and scores 9.3/10. But if you want to share your music, go for the iMode Boombox dock which is rugged and a steal at only £25.

If you have to queue for the loo, at least avoid queuing for the shower. Take the Super Solar Shower in a bag and have a leisurely soak under a branch at your convenience. It can be refilled time and time again and the solar panel will heat the water. An absolute bargain at just £5!

Finally, a festival kit bag wouldn’t be complete without a wind-up head torch. £15 will get you the Uni-Com wind up head torch – hours of fun without running out of batteries.

With the sun at last seeming to be showing signs of being here to stay, we thought it would be a good time to highlight some MP3 players that you’ll be able to take with you as you enjoy various sporty activities.

To be a truely go-anywhere MP3 player, the most vital feature is that the memory - where the songs are stored - is a solid state flash drive, rather than than a hard disk. If you’ve ever tried to go jogging with a hard drive-based MP3 player, like an iPod Classic, you’ll know that it doesn’t take long before skipping becomes a problem. Flash-based memory is a lot more durable, but the disadvantage is that it costs more per megabyte, so storage sizes tend to be between 2 and 32 GB. For the active listener that’s a trade-off that’s worth making. Check out the Sony NWZS639F or Apple’s new iPod Nano.

Another key item for allowing you to get on with your run without worrying about your MP3 player is a clip so you don’t need to bother having the device knocking around in your pocket. And of course the smaller the better. The Apple iPod Shuffle is very compact, with a durable clip built into the aluminium body. The latest model is voice activated too, making it easier to control on the go.

Or for true comfort on the go, take a look at this wearable MP3 player/headphones combination from Sony:

Depending on what your favourite activities are, you might also want to look out for a waterproof model. You probably wouldn’t want to go swimming, but from mountain biking to waterfights, it’s as well to be prepared. Swimsuit specialists Speedo have entered into the MP3 player market with their Aquabeat Waterproof MP3 player, or you could try SwiMP3 player (geddit?).

Whatever you’re up to this summer, there’s no reason you won’t be able to bring your favourite music with you!

Summer’s officially here and it’s holiday season. If you’re planning on trips closer to home this year, we’ve picked out a few sat navs to help you on your way. From the traditional in-car sat navs to handheld GPS trackers, you’re sure to find something to suit you.

For an in-car system that’s a bit different, check out the Navman S30 3D. You can see all landmarks in 3D and you can upload all the info about them and local attractions via the Navdesk on your PC so that you have all the interesting facts with you as you travel.

If you’re planning a road trip, Che Guevara style, you’ll want a rider sat nav. The TomTom Rider 2nd Edition UK & Ireland has a 3.5″ glove-friendly touch screen, helmet connection and Secure RAM mount. It’s also waterproof so you can splash though as many puddles as you like.

For the treckers amongst you, check out the Garmin eTrex H. It’s built for tough conditions, it’s waterproof and it only has five buttons which can be easily operated with one hand. It will last up to 17 hours on just two AA batteries and will store up to 500 waypoints in its memory for easy retrieval. There’s also the TrackBack® system which will take you back to your starting point by reversing your track log.

If you’re not sure where to start, take a look at our sat nav buyers guide.  or look through the best sat navs on Reevoo.

I think we can now officially say it’s summer, so to celebrate, I’ve picked out a few summer essentials to help you make the most of the weather before it’s too late.

You can’t enjoy summer without a lovely fruit juice at your side so I’ve checked out which juicer shoppers consider the best. At the moment, the Philips HR1861 is top with 8.6/10. It’s a 2 litre stainless steel super machine that pulverises whole fruit into juice in seconds. Shoppers hardly have a bad word to say about it. Check out the juicer reviews to see for yourselves.

As gadgets are always on my mind, I feel the need to insert a gadget I saw the other week that would be a perfect accompaniment to this juicer. Unfortunately, I can’t find the exact equivalent in the UK but for all of our US readers, you shouldn’t have a problem finding one. It’s a radio controlled drinks and snack holder for the pool. Summer can be a hot and sweaty business so don’t exert yourself, deliver snacks to friends in the pool without even having to move from your chair, or get snacks delivered to you on your lilo without having to get wet. For those of us in the UK, here’s an equivalent snack and drinks float that’s unfortunately not radio-controlled but it’s still pretty cool. All for £19.95.

If you don’t have a pool, how about one of these. It’s a 15 foot pool that can be put anywhere and it comes complete with a cover, ladder, pump and ground cloth. It’s £170 but surely it’s worth it for 3 days of sunshine a year?

And you’re going to need something to chill those drinks in. One of the best rated mini fridges is the Woolworths Micro Chiller. It’s a bargain at £14.

You’ll also be needing somewhere to sit, so how about this eight piece garden furniture set? It’s £199.99 and at the moment, it comes with a free sun lounger, worth £29.99.

And finally, no self-respecting sun worshipper can do so without some tunes. We featured the wireless outdoor iPod speaker a few weeks ago and I think it would be the perfect addition here. The speaker comes with a small transmitter that you plug your iPod
into. You can then apparently wander up to 240 feet away from the
speaker and still enjoy your favourite tunes. Perfect for the garden and wire free.

Some summer selections there. Here’s hoping we get some summer to enjoy them…