These are 20x15x8.5cm the total weight is just over 2kilos. The left speaker has a hard wired 1.4metre lead coming from the rear to connect to the right speaker. The right speaker has a tone knob, a Bluetooth button and an on/off volume knob in a single line. The rear has a column of four connections inset by around 1cm they are earphone out, audio input, to left speaker and DC input, the last mentioned has a 1.5metre lead to the power brick. Each speaker has a main speaker and a tweeter.

Just because it fits into your pocket do not dismiss its capabilities. The Sony CyberShot HX50 is a 20MP offering with 30x optical zoom. It is 10.5x6.5x3.7cm, the last figure when turned off, fully zoom in and the lens can extend by as much as 6cm onto that figure. It weights 273grams. The flash flips up manually from the top left edge of the camera and can never be closer than 5cm from the lens.

The HP EliteBook 840 G1 measures 33x23.5x1cm the last figure increases to 1.5cm at the back. It weighs 1.8kilos. The viewable screen is 31x17.5cm giving the notional diagonal imperial screen measurement of 14 inches, the screen resolution 1920x1080 full HD which is rare for a 14inch screen. The screen itself is non reflective and the black screen surround has a matt finish. The back of the screen is finished in a rubberised black material while the area around the keyboard is grey.

The first main difference is the weight 208grams. I can’t exactly remember what my first unit weights but it was a great deal more than that. 20x5x4cm without the dummy aerial that adds another 7cm to the first figure. The display is 3.7x2.8cm and in full colour, six lines of display and the keypad below is also backlit.

I was on a bus the other day and a baby in a pram was given a smartphone by its mother and it immediately started pushing the screen, I was the wrong side to see what it was doing but as the baby – about 6-9 months -seemed happy it was not I assume the first time it had seen it. At 285grams I would consider this seven inch offering too big for a child that age but at 3 years – or maybe a lot less – I am sure some of the games and other items would engage.

The Canon PowerShot SX510HS measures 10.5x7x8.5cm when off, the lens when zoomed in can add 4cm to the last measurement. It weights 348grams. This 12MP unit has up to 30x optical zoom. It can capture images in 4:3, 16:9, 3:2 and 1:1 each image can be L, M1, M2 or S so a total of 16 image sizes are available. The left side has only the neck strap anchor point and speaker. The right side has the other neck strap anchor as well as a rubber bung hiding HDMI and A/V out.

This Hannspree Android Tablet measures 28x18x1cm with the viewable screen 21.7x12.7cm and the notional imperial diagonal screen measurement of 10.1 inches. It weights 620grams. This unit has a Quad Core processor and the 10inch screen displays 1280x800pixels in 16:10 resolution. It is of course touch (the ten point type) and a sensor that supports three way movement and acceleration.

This is a lightweight on ear offering so let’s start with the weight 132grams. Each arm has 4cm of expansion. While my head is not that large unexpanded they only covered the top half of my ears. So they could suit a child in unexpanded form and those people with very large heads may just struggle. There is a single 1.2metre lead from the base of the left earpiece. No phone answering device of volume control is built into the lead; it ends with a 90degree turn to the gold plated 3.

The HP Envy TouchSmart 15 measures 37.5x24.5x3cm and weights a tad under 2.6kilos. The visible screen is 34x19.5cm which gives the notional diagonal imperial measurement of 15.6inches which shows the same resolution as most panels, it also means you could connect to a panel by VGA rather than HDMI and still get the same resolution. The unit supplied to me has a Quad Core i7 processor running at 2.4GHz and has a massive 16GB of RAM.

A visit to a health club or gym is a possible solution but it is expensive and at this time of year costs need to be cut not increased so why not try a device that can fit on your wrist or even not show at all. Perhaps best of all the cajoling is done by email or SMS so no embarrassment in front of a class of people so much fitter – and leaner – than you.

Very many years ago I remember a very funny sketch by Dave Allen about teaching a child to read a watch the hours were fine but the minutes on the face caused great difficulty and the end result after several minutes was oh have a digital watch. The above was hilarious but having myself had a digital timepiece on my wrist for years and of course most phones show you the time digitally it took a few minutes of use to get my mind back to thinking in the way of telling the time.

With the amount of space available on each desk getting less every item on it gets squeezed so if something can do the same job and take a lot less space to do it then this must be a better use of the available space hence the Compact Keyboard from Cherry. 45x19x5cm – or more - is the space taken by a full size keyboard that has been used with most PC’s for years.

Let’s start with the TV itself it is 95x54.5x5cm, the viewable screen is 89x50.5cm which gives the notional diagonal imperial screen size of 40inches. The stand protrudes beyond the base to 97cm at the front and 75cm at the rear of the pair of feet that support it. So whatever you stand it on will need to be at least 27cm deep and support a 10kilo item. You can of course get a kit to hang it on a wall.

I have used several previous versions of this software, but always previously the versions supplied by third parties with their hardware. Those versions did just the basic job of cloning or moving data from one place to another. To find out about the new features and especially the Cloud options – for those worried I found their Cloud resides just over the channel in France and not as so many in the USA – I was due to meet with Acronis bosses in September.

