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Written
By : Wayne Brooker
December 2004
Under
£50
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Mercury
Elite Case
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| Mercury
Elite Case - From DOS
Computers |
| £28.98
inc. VAT 3DV
Rating 80% |
|
You
don't expect to get a lot of case for under
£30, but the Mercury Elite is an exception
to the rule.
With
its integrated carrying handle. front USB and
audio ports, curvy styling,grey/blue and cream
colour scheme and integrated power supply, the
Elite is surprisingly good value for money.
It
won't stand scrutiny alongside the top-dollar
prestige cases with £100 plus price tage,
but for those who want the "cheap"
without the "nasty" this is a great
case.
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Defy
Gravity
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| The
Levitron From TheGadgetStore |
| £29.95
inc VAT - (Not
Reviewed By 3DVelocity) |
| What
do you buy the person who seems to have everything?
The sensational Levitron® Omega This
astounding anti-gravity top has been called the
'best new science toy in a generation' by members
of the American Association of Physics Teachers.
Spin
the top and watch in jaw-dropping wonder as
it floats in the air. The Levitron® Omega
spins and surfs on magnetic waves! Pass your
hand above, underneath, and around the top and
it will continue to spin and float only touching
air!
Looking
like it's come straight out of Star Trek, this
miraculous gadget is real rather than just a
clever special effect! Watch it soar.
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Old
School Gaming
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| Intellivision
25 - From
Innovations |
| £29.99
inc. VAT (Not
Reviewed By 3DVelocity) |
|
'25
classic video games for just £29.99.'
Remember the halcyon days of video gaming before
serious computing got involved? When you just
plugged into the TV and played those relatively
simple but engrossing games for hours on end?
Revisit that innocent era with the Intellivision
console. Each unit is a complete video game
system, built into a hand controller with thumb
stick and joypad. Plug into the A/V input on
your TV and you're ready to go. 25 game selection
includes AstroSmash (a top Space Invaders clone),
Pinball, Tower of Doom, Buzz Bombers, Space
Hawk, Football, Motocross and many more. Requires
4 x AA batteries, not included. For ages 5 to
adult.
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Sun!
What Sun?
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| Solar
Panel From Innovations |
| £10.00-35.00
inc VAT - (Not
Reviewed By 3DVelocity) |
| Harness
the power of the sun with this incredibly efficient
pocket-size solar panel. Once its internal power
pack is charged, the panel can be used day and
night to run/charge all sorts of handheld devices.
Framed in durable anodised aluminium, the panel
also charges under any sort of light, including
artificial. Panel comes with a USB output socket;
simply choose a connection kit from the following:
Mobile
Phone: retractable USB cable with Nokia, Motorola,
Siemens, Sony Ericsson and Samsung adaptors.
GameBoy: retractable USB cable, in-car charger,
retractable earphones, Y-splitter (to charge
game and listen via earphones at same time).
Please Note: Choose either the Mobile Phone
Connection Kit or the Game Boy Connection Kit
in order to use the solar panel.
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Trip
The Light Fantastic!
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| Laser
One - GadgetsUK |
| £29.99
inc. (Not
Reviewed By 3DVelocity) |
|
Professional
laser light show at home!
Just
turn it on and watch the spectacular array of
light designs form right before your eyes! Laser
one is packed with features- battery or Ac power
operation, dual pattern controls - manual or
auto. Laser one even includes a microphone pickup
with sound response control as well as direct
audio input jack, allowing Laser One to interact
with your music!
I
wonder how this would look firing from your
PC case?
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Virtual
Reality
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| The
Mirage From GadgetsUK |
| £24.95
inc VAT - (Not
Reviewed By 3DVelocity) |
Instant
3-D hologram maker. The Mirage displays realistic
3-D holograms you can see but cannot touch!
It has no batteries lights knobs or dials. It's
silent and deceptively simple. By placing a small
object into the Mirage in a flash the object appears
to leap then float above the mirrored circle.
But reach to pick the item up and your fingers
go right through it, even the camera is fooled.
On
a desk, a table or in your hands Mirage should
become one of the most compelling attention
getting conversation pieces you'll ever own.
Or give.
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Park
It Safely
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| Garage
Parking Sensor - Dr
Gadget |
| £29.99
inc. VAT (Not
Reviewed By 3DVelocity) |
|
No
more dents and scratches when parking in confined
spaces with this easy to use traffic light sensor
set. It really is the perfect gadget for novice
and experienced drivers everywhere. Just be
careful how you answer the questions about your
rather unsubtle hint if you give this to your
other half as a gift!
