PADDY COMYNrounds up the latest gadgets
Nokia 5800 Xpress Music
Price: €282 (on O2 contract)
Buy: carphonewarehouse.ie
THE NOKIA 5800 is a touchscreen phone and the brand’s answer to the iPhone, with Wi-Fi, GPS, 3.2MP camera with LED flash and Carl Zeiss optics.
There is a large touchscreen on the front and also an accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate. This rotates your images, games and other applications when you turn the screen to either the horizonatal or vertical.
You can surf the web via the Wi-Fi, check your emails, use RSS feeds as well as many more fun applications. Battery life is good, with standby time of up to 406 hours and talktime of up to 8 hours, 45 minutes.
Freeloader Solar Charger
Price: €34.30
Buy: firebox.com
Running out of juice when you’re chatting on your mobile or listening to your iPod is irritating. Thankfully, portable gizmos are rechargeable, so you merely plug them into the nearest socket and wait.
However, if you are nowhere near a socket then you need one of these. This smart, eco-friendly device soaks up the power of the sun and stores it for up to 3 months. You can then use it to charge up your electronic gadgets, anytime, anywhere. Think of it as a portable solar-powered battery.
Canon 5D Mark II
Price: €3,107
Buy: pixmania.ie
SPENDING THIS amount of money on a camera is a bit of a leap, but the performance from the 5D Mark II is superb.
It bridges the gap between so-called “prosumer” cameras and the ones the pros use and has 21.1 megapixels, is incredibly fast and will also record 1080 hi-defintion video.
We’ve used it for a week and found its image quality superb, with such high ISO you can take great shots in poor light. It’s a little bigger and heavier than some rivals and the battery life appears to be compromised by using the video function but overall we found it brilliant.
USB Fridge
Price: €21.22 Buy: iwoot.com
FRESH FROM the fridge, a cool can is hard to beat, but by the time you’ve lost yourself at your computer for a while, your drink transforms itself into that tepid stuff we all hate. Enter the USB Drinks Cooler, a natty little retro mini-fridge, powered from your USB port.
It’s perfect for keeping your drink beautifully chilled as you work (or play) away, so you can guarantee not to be slurping at some ghastly warm muck.
Complete with an utterly pointless LED fridge light (though it does look pretty cool at night), and retro fridge styling, the USB Drinks Cooler will hold standard 330ml cans, and ensures that your chilled can stays that way.