The Samsung BD-F7500 blu-ray player measures 31x21x4cm. It is described as a Ultra viewing unit with 4K upscaling. Don’t be put off by that if like 99.9% of the country you only have a TV capable of 1920x1080 it works fine and even the 3D works (three display choices). I note that some other units do not support all of iPlayer, ITV Player, 4OD and Demand 5 but this product does. My own TV has the ability to connect via Ethernet but where it is means a very long cable.

Director Suite is four distinct packages. Audio Director 4, Photo Director 5, Colour Director 2 and Power Director 12. All are on the first of two DVDs and once installed take close to 5.46GB of hard disc space and on a reasonably fast Windows machine it took 15 minutes. All the installs follow one another and the only time I thought there was a problem when Power Director did nothing for around three minutes.

28x19x3cm are the basic dimensions with the extra rubber padding at the corners and the fixings that allow it to work much like a glove leaving one hand free to use the attached stylus to work with whatever specialist software you are using. With protective sleeve and stylus attached it weights 1134grams.

It is 15x10.5x3cm and weights 246grams with stand attached. It can also be wall mounted with suction caps also provided. First job is to connect the micro USB to USB lead to charge the unit, a full charge takes two hours and should give around six hours of playing time. The face has a fine mesh speaker grill 10x8.5 and the back has a four centimetre round speaker to give a good allround sound.

It is 8x5.5x.5cm and weights only 33grams so ideal to fit in a wallet for those who travel a lot, the connector to any USB port is built into the back and when opened extends it 4.5cm. The flip out cable is USB2 but beside it is a USB3 port so you can connect your card reader via a 40cm lead included in the pack and get USB3 speeds. While this may not be that important with small files some files that include video ones can be very large and USB3 performance can be ten times that of USB2.

The Pentx K50 Digital SLR (DSLR) camera weighs 885grams and measures 12.5x9.5x15cm with the supplied 18-55mm lens attached. Starting with the rear the 6.2x4.5cm TFT shows what settings you have selected and after shooting using the viewfinder shows the image you have captured. Above the viewfinder is a flash shoe and also the pop up built in flash that is never nearer than 11cm from the lens. To the right of the viewfinder a control that allows you to zoom in or out of the captured image.

The Archos 80 Xenon measures 21.5x15.5x1cm and weights 435grams. The viewable screen is 16x12cm which gives the notional diagonal imperial measurement of 8inches and the display is 1024x768. It weighs just less than a pound at 440grams. While it works fine with Wi-Fi there are times when out and about you are not near a hotspot and here the 80 Xenon can still function using 3G (any Network) to allow you to keep in touch wherever there is a mobile signal.

It is 46x16x33cm. The two paper input trays are fully inside the unit and the output tray drops open at time of printing adding 17cm to the last figure. Once the output tray is lowered three card slots are revealed on the left of it. Unusually it is creamy white and it totally touch controlled, a 7x5cm is in the centre of the front of the face/top which slopes forward after the back 22cm. The flat piece has the scanner under a lid.

A backpack has one huge advantage over a handheld bag, you are less likely to put it down and forget to pick it up again. It is 47x34x9cm and weights around a kilo when empty. It is a rather sober grey colour which is suitable when you go into posh meetings. The only bit that is visable that is not grey are the tips of the zip pulls that are orange. However open the various and numerous pockets and more orange is there.

It is 17x5x17cm and stick the power adapter and Ethernet cable in the rear and you add another 3cm to the depth. To get started on your PC or MAC just follow the link given in the well illustrated Quick Start Guide. If you have plugged in your power adapter and supplied Ethernet cable then by the time you have filled in the few required answers the LED on the front of the unit will have turned from purple to blue and you are ready to move data.

I did not mention what for a lot of people would be an added plus point the ability to display 1920x1200 or of course 1200x1920 and to save you checking the default for most panels is 1920x1080. The screen is 55x35cm giving the notional diagonal imperial measurement of 24inches. The stand raises it a minimum of 10cm from your desk but this can be as much as 22cm using the hydraulic touch control on the back to raise it. The stand footprint is 25x17cm and the total depth of the unit is 22cm.

The Canon Ixus 140 compact digital camera measures 9.5x5.5x2cm when closed; the last can increase by 3cm when fully zoomed. It weighs only 132grams. Being an older user my brain says all cameras should be black; however the dark red of this unit almost looks right. For the novice there is a multi language Getting Started Guide with the first ten pages in English, for more detailed help there is a .PDF manual on the CD-ROM which also has some rather good software.

The Tivoli Audio Alber o+ measures 17.5x11x12cm and a meaty 62cm eleven piece rod aerial extends from the back, this can clip into the back when not in use. The unit weights one kilo. Slightly indented into the back are four connectors, headphones, external speaker, Auxiliary input and DC input. The DC input lead is 1.8metres ending in power brick with mains at the top of the back so be aware if you have shirting board sockets.

The Jabra Solemate Bluetooth speaker measures 16x6x6cm and weights 603grams. While I quite often moan that boxes once opened are impossible to close up again as you have to break them open to extract the contents. Not so here as the plastic sleeve is opened by holding the ends and being solid it will protect the 'Solemate' when reinserted.

The headset itself is comfortable; any gaming headset has to be as it is often worn for many hours at a time. The earpieces are coated in a breathable material and for any folically challenged person the headband is well padded. The Quick Start Guide is eight sides of heavy card, unfortunately it is multi language and what it says would surely be said better in a single page per language. There are two models but the only difference is colour, either white or black.