Inspect a gadget

Whether you want to watch, listen or have a spring clean, we have the piece of kit to suit you.

iPod touch

From £199

When it comes to portable music there’s nothing cooler than the iPod,and now the touch-sensitive interface of Apple’s iPhone has been introduced into the latest version. It also has a 3.5-inch screen that makes it great for playing videos. Because it uses flash memory instead of a hard drive the capacity is much lower than an iPod classic, but enough for 2,000 or 4,000 songs, depending on whether you go for 8GB or 16GB.

www.apple.com/uk/ipodtouch

Navman S30

£149

Satellite navigation can be a lifesaver, whether you’re driving, riding a bicycle or on foot. This latest model from Navman is very keenly priced, has a bright 3.5-inch touch-sensitive screen and the latest maps and safetycamera data already loaded though this is for a trial period only). The display automatically dims as it gets dark and the design is cute too.

www.navman.com

Nintendo DS Lite

£94.99

The neat, sleek DS is a deservedly successful portable games machine. It has two screens, one of which is touch-sensitive, so games can be played in innovative and engaging ways. It’s now available in white, black and pink, and the games include everything from traditional platform games, such as New Super Mario Bros, to ones that test your intelligence, such as Brain Training.

www.amazon.co.uk

Nikon Coolpix L10 digital camera

£59.99

This brand new camera from digital experts Nikon has lots of features for a remarkable price. It has five megapixels and a large, two-inch LCD screen on he back. You can shoot video as well as still images and a face-detection feature means the camera focuses on faces wherever they are in the shot. Red eye can be fixed too.

www.argos.co.uk

Nokia 6300 mobile phone

£89.95 on pay-as-you-go

Nokia’s slim and sleek phone looks like it’s really expensive, but it’s not! Like all Nokias it has an exceptionally simple interface, so it’s easy to use. It leaps into life quickly (your contacts list is accessible the second you switch on) and has a decent, two megapixel camera on board. It also has an MP3 player and Bluetooth so you can use a wireless headset.

www.carphonewarehouse.com

Dyson DC16 handheld vacuum cleaner

From £99.99

If you’re going to clean up after yourself, you might as well do it with the coolest-looking handheld vacuum. Dyson’s little machine uses the same technology as its bigger cleaners so it’s bagless, easy to empty and very powerful. It recharges quickly and has an adjustable nozzle for different surfaces.

www.dyson.co.uk

TVonics DVR-FP150 personal video recorder

£149.99

A personal video recorder means never having to scrabble for tapes to record a TV show. This model hides a 160GB hard drive in its shiny black aluminium casing, has two Freeview tuners built in and you can watch one programme while you record another. The menus are simple and effective and the makers claim the box is ecologically sound because of its low power consumption in standby mode.

www.tvonics.com

Sony Ericsson MBW-150 Music watch

£200

This watch does more than tell the time. Because it has the short-wave radio connection Bluetooth built in, it can pair with Bluetoothenabled mobile phones. If that phone has a compatible music player, you can use the watch to change tracks. If not, it still shows who’s ringing when a call comes in, so you can reject an unwanted caller without having to rummage in your bag for your phone!

www.sonyericsson.com

Goodmans 1104HDAB hi-fi

£79.99

This award-winning micro system is terrific value, with a CD player and a DAB radio with 10 pre-sets. Other features that lift the set-up above the basic include a clock and programmable- track function, plus a sound-improvement system called Bass Boost. It’s small, but surprisingly powerful.

www.goodmansdigital.co.uk

Sun Jar solar-powered lamp

£18.95

The Sun Jar looks like a squat, old-fashioned frosted-glass kitchen storage jar, but underneath there’s a solar panel and LED-light array. Leave it on the window sill in natural or strong artificial light and the panel collects light during the day. When darkness falls, the LED automatically kicks in with a warm, yellow radiance. It's waterproof, so it can be used outside too.

www.paramountzone.com