The gizmo has clear visual signals for safe
parking in a garage with the universally recognisable
red, amber and green. Simply attach the unit
to the garage wall. An ultrasonic sensor detects
distance between your bumper and the wall and
the results are displayed on the panel.
Features:
Visual signals for safe parking in garage
Big LED display panel
LED indicator to show the distance range
from the garage wall
Universal green, amber and red signals
Use 3 x AA batteries (not included)
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Wired
For Sound
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| Sound
Feeder Transmitter - From Advanced
MP3 Players |
| £35.00
inc VAT - (Not
Reviewed By 3DVelocity) |
| Arkon's
Soundfeeder allows you to transmit your music!
Plug in your MP3 or portable audio player to the
Soundfeeder and it will broadcast to your car's
FM radio in STEREO! The electronics of the SF250
are based on Phase Lock Loop (PLL) synthesized
circuitry. This technology allows you to tune
in to a specific frequency, a definite advantage
as you'll not have to deal with "electronic
drift." The stability and performance of
this device make the SF250 the perfect solution
for nearly all of your portable audio adapting
needs.
Simply
plug the audio cord on the SoundFeeder into
the headphone jack of your portable audio player.
Then tune your radio to any of the 8 digitally
tuned FM stations supported by this device.
These include 88.1, 88.3, 88.5, 88,7, 107.1,
107.3, 107.5, 107.7Mhz. Many competing products
only offer 4 digitally tuned frequencies to
choose from. The SoundFeeder SF250 has 8 thereby
giving you twice as many chances of being able
to find a blank station in your area. Battery
life is equally as impressive, so expect about
40 hours of transmitting time before needing
to refresh them!
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Get
a Sharp Memory
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| Swiss
Army Knife/Flash Drive - Grovelands |
| £49.99
inc. VAT (Not
Reviewed By 3DVelocity) |
|
Available
with a memory capacity of 64MB, the SWISSMEMORY®
USB enables the storage of data of any kind
business cards, family or business project,
photos, mp3 audio files, video files and presentations
and can be used with any USB* connection.
LED lights signal if the memory is currently
being written to or read from.
Equipped
with flash technology, the memory is independent
from your computers hard drive and the
data remains permanently in the memory, but
it is possible to delete or enter data as desired
and equipped with real gold plated contacts
it insures outstanding dataflow.
SWISSMEMORY®
USB is compatible with Windows, Mac OS and Linux,
and is recognised as an external memory medium.
It
is also possible to detach the USB part from
the main body to facilitate data exchange, to
upgrade the device to another capacity or as
a security measure while travelling by plane.
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Shine
A Light!
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| Indium
- From Angusnoble |
| £49.99
inc VAT - (Not
Reviewed By 3DVelocity) |
| The
Indium is a high powered rechargeable LED light
source
We
use mobile phone Lithium-ion battery technology
and the latest high intensity LEDs to
produce one of the smallest and most powerful
rechargeable light sources available.
The
Indium is unique in being controlled by a touch
sensitive switch that uses the natural conductivity
if the skin to switch the light between full
power, half power and strobe mode. By using
this type of switch the Indium has no moving
parts. This makes for complete reliability,
as there are no contacts to wear out or corrode.
The
Indium casing is machined from solid Aluminium
bar stock on computer controlled machines. This
gives the Indium case precision and quality.
After machining, the cases are anodized in a
range of brilliant colours. Anodizing is where
the surface layer of the aluminium is oxidized
and then colour dyed. This dye then becomes
part of the aluminium surface.
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Small
is Beautiful
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| Trekker
Portable Microscope - Looksmall |
| £49.99
inc. VAT (Not
Reviewed By 3DVelocity) |
| It
may be fun to use, but the the new Trekker microscope
is also a serious tool developed to meet the demand
for an inexpensive, high-quality, truly portable
microscope with a magnification suited to a huge
range of field uses. The magnification of x35
was selected following discussions with schools,
botanists, entomologists and a host of other amateur
and professional users who require a light, easy
to use, microscope for the field, schoolroom and
laboratory.
Trekker
can view transparent, solid and water borne
objects. The high light-gathering power of the
large objective lens allows transparent and
semi-transparent objects to be viewed using
available (incident) light, while for solid
objects the internal (reflected) lighting system
is used. Focusing is achieved using a precision
thumb-wheel on the underside and the optical
design gives good depth of field and a focus
range which extends from the stage to 17mm above
- an extremely useful feature when viewing irregularly
shaped objects like insects or geological samples.
The removable eyepiece also provides a useful
x10 hand lens.
