RedSave Reviews

Apple was close to disaster when it first released the iPod. But the portable music player saved the company and revolutionised the industry.

Until then MP3 players had been ugly and awkward, they were niche devices that appealed to tech-heads who had begun transferring their CDs to MP3 early on. But the iPod was sleek and sexy, and had the mass appeal of an Apple product.

The Nano is the latest in the evolution of the iPod. It’s a tiny version of the full-size iPod that fits easily in the palm of your hand, but still has most of the features of a larger model.

The iPod Nano supports MP3, AIFF and WAV audio files, as well as protected AAC tracks downloaded from the iTunes Music Store. And like its bigger brother it has multimedia capabilities. Photo viewing is supported, and the iPod Nano will also play MPEG4 and H.264 video, though the screen is a little small for watching full-length movies.

For storage the iPod Nano uses flash memory. Flash memory uses less power, hence the reason the Nano’s battery can last for 24 hours on a full charge, and with no moving parts it’s less susceptible to damage from falls, making the Nano absolutely perfect for the gym.

The iPod Nano is available now at Redsave.com for just £99.

Maybe you’ve seen the ‘Rock Band’ game that’s available for the Xbox 360 games console. It includes a guitar, microphone and drum kit and you play along to the music on-screen. It is fun, but you can’t actually use those instruments to create your own songs, you’re limited to playing other peoples tunes.

The USB Drum Kit goes the other way, you can’t use it to play Rock Band on a console but you can bang out your own chart-topping hits. It plugs into any Windows PC through a normal USB port and allows you to record the drum beats.

The USB Drum Kit includes six pads and two pedals, all of which can be adjusted to suit your height. The pads have a sensitivity adjustment for that true drum feeling with a realistic response and its bundled software lets you choose from 161 sound combinations with 17 sound collections and is totally user configurable. You can play with classic drums, or select all manner of crazy sound effects.

Installation is simple, once setup the kit takes just a few minutes to install and it has a tutorial program for novice drummers. There’s even a drumming game with three levels!

The USB Drum Kit is available now at Redsave.com for just £119.99.

Given the popularity of CDs and digital music files it’s surprising to learn that the vinyl remains a popular format. You can still find stores selling records in every town in the country, and they’re not just old LPs for collectors – new records are still being produced.

Music fans swear by the quality of records, considering the sound to be authentic compared to the digitised crispness of a CD or MP3, but records aren’t exactly portable and they’re very easily damaged.

In this regard a digital music player is far superior, but what do you do about your existing record collection? If you’re a keen LP collector you could have hundreds or thousands of discs, and every time you play one there’s a risk it’ll be damaged. It’d be smart idea to transfer your collection to a digital format where you can mix, edit and customise without damaging the originals, which is exactly where the Ion USB Turntable comes in handy.

As its name suggests this is a record player with a modern twist. Rather than speaker connections the USB Turntable has a standard USB connector which you plug into a computer. Put on an LP, press play and hit record on the included audio software and you can save the LP as a digital audio file. Using the Audacity software you can save recorded sound in a variety of formats, or simply play your records through the computer speakers. Once converted the records can go safely back on the shelf while you enjoy the music through your stereo or MP3 player.

The Ion USB Turntable is incredibly easy to use, includes everything you need and works with all major operating systems including Windows Vista and Mac OS. It costs just £89.99 from Redsave.com.

Remember Tamagotchi, those irritating key ring ‘pets’ that were popular for about five minutes in the 90s? Cube World is the acceptable adult version. Except less annoying and more entertaining.

Trapped inside each cube is a tiny stick man. He’ll dance, play and slam his fists against the screen in a desperate bid to escape his plastic prison (we may have made that last part up). Each pixellated pal has its own behaviour, games and tricks to keep him amused. They can do kick-ups, snake charming, skateboarding and many other activities, depending on the jobs or favourite hobbies of each Cube World inhabitant. The ‘series 3’ Cube World includes Toner the office worker, Dash the delivery man, Chief the police officer and Sparky the fireman.

You can also directly influence the behaviour of each Cube Worlder via three buttons on the front of each cube, or more amusingly by picking it up and giving it a damn good shake. The motion sensors inside make the denizens of Cube World tumble head over heels when you move it, often causing them to wave their fist in anger if they knock their heads against the side. At which point we feel a little guilty and put them back down

But the really clever thing about Cube World is how they will interact with one another. Place cubes on top or to the side of each other and the stick characters will travel to see their neighbours. The stick men will get into fights, dance, play games or many other random activities, depending on how the cubes are stacked. You can put them in any configuration so long as they’re stacked squarely and up to 16 cubes can be joined.

