Last year an estimated £4bn was spent on unwanted presents - the equivalent of £92 per person.  At Gadgetspeak we've seen a worrying trend of products that just won't make people happy this Christmas.  One thing we've noticed  is just how difficult it is to judge a product from it's packaging and advertising and yet this is exactly what many of you will be doing.

We're on a mission to make sure that you get totally unbiased views, so you can make the right choice.  I'll never forget the DVD game my daughter argued so heavily for one year that she spent her own pocket money on it.  It was heavily promoted on TV and piggybacked the success of another popular product. I have never seen such a disappointed little girl, the product was truly dreadful.  I tried to get her money back by saying this game was not worth the money, but because there was nothing physically wrong - we couldn't.  My daughter learnt a very valuable lesson not to trust advertising that day.

A couple of years on, and here at Gadgetspeak we will often get that same experience.  A product that is too difficult to use or just doesn't meet it's promises, like the electronic game whose only electronic bit is a recorded voice to announce the rounds of the game.  Others are just plainly badly made - look great on the packet and fall apart on opening.  Sometimes these products come from well  known brands.  In particular gadgets are sold on the back of marketing success of television characters or programmes.  There's nothing wrong with this as long as the product is great.

Take these simple steps to help make your Christmas Presents wanted presents:

• make sure you know someone who already has the product and ask their opinion
• check gadget review sites like Gadgetspeak
• check the user ratings on selling sites like Amazon
• find a shop where you can take the product out and physically play with it.

Every product that you see here on Gadgetspeak has been taken out of it's packaging and thoroughly played with by real people.  We read the manuals, test the products, and then put together our views good and bad for you to read.

As much as two thirds of your Christmas presents could end up unwanted - that's just money down the drain. Make sure you take these simple steps for a great Christmas day.