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See
Stars This Christmas
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| Star
Theater - From BoysStuff |
| £29.95
inc VAT - (Not
Reviewed By 3DVelocity) |
Create
a 360 degree planetarium in your own bedroom with
the Star Theatre the interactive space
world. Now you can sleep under the stars without
freezing to death.
The Star Theatre is an innovative light-up gadget,
featuring a clear sphere decorated with images
of hundreds of stars and constellations. When
the light is turned on, the images are projected
onto your ceiling and walls, turning a darkened
room into a 360 degree planetarium.
This
unusual toy projects images of the night sky
with each constellation named, and the outline
of the sky accurate for the time of year. How?
Through a built-in compass and date dial, which
allow you to adjust the angle and create a realistic
image. This is also a good way of achieving
the clearer images, depending of the size and
shape of your room.
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Wired
For Sound
|
| Soundbug
- Paramount
Zone |
| £24.95
inc. VAT (Not
Reviewed By 3DVelocity) |
| The
soundbug is a small device that can turn pretty
much any flat surface into a soundboard/speaker.
The
sound quality achieved by the Soundbug is impressive,
especially when the device is attached to a
thick piece of dense material, like a wall or
desk. It's even possible to "daisy chain"
two Soundbugs together to achieve stereo sound,
even when both are stuck to the same surface!!
It's
about the same size as a computer mouse, so
is ideal when you need sound on the move.
Main
Features:
Listen
to music without speakers or headphones
Play your favourite music wherever you want
Creates a sounding board out of any surface
you attach it to
Attaches to any glossy, hard surface (windows,
tables etc)
Connects to personal stereos, mini-disc, CD
or MP3 players, handheld games, camcorders or
laptops using a 3.5mm jack
Connect 2 Soundbugs together for full stereo
sound
Up to 75 decibels for a single Soundbug
Power sleep circuit
Pocket size: 95mm x 50mm x 35mm
Weight: 180g including batteries
Comes supplied with 3 x AAA batteries
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I
Don't Believe It!
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Executive
Truth Machine
- From Paramount
Zone |
| £29.95
inc VAT - (Not
Reviewed By 3DVelocity) |
| Next
time you're not sure if someone is telling the
truth, get this little gadget out and find out
for sure. For many years scientists tried to innovate
a successful lie detector, American researchers
eventually developing the psychological stress
evaluator (PSE) and the voice stress analyser
(VSA).
Both
these two inventions are used in the technological
make up of the Truth Machine, which by picking
up micro tremors in the voice not detectable
to the human ear, and measuring the amplitude
of the upper and lower sidebands of the frequency
spectrum of the voice, detects stress.
The
input is analysed, and results shown visually
in a column of LED lights, indicating green
for truth and red for lying. If the LED illumination
reaches the top, someone if telling a real big
porky pie.
The
Machine is not 100% accurate all the time and
no responsibility is taken for marriage break-ups
etc....
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Animal
Magnetism
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| Soundbug
- TiggyPig |
| £24.99
inc. VAT (Not
Reviewed By 3DVelocity) |
|
This
is just SO addictive, it's untrue.
Build
towers, spheres, pyramids, cubes, whatever you
like with this amazing 90 piece magnetic construction
set. Contains 54 bars and 36 balls. And you
can just keep adding and adding to it.
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A
Classy Pad
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|
| Steelpad
4D -
From Steel |
| €19.95
inc VAT - 3DV
Rating 70% |
| The
4D is a two sided plastic pad designed for both
optical and ball mice. It comes with their own
"padsurfers" which are essentially strips
of Teflon tale that cover the feet of your mouse
allowing it to glide smoothly across the surface.
Also included is a custom cut sheet of tacky rubber
to lay underneath that keeps the pad in place.
See our full review here.
At $24.95 or 19.95 Euros, this pad won't empty
Santa's pocketbook either. |
|
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A
Mobile Pad
|
| QcK
Mouse Pad - Steel |
| €9.99inc.
VAT (Not
Reviewed By 3DVelocity) |
|
The
QcK is a foam backed pad with a cloth surface
that resembles the freebies that come as promotions
all the time. However, this one has been designed
by the engineers at Steel for optimal tracking
and smoothness.
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A
Huge Pad
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| QcK+
Mouse Pad-
From Steel |
| €14.95
inc VAT - (Not
Reviewed By 3DVelocity) |
| The
QcK+ from Steel, we have what I think has got
to be the largest mousing surface I have ever
seen. Look at it with my MS IntelliMouse sitting
on it. Gamers and graphic designers will go nuts
for the added surface, just make sure that you
have the available real estate on your desktop
as this one measures a whopping 17.7" x 15.7"
(450mm x x 400mm for you metric users). |
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