Sony KDL26S3000

There are a couple of things you notice as HD screens get more an more complicated.

One they seldom look their best just plugged in and turned on - you almost certainly will have some tweaking to do to get the best out of your new set. There is lots of help on the Internet for these though.

The 2nd is the menus are so darn complicated to use with all these settings - this is why Sony have pioneered their new xcross Media bar - it has been used on the PS3, PSP and some of Sonys high end phones - the idea is that naviagtion moves the icons that are displayed rather than a cursor - makes it easier to navigate. The new Sony Bravias all have this navigation system - I tried it out on the new Sony KDL26S3000
a cracking TV which you can pick up for under £400 nowadays!

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Pioneer 508XD

There is no doubt that some of the best (and unfortunately most expensive) Plasma screens are made by Pioneer. I was looking back at some of the reviews of their Pioneer PDP 508XD the other day. You wouldn't be surprised it got rave reviews from most of the specialist Home Cinema type magazines/sites like What Hifi, HDTV etc but once again inexplicably WHICH gave it 49%.

I mean how can a plasma - described as having Awe-inspiring picture quality - get 49%. Of course I know all these things are subjective but I do wonder especially with these larger screens if people are sitting 2 feet away and watching a SD broadcast of a 1940s film and moaning about the quality. Then they can't get it out of their mind when watching HD on the PDP 508XD.

Who knows but in my mind the Pioneer PDP-508XD is worth a damn site more than 48% - it is beautiful but alas too big to be allowed in this house whilst the missus is in residence (got the kids vote on my side though)

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Morphy Richards 48271 - bread from heaven

Well to continue on my rather girlie run of reviewed gadgets and items - I'll today recommend a brilliant device - an automatic breadmaker!

Now I don't know about you but one of my earliest pleasant childhood memories was the smell of fresh baked bread from the kitchen. A better smell I woudl find difficult to imagine. Now although these fond memories were rather spoilt by my mother insisting she never baked bread - (must have been someone elses kitchen I was dreaming of !) - having your flat or house smell of warm bread is pretty desirable.

The best thing is the latest breadmakers like the Morphy Richards 48271 are pretty much automatic - you bung the ingredients in - and about an hour or so later (on rapidbake) you've got a fresh loaf.

You can even set it to bake overnight so thaaaaat smell wakes you up in the morning. Of course there is obviously a downside (like the half a stone you put on after troughing loaf after loaf covered with Lurpack) but hey nothing is perfect.

The Morphy Richards 48271 does look pretty space age and cool as well - all polished stainless steel and little viewing windows :)

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Philips LivingColors - mood lighting but useful for men too!

A lamp - why am I writing about a lamp.  Well it's a very special lamp and it has uses that will appeal to all.  I'm talking about the Philips LivingColors  A special new mood lighting lamp - from Philips.   It costs about £100 but it is very impressive - it can display over 16 million colours from the 4 built in LEDs.  Now it obviously can be used by poncy interior designers and othersuch to change the mood and ambience of the room - yeah yeah and of course it could help you set the right seductive tone to  impress the lady of your choice.

But it has another use besides impressing the chicks - turn the light down low and load up your favourite fps shooter or rpg game whatever.  A nice green or red is perfect for any post apolyptic shoot em ups, a greenish glow works great for creeping around dungeons - try the Waterworks in quest in Dungeons and Dragons online

It really does make a difference in some games for setting the scene - plus I guarantee women will be impressed (with the lamp not playing counterstrike in a purple haze)

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Dyson DC16 Root 6 Vacuum Cleaner - a handheld vacuum that actually works !

It's not often that my gadget/technology obsessed mind finds an outlet in the Home appliances section of my local electrical retailer.

But when I went looking for a dustbuster after getting fed up with - kids, crumbs and my car (I'm sure you can work out the rest).   I possessed an alleged dustbuster - basically you charged it for several days then desperately tried to pick up small crumbs from the car for about 2 minutes (failing dismally) , until it packed up and you put it back on the charger on  the way to pick up a dustpan and brush.

I mean how pathetic is that we can send probes to the far distant reaches of  the galaxy yet can't design something that can pick up a crumbled digestive from my car !!!

Well my friends I have now discovered the Dyson DC16 vacuum thingy.   Not only does it look like a techno laser gun (big plus in my book) it also sucks like nothing on earth (fit in rude joke here)

Dyson DC16 Root 6 Vacuum Cleaner

It's awesome it cleans like a full sized vacuum cleaner and picks  up just about everything - manages crumbs with ease.   It still doesn't last long before needing recharging - between 4 and 6 minutes - but that's more and enough for most little jobs as the thing actually works.

