Homes and Gardens

Aldous Huxley may have foreseen the Big Brother scenario but he does seem to have ignored the possibility of Little Brother. I am referring to the current trend of installing security devices within our homes to provide notifications of any unauthorised activity when you are away for any reason. One such device is Canary No this is not the yellow caged bird found in some households although both the company and its flagship product is named after the bird used by miners t

The Workzone Titanium+ drill & driver kit forms part of Aldi’s premium range of tools and accessories. It consists of the two most useful battery-powered power tools -- a hammer drill and an impact driver -- packed into a robust storage case so that everything is together when you want to use it.

Although misnamed as they generally sit below instead of on top of the television, set-top boxes have become a must have feature for the modern living room. With its flag firmly attached to the Good Ship Freesat, Humax has delivered numerous set-top boxes including its HDR-1100S model.

With the Salter Electric Soup Maker one can make a hot nourishing soup in about half an hour. Now that the days are getting colder it will make a useful addition to the kitchen for both the experienced or beginner cook.

As you get older you do not function properly in the morning without your first fix of coffee. If it requires little or no effort to make it so much the better. Here a small device that you’re only real input is to switch it on and insert a pod.

While most vacuums have the floor mastered, most people need to get them upstairs and of course also to vacuum the stairs themselves. The problems of the lead are often solved by an extension but the hose still needs a connection.

Nobody wants their Sunday joint burnt on the outside and raw on the inside. The Heston Blumenthal 5-in-1 digital thermometer from Salter is a useful tool in preventing that and similar problems in the kitchen. But that is not all it can do…

Developed by Smanos (a combination of Chuango Security Technology Corporation, Chuango Europe B.V. and Smanos Holdings), the WiFi Alarm System forms part of the company’s Smart Home System line up. This particular product has been designed to provide protection against unauthorised entry to your home via doors and windows.

With the perfusion of cookery programs on TV the things that comes through is accuracy, both in weight and timing/temperature so these two items can help with those things. First an accurate kitchen scale and second an oven temperature gauge.

This next review brings together a couple of Belkin products that offer to provide some assistance in protecting your home.

The Heston Blumenthal Dual Platform precision kitchen scales from Salter greatly improve the accuracy in weighing of ingredients and so will find favour with anyone who takes their cooking seriously.

According to the College of Policing if your home does not have any security measures in place then you are five times more likely to be the victim of a burglary than those homes who have implemented simple measures. To give you some idea as to the scale of this type of crime, burglary remains a fixture in the Top Ten crimes committed each month with 33,084 instances reported during April 2015. While this next product will not guarantee to keep your home safe from a break-in, it

The Heston Blumenthal precision analogue oven thermometer model 543 HBSSCR by Salter will be a useful addition to the armoury of any person who takes cooking seriously. It can be seen as a useful aid to achieving consistent results.

This coffee machine takes coffee beans in the top and grinds them and then prepares the coffee adds the water and then makes your coffee. It is a complete process so you cannot get fresher ground beans as it grinds them to make the cup of coffee.

As a breed apart, dedicated hardcore gamers demand the ultimate performance from their computer equipment set up. Issues, such as motion blur, flicker-free, refresh rate and response time, are considered to be paramount in the gaming world. This is the arena where milliseconds can mean the difference between success and failure. Naturally the monitor, providing the window into the world for ultimate achievers, has an important role to play.

A visit to a central London hotel introduced me to a new product that promised to keep a watch on my home when I was away.

Making a change from the numerous Bluetooth speakers that have come my way recently is an offering from Edifier that can be purchased as part of your weekly Tesco shopping expedition.

There are a lot of different brands of security cameras about, some very high end, others aimed at the home user. They all have one thing in common wires. Here a truly wireless solution that means not only no drilling through doors but also the ability to move them about at will.

As with the Oxford and Go products, this next DAB/FM radio is part of the Goodmans line up of offerings.

I visited the Withings stand at the Wearable Technology Show early in the year. You have already heard about their ‘health’ watch, here something else that was on display at the show a camera to monitor your home but with an extra feature.

As part of Goodmans’ range of radios, this next offering adds a number of extra features.

Well known for its range of radios, Goodmans has come up with a model whose title makes me think of times gone by.

At one time we used to be known as a nation of tea drinkers. Now, however, there has been a sea change and coffee has taken over as the national beverage of choice for those not hooked on something with a stronger effect.

A cordless vacuum means no restrictions on distance from the power plug; it also has two LEDs on the shoe so no excuse for not getting into those dark corners in fact with its smaller overall shoe size it gets into places most cannot penetrate.

As you reach a certain age what was an easy task with a pair of shears becomes a three cup of coffee job and a long soak in the bath afterwards. So why not let a budget priced electric hedge trimmer make it as easy as it never was?

Recently my late evening television viewing habits have changed. The reason for this has been the arrival of the Amazon Fire TV Stick product. This piece of kit consists of the Fire TV Stick device, USB lead and power adapter, remote control with AAA batteries and a HDMI extender cable.

Think of it as a vacuum cleaner that washes and dries and you are on the right track. If you have empty rooms its brilliant as you work in straight lines, it washes and dries as at goes along so clear everything away for those new looking carpets.

It does not seem all that long ago that I was first introduced to the Piper product. Actually it was around two months ago that I came across this home security device which streams live images to your smartphone and sends out warnings regarding events that are taking place within the area it is protecting. Now the next version of the product, originally created by Russell Ure in 2012 and powered by IControl Networks, is available. This latest version goes by the name of

The Vax PowerPlus Steam VPW2S is a versatile cleaning tool for around the garden and patio. Use the pressure washer to blast away all dirt and grime from outdoor surfaces and then hygienically steam clean critical areas.

This is not Samsung’s latest and greatest high end model but it is being sold by AO at a very competitive price so much so that they class it as a best seller, so what exactly do you get for your money and is it a good value purchase.