© Honey Bee

They say all men are little boys at heart, and that applies particularly when it comes to gadgets and toys. I know I like nothing better than testing my skill with remote control cars, planes and robots, and with prices as low as £20, a remote control helicopter is a fantastic idea!

There’s actually a remote control helicopter game available for the Wii for about £20, and there seems to be a Wii station in most households now. But you can get a real life remote control helicopter for the same price, and I know which I’d prefer.

Piloting one of these little gadgets is quite tricky if you want to stop it spinning out of control to the ground, but once you get the hang of it you’ll soon be skimming over the kitchen table and scaring the life out of the dog.

Of course, one of these would make a great  gift for a boy as well and any lad would prefer mastering the helicopter to playing computer games any day. Or if you’ve two “boys” in the house, get them one each.

Rob

Rated: from 2993 votes

As you know, your shopping blog is always on the lookout for Christmas gift ideas, so I’ve been looking through the “Dream List” of the TRA (Toy Retailers’ Association) which they publish every year to promote this Christmas’s must have toys.

As usual, some I agree with and some I don’t. The main thing to me about a toy for kids is that they should be able to do something with it and interact rather than just sitting looking at it.

So here are my top 3 for this year.

3 - The recycling truck from Playmobil

At about £30 it’s a brightly coloured truck that kids can push about to their hearts’ content, and we all know how much kids like pushing cars and trucks around the floor. Complete with two jolly dustmen and three brightly coloured bins, this is the perfect Christmas gift for the junior recycler and will give your kids an early start into the green scene.

© Teletubbies

2 - Dance with me Teletubbies

For fans of Tinky Winky, Dipsy, La La and Po, and if you don’t know who they are, what desert island are you from?

For about £35 you can choose your Teletubby (all four are available), put him on the floor and turn him on and he’ll dance and jiggle about in time to the music. Your child won’t be able to resist dancing along, and it would be special fun for kids’ parties to occupy them all for half an hour. Kids love dancing and kids love Teletubbies, so this is one great Christmas gift that Santa should be putting on his Christmas gift list for kids.

© Bob the Builder

And - wait for it - my number 1 Christmas gift is …….

1 - Bob the builder interactive construction playset.

At about £50, this great little toy can provide hours of endless fun for Bob the Builder fans. It comes with Tumbler, Scoop and Muck along with Bob himself of course, and there are lots of things to move and fix. This playset detects when something is moved and plays an appropriate noise or sound clip, and kids can mix “cement”, use the working crane or even raise the truck on the vehicle lift. You’ll get no peace on Christmas day with one of these, but your kids will love it!

Rob

Rated: from 2029 votes

© Nighthawk

A fantastic 10 million candlepower torch! Brighter than a car’s headlights. Be seen 2 miles away! Rechargeable and only £49.99. Which red-blooded do it yourselfer hasn’t drooled over a torch like this?

I know I have, and even gone so far as to buy one, so now Rob’s shopping blog needs to announce the truth about torches.

1 - Ordinary people don’t use a torch all the time
That’s the problem. You need a torch when the car breaks down in the dark, when there’s a power cut at night or when you want to look deep inside a broken washing machine for the screw you just dropped.

2 - Forget the candle power
The vital thing about a torch is not how bright it is, but whether you’ve got it with you and whether it works. Go shopping for a common or garden basic torch with ordinary batteries. And buy some spare batteries too. I’ll guarantee a rechargeable torch will be flat when you need it, and you can’t recharge it in a power cut.

3 – The more torches, the better
What you really need is a torch where you want it, when you want it, and one that works. So while you’re out shopping, get yourself another basic torch and spare batteries and keep them in the car.

Now I know we all like the product reviews of the super torch, and we’re all impressed by gadgets with lots of power, but a couple of basic torches plus batteries would be the ideal Christmas gift idea for the gadget lover in your life. Not as glamorous a Christmas present as a digital camera perhaps, but far more use in the dark.

Rob

Rated: from 1314 votes

We’ve all got a huge amount of stuff stored on our PCs. Precious photos uploaded from our digital cameras, our whole music collection in MP3 format, even copies of our favourite shopping blog articles :). So what can you do to make sure that if the worst happens, you don’t lose it all?

