Quality wise I would say this jacket is OK, but if you're expecting the kind of ruggedness that would see the US troops through Vietnamese jungles you will be disappointed. The thin stitching wouldn't last two minutes crawling through bush terrain, and the zipper feels a little stiff and cheap, like it might break if forced.

On the plus side, I bought it to see me through the ravages of the Sheffield city streets, so it should be just about up to that task. The removable quilted inner bit makes it quite cosy. Just trying it on for a few seconds showed me how effective it was at radiating back my own body heat, making it ideal for chilly autumn or early spring weather. I immediately removed the inner section despite the current cold weather as I tend to walk quite fast and can get hot quite easily even in cool temperatures, but I know I'm not typical in this respect.

Size-wise: I'm six foot tall, somewhat podgy but not very broad-shouldered. I went for the medium (as opposed to my usual large size) and it fits fine. It's maybe a little snug around the belly when zipped up, but that'll just be me (I'm not 18 anymore, sadly). I also found the sleeves a little long even when folded in with the Velcro, but again that's probably just me as I get this a lot with coats and jackets.

Oh, there's also a hood tucked away inside the collar. I doubt I'll use it as these flimsy little hoods are never comfortable, IMO. They always flop over your eyes making it hard to see and causing rain to run down your face. This one seems no different. But that's why I carry an umbrella.

An inside pocket would've been nice but not essential, having as it does four good size outer pockets.

In conclusion I would say for forty-five quid you won't get a better jacket these days, so would recommend it for those on a budget.

I suppose seventy quid just doesn't buy quality anymore. These trainers are certainly not your typical rugged, hard-wearing Cats. They look good on the eye, but walking on hard pavements in them quickly becomes fatiguing. You can feel every crack and stone under your feet in these. If you drive most places and just want something that looks reasonably smart-but-casual then these are an okay buy. I suppose they would also be suitable for wearing in the gym, like plimsolls. But if you are looking specifically for a walking shoe, you need to look further than these, as they are simply not fit for that purpose.

These buds are, as far as I can tell, perfect replacements for the official Sennheiser buds. I happened to lose one of my original medium-size buds which had somehow got loose and dropped off whilst I was carrying my player around. Since then I had made do with either smaller or larger buds, but my ears really need the medium ones for the best snug fit and best sound. For a little over three quid including postage these babies are a godsend. They fit perfectly onto my CX400-II phones. The old sound is back, and I'm a happy man. The speed of delivery was also very impressive.

Not much one can say about this. It's a ceramic butterdish. It has a pleasant enough design on the front, featuring a couple of chickens. It does the job of accommodating up to a 500g block of butter perfectly well. Can't see how you can go wrong with this - but then one could probably say that about a zillion other butter dishes.

As with another reviewer, I ordered this in brown but ended up with a khaki one. I'm guessing this is possibly a common occurrence.

It looks and feels nice quality. The outer canvass isn't at all waterproof and becomes saturated in rain, hence the bag is lined inside with an allegedly waterproof lining. Nevertheless I found that contents invariably got a little damp somehow during the many recent heavy April showers, despite all zips being securely closed.
The style is nice, and definitely more smart-looking than your typical sporty, synthetic-material backpack.

There's not too much you can say about this. It does exactly what it claims to: stores 16GB of data. Of course that is based on the definition of 1GB as being just 1 billion bytes, as opposed to the traditional 1,073,741,824 bytes, so really we're looking at 14.9GB. That's fine; the data storage industry has been using its revised capacity definitions for years now, so it's no surprise. I got exactly what I was expecting, and for only twelve-odd pounds. I bought it to replace the 8GB card I've had in my Sansa Fuze for the last couple of years, expanding the number of FLACs I can fit on the player.

One concern I had was if this was the genuine article or a cheap fake. My conclusion: I really don't know, but it works, so who cares. Highly recommended.

Following a recent hardware failure of my laptop from overheating (happily fixed under warranty) I researched solutions for avoiding a recurrence, and discovered the wonderful world of laptop coolers. I went for this one based on the reviews both here and for alternative models. It's not the cheapest of coolers, but I figured it wasn't worth skimping on a tool designed to protect a machine worth hundreds of pounds; I wanted (hopefully) the best, not the cheapest.

The Good:
It has three positionable fans for targeting your laptop's hotspots as efficiently as possible. These are very easy to slot into place.
It has a variable fan-speed wheel on the side. The minimum setting still generates enough breeze to keep the underside cool to the touch during normal usage (a quick lift up and feel of the underside gives evidence of the coolness) and is very quiet indeed. That makes it great for internet browsing whilst listening to music. The fastest setting is much more audible but still only about as loud as the average internal laptop fan - which virtually never revs up with this cooler under it. I use the fastest setting only when I'm using CPU-intensive software (e.g. hi-def music conversion) or when I'm leaving the laptop downloading all night.
It has a USB2 port on the back of the USB plug to make up for the port lost due to plugging it in.
The afore-mentioned USB plug (and port) clips onto the side of the tray, and can be positioned to either the left or right side.
The tray is a strong all-metal construction (with rubber feet to keep coffee tables scratch free) so not prone to wear and tear.
It has a nice forward tilt, making typing more comfortable than when the laptop is flat on a table.
The Bad:
A minor point but it prevented a perfect score: there is no off-switch. It would be nice if the speed wheel could click to 'off' for those times where absolute silence is a priority. Of course it can be disconnected easily enough, but this can be a bit of a hassle if you have something else plugged into its USB port.
The Ugly:
No Ugly issues at all - the silver brushed metal design looks very nice.

I wouldn't recommend such a cheap (and long) cable for use as general full-bandwidth interconnects, but to get a signal out to your subwoofer they are perfectly fine. Less importantly (but nicely) they have the appearance of more expensive cables. Simply connect from your amp's "pre-amp" output (or tape output) to your sub, and away you go.

Not bad cheap wire. I did find on my system these made my system noticeably brighter, and ever so slightly grainy - less smooth. This was more noticeable on hi-def audio (SACD and DVD-A). I switched in my old cables again, and everything was more tonally balanced again. So, not really the result I was after, but for this price I figured it was worth a punt, given the myriad glowing reviews. It could just be that my system is not suited to this wire (the B&W 685 speakers are very neutral, but the Cambridge Audio A5 amp is a little on the bright side). I shall audition the wire with my Rega Brio R amp when I get it soon, and update the review then.

Slightly annoyingly, there are no "-" or "+" markings on the sheaths, so a little care is required to ensure that the wires are connected to the correct terminals of the speaker or amp at each end (or that banana plugs are correctly coordinated).

This fine album was in bad need of an audiophile-quality remaster before Analogue Productions picked it up. Previous issues have always sounded too bright and harsh for me. The sound is MUCH better than ever, and is like the band are in the room with you. I was a little disappointed with the AP remaster of the previous Miles album "Someday My Prince Will Come," finding Miles's muted trumpet a little bright at times on my system (although still a massive improvement on other issues except maybe the MFSL remaster). Not so here though, everything sounds perfect.

It is worth noting that this is not merely a remaster, but a reMIX, being mastered directly from the original three-track session tapes. A three-channel mix is available on the disc for those with surround systems, placing Miles in the centre speaker.

The standard 16-bit CD layer sounds truly excellent and much improved too, so don't feel that you need an SACD player to benefit from this disc. In fact I listen to the 16-bit version more often as I have ripped it to play on my Squeezebox Touch, and can honestly say it sounds fantastic and not that much inferior to the SACD layer (when played through the Touch connected to a humble DACMagic).

A highly recommended disc. Tip: I got it much cheaper from Amazon's American site.