It's a bit expensive for a dustbuster type device but it really does work well.   Definately worth checking out - buy two and you can have a laser fight whilst cleaning cars :)

Welshgadgets.

Samsung LE40A656 - a new colour for LCD TVs

It was Henry Ford who once famously said you can have any colour you want as long as it's black.   It's been pretty much the same for Tvs for many years - although the colour choice has been usually black or silver - you'd think that someone could do something different !!   Yes I know there have been a few variations expecially on smaller portables and lcd screens but if you're talking about mainstream LCDs and plasma Tvs black and silver (or an almost indistiguishable variation) has been your choice.

Well Samsung have tried to change that with it's new range of HDTVs - the Samsung LE40A656 comes in a "rose black finish"  - it certainly adds something - the 'reddish  black' gives the Tv a very stylish look and it definately stands out from the rows of shiny silver and ordinary black LCDs.

What's more the TV  is actually very good as well - picture is excellent and I like the on screen touch controls - very futuristic. 

Samsung has often been accused of "style" over substance but the Samsung Le40A656 seems to debunk that accusation

Check it out here.

Samsung LE40A656

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Samsung LE22S86

I guess like me there's lots of people getting overloaded with gadgets that need to be plugged into screens.   My children have games, PCs, DVDs etc - so it's important to when you're looking for a TV for a kids bedroom to get one with the right connectors.

Nowadays the distinct world of LCD monitors and LCD tvs has begun to merge - so if you buy wisely you'll only need one screen for your PC and DVD/PS3 etc.  One of the latest small TVs is the 

Samsung LE22S86

Samsung have made some cracking small TVs in the past and this one looks pretty good to - it has a VGA connector (for your PC) plus scart and HDMI for your other goodies - say a dvd player and a PS3 for example.

Built in freeview so no connector or box needed and a special gaming mode which cuts out a lot of the TVs fancy screen optimisation for films/sports etc to improve when using a console.

It looks quite stylish and well built like most of the Samsung range and would be a good buy a second TV or a bedroom/office TV.

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GHD Hair Straightener MK4

"Why don't you write about this hair straightener" asks  my missus.   Errmm because I've got straight hair and can barely spell hair straightener !  But apparently it's fantastic and has brought more joy to my curly haired missus than I could ever do - hmmmmm.

This is it GHD MK 4 Hair Straightener  and apparently it's the ermm dogs whotsits as far as this sort of thing is concerned !

Although I vaguely remember them being on Watchdog some years ago for something or other - still I'm sure everything is sorted out now.

Anyway can I finish now - I've exhausted my literary inspiration on hair straighteners (although checking Google keywords did  you know that about 25% of people seem to spell it "straightners") 

I'm off  to the hairdresser to order an afro so I can try these things out properly.

Welshgadgets. 

Sony KDL40X3500

I am often wary when I hear some magazine or expert reviewer rave about the latest screen and vibrant colours etc etc.

What Hifi gave the  Sony KDL40X3500 5 stars and praised it's all round performance.   It certainly is a might impressive TV although currently fairly expensive .   Besides  the screens performance - it really does look a beautiful TV - they've even made some of it transparent to try and reduce the apparent size.

This Sony Bravia won't disappoint anyone I'm sure - but is it worth the price - I guess it depends on the value you put on your viewing.   As ever in life you usually get what you pay for and LCD TVs usually follow that rule.

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Panasonic TX32LZD85

Well I don't know about in your house - but a lot of arguments in mine are about size.   Frankly I don't think 32" is enough but my wife disagrees !!

Seriously  though I want the biggest telly (within reason) that I can get away with - who wants to watch the match on a little tiny screen (especially with the macular degeneration making increasing inroads on my once hawklike vision!)

But if you to get nagged into a smaller telly - then the least you can do is treat yourself to one of the best - the Panasonic TX32LZD85 is simply an awesome TV - 1080p, Full HD with clear, crisp and stunning images particularly from HD sources.

It's main difference between this and the Panasonic TX32LZD80 is the sound - it is much improved with vastly upgraded speakers - it's one of the best sounding LCD tvs around (ok maybe not that much competition.

If you're going to hook up to an external sound system probably not worth the extra expense though,

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