© Seagate

1. Get two hard disks, not just one.
Hard disks are amazingly cheap and easy to install on a desktop PC, and all you do is make a copy of your data on both.
If your first disk fails your data will be safe on the other one.

Note that this doesn’t apply to laptop computers, where one hard disk is standard, and it’s not easily upgradeable, but you already know what I think of laptops

© Iomega

2. Buy an external hard disk drive.

At under £60 for 640 Gigabytes with a Western Digital Elements external hard drive as recommended in my shopping blog, you can’t afford to be without one. Plug it in, turn it on and quickly make a copy of your valuable data. And don’t forget you can unplug it and use it on any other PC. This gadget is worth its weight in gold.

© Verbatim

3. Burn your files to DVD.
Every PC has a DVD burner now, and you can save 4Gigabytes of data on one DVD. It has the advantage that you can store it far from your PC and carry it about. The drawback is that 4Gigs isn’t much these days, and even to save a set of photos from your digital camera could take more than this.

Take your pick from these solutions. But the vital thing is to do something. Hard disks don’t crash often, but when yours does, you’ll be glad you read my shopping blog.

Rated: from 1805 votes

Perfect gift for your dog or a very hairy man! © Wahl Groomsman

I was leafing though one of those sales mags they put in Radio Times the other day (Other listings magazines are available, as Terry Wogan used to say :)).

I know those little ad mags should go straight in the bin, but the designers are fiendishly clever and there’s always something on the front that makes me say – Oh, not seen one of those before, I’ll just have a look…..

Anyway, as the writer of a shopping blog I’ve got to keep an eye open for good gift ideas for Christmas presents for all you avid readers (well that’s what I tell myself).

So just as Eastenders was starting, I opened this thing and what should I see but the perfect Christmas present for the dog: the Wahl Groomsman. It’s a brilliant rechargeable beard trimmer, just the thing to shape those beardy bits of long hair that he keeps dangling in his food then wiping all over my trousers.

I shave every day so never thought of a beard trimmer. I’ve had a go at his beard with my electric shaver, but apart from not having much effect on wet dog hair, the shaver needed a good soak in hot water after that. Scissors were just too dangerous as he wouldn’t stay still and both of us nearly lost an eye. So the Wahl Groomsman electric beard trimmer is just what he needs as the ideal Christmas gift for his little doggie stocking.

Gift ideas, shopping news, gadgets and product reviews you can find anywhere. But only in Rob’s shopping blog will you find the perfect Christmas gift for your dog! Have you seen any other human gifts you could give to your pets? Let me know

Rob
Yes, I know he’d prefer a squeaky toy, but that wouldn’t be a surprise. And it would be a great Christmas gift for a guy with a beard too!

Rated: from 1653 votes

Shopping bag from recycled material - you can find items like this on Great Green Goods © Gecko

Like most of you, I’m a keen advocate of staying green and saving the planet, so I was fascinated to find a new shopping blog devoted to recycled products. At Great Green Goods, everything they sell is made from 100 per cent recycled materials.

Such unlikely articles as old broken lawnmowers (made into a table lamp) can be found alongside broken pottery and tiles (made into cufflinks or pendants), and if that’s the kind of thing you’re looking for, then Great Green Goods has them all.

I admire the ingenuity that’s gone into the design of all these products, but suspect that I won’t be shopping there myself. The problem is that all the stuff there screams at you that it has been made from junk and broken things. The recycled materials stand out as a statement rather than being integrated subtly into new products.

So while they’re certainly a talking point, I wouldn’t want anybody to give me a table lamp made from rusty lawnmower bits as my Christmas present.  It’s a US site so the prices are in dollars, but I reckon that for the $225 the lamp costs, I could probably buy both a new lawnmower and a respectable table lamp.

Shopping news this site may be, but packed with gift ideas and great Christmas presents it’s not. It would take a special dedication to all things green for someone to appreciate Christmas gifts so rustic and obviously recycled, and I for one will be looking for my gift ideas somewhere else.

Have a look and let me know what you think.

Rob

Rated: from 1745 votes

istockphoto © doddlemachine

Scorpio may be a water sign, but you Scorpios are anything but watery! Intensity and commitment are your strong points, and when searching a shopping blog for something to buy, there’s no star sign as ferocious.

Your day would be not be complete without checking the product reviews in this shopping blog first thing every morning and placing at least one internet order for your product of the day.