Each Cube World includes two cubes so you can start the fun straight away, and costs just £15.99 from Redsave.com.

Wherever you want to go, the handy Packard Bell Compasseo 810 GPS will make sure that you’ll reach your goal in time. The Compasseo 810 comes with UK and Western European maps from Navteq and offers TMC Live traffic information.

The Compasseo 810 features a large 4 inch touchscreen, an integrated GPS SiRF Star III receiver, a music player so you can whistle along to your favourite tunes as you drive through the countryside  and even a movie player to keep the little ones entertained. 

The Compasseo comes with a Packard Bell full 1 year warranty and you can get it at Redsave.com for only £139.99.

Take a look at the elegant Palm Treo 680 Smartphone! The Treo is more than just a mobile phone, featuring a large colour touch screen, QWERTY keyboard, photo browser, MP3 Player, camera, email, messaging, internet access as well as all of your contacts,  a calendar and more.

The lightweight, pocket-sized Palm Treo 680 is so easy to use, that you’ll make phone calls, send emails and messages, surf the web and do all of your office work on the handy smartphone in no time!  

The Palm Treo 680 Smartphone is SIM free, no contract required, so you can use your existing SIM card. Get it at Redsave for only £138.90 and get connected!

It’s generally accepted that liquid + electronics is a recipe for disaster, as anyone who has accidentally sent their camera to a watery grave can attest.

For safer holiday photography we have the 300K Water Proof Digital Camera. The camera itself is pretty simplistic compared to modern digicams; images have a maximum resolution of 640×480 and you’ll get about 70 images on its 2MB internal memory. But the unique thing about this gadget is its water-proof casing that lets you dunk it in the drink without rendering it useless.

It’s also dead simple to use. With just a few buttons even kids can operate the 300K Water Proof Camera, and its sturdy build quality means it’ll withstand a few knocks. And once you’re done splashing around in the sea you can remove the water proof casing to use it as a normal digital camera.

The package includes a USB cable for transferring pictures, a wrist strap and free image editing and slideshow software from ArcSoft for fixing up and presenting those cool underwater snaps.

The 300K Water Proof Digital Camera is for sale now on Redsave.com at a wallet-friendly £14.99.

Guitar Hero is the videogame phenomenon that’s turned everyone into a musical auteur, but now you don’t even need to own a games console to rock out.

This slightly bizarre and ever-so-silly toy is an officially licensed Guitar Hero Air Guitar Rocker. Yes, you heard us right: an air guitar. The kit includes a buckle and mini-amplifier that strap onto your belt and two magical picks to aid you in recreating classic tunes without having to make the guitar noises yourself.

Plug the Air Guitar Rocker buckle into the amplifier then wave the picks around and you’ll hear the sounds of five well-known riffs bursting out the amp, including Motorhead’s Ace of Spades, Black Sabbath’s Smoke on the Water and Van Halen’s You Really Got Me, plus five all-new Guitar Hero riffs.

It’s a lot of fun (particularly if you’re watching someone else play…) and far cheaper than the Guitar Hero game. Just make sure the curtains are closed before you start waving your arms in the air like a madman.

The Guitar Hero Air Guitar Rocker is available at Redsave.com for just £23.99.

As Seen On TV: The marvellous Stick Up Bulb is a long lasting, shatterproof light bulb that provides light whenever and wherever you want - no wires, no outlet, no electrician required. You can install the bulb in seconds: Just peel and stick and turn it on. It simply couldn’t be easier! 

The ingenious Stick Up Bulb is perfect for the basement, wardrobe, stairwells, attic, camping trips and power cuts. Since the bulb stays cool to the touch it’s even safe for kids.  

Get it at Redsave.com for less than £3.00!

Remote Control Toys from Redsave: The smallest RC Helicopter in the world just got smaller! The easy-to-operate MX-1 Micro Picoo Zs Supreme is now 33% shorter and lighter than the original Picoo Z Chopper, yet it’s still capable of both its sensational performance and its famous ability to amaze onlookers!

The new Micro Picoo Z is only 11cm long and weighs just 7g and comes with a pocket size infra red transmitter and separate desk top Charging Station that will have you flying in minutes.

The awesome micro chopper is equipped with LED lights for exciting night flying action and comes completely assembled and ready-to-fly.

 You can get this cool flyer at Redsave.com for only £22.99 

Age: 8+