This week will also allow you to show off your generous nature. The current credit crunch has led to really good online offers on a number of essential gadgets that any male partner would certainly welcome. Digital cameras have never been such good value, so why not treat him to that digital slr or compact that he’s been going on endlessly about. And electric power tools are a bargain at the moment, especially electric cordless drills. Black and Decker or Bosch, both are well respected, well designed and come out top in the product reviews, so you can’t go wrong. Now is the time according to your stars to get checking the shopping blogs for that special gift for your man.

Or for those seeking a gift for that special female, perfumes such as Dior and La Perla are always welcome and designer handbags will be well received. Handbags in neutral colours will be the best choice here as they are sure to complement most outfits and will allow them to be used to the full. And lucky you again, as you’ll be able to get better value than ever this week.

Mars in conjunction with Venus tells me that romance is in the air for Scorpios this week, especially for those who follow my advice about presents for their partner!

Mystic Marvin

Rated: from 1756 votes

© John Lewis

The world for me is divided into two kinds of people: those who like nests of tables and those who don’t. Me? I hate them.

Nothing seems dafter to me than having three tables of different sizes, simply so that you can store them one under the other. It’s definitely the cart driving the horse, or the nest driving the tables.

If you need a coffee table, then get one. If you don’t need a coffee table, then don’t get one. But please don’t get a nest of tables. Shopping blogs are full of product reviews for nests of tables costing anything up to hundreds of pounds, and none of the reviews mentions how pointless they are.

Have you ever tried to actually use the tiny table that fits right in the bottom of the nest? You can just about fit a mug or a cup on, but try to squeeze in a small plate as well and there’s just no room.

All nested tables are good for flickr © divinemisscopa

And as often as not, the smallest table is so tall and so narrow and unstable that you spend your whole time trying not to knock it over.

Give me a solid coffee table every time; one that’s big enough to put my cup and plate on, as well as my magazine, the TV remote and anything else I need to hand. You certainly won’t catch me shopping for a nest of tables.

Rob

Rated: from 1429 votes

© Orvis

Now that summer is well on its way out and autumn mists are upon us, it’s time to spare a thought for your dog. I know that a lot of dogs, like mine (and my cats), sleep on their owners’ beds, but it’s still vitally important for your pet to have a place he can call his own and snuggle up warm and safe away from the bustle of the world. And the best way you can provide this little haven is to make sure he (or she) is the owner of a good quality washable dog basket.

Modern pet baskets bear no relation to the unhygienic wicker baskets of years ago. Nowadays, they’re made of sturdy washable fabric with warm removable cushions and very quickly adapt to the sleeping position of your pet. He’ll find it the next best thing to being on your bed, and will make a point of sleeping in it whenever he can’t get upstairs with you.

Shopping for a pet bed needn’t be expensive at between £20 and £40 for a quality washable but warm model. And if your pet spends a lot of time outdoors, you should consider getting a second one so he can lie down and have a nap in your garden store or shed.

Rob

Rated: from 1664 votes

© Black and Decker

I always thought Black and Decker stuck to whirring, drilling and grinding machines, and most of the time they do - except I’ve just found this nifty addition to their product range.

The Black & Decker thermo electric travel cooler is a small fridge that plugs into your car’s cigarette lighter and keeps food and drink cool and fresh (or toasty and warm).

I think there’s a certain charm to having old fashioned picnics in the car – tea from a flask and warm sandwiches, but that hasn’t stopped the boffins at Black and Decker coming up with this stylish micro thermo-fridge-warmer-whatsit.

So why do I like this thing and what does it do? Well it cools to 27°C below the ambient temperature – this means that even in an English summer you can have ice for you drinks and fresh, cool food. It can heat food or drink up to 48°C, and while 48°C isn’t enough to cook anything, it can warm a cup of tea or a snack (to keep you warm in an English summer too).

It’s big, with a 9 litre storage compartment and an ice box, but this brings problems too, namely that it takes up some serious space. You’ll either have to put it in the foot space of someone with short legs, or pop it onto the back seat.

Most of all though I like this Black and Decker travel cooler because it looks great, it’s quite cheap, (you can get one for about £54) and it does a good job
It doesn’t whirr, grind or drill, but it just keeps your food and drinks cool.

Rob

Rated: from 1884 votes