TracyMartin, Author at Snellings Snellings Gerald Giles

Miele’s latest collection of kitchen appliances is called “Generation 6000” and it has been designed with those with a passion for food in mind. And as always – these appliances are damn good.

The collection has two distinct designs. PureLine which features glass fronted appliances and ContourLine which has the emphasis on stainless steel appliances. Both are unmistakably Miele in their use of clean and stylish designs.

Pureline comes in a range of stunning new colours including Obsidian Black, Havana Brown, Brilliant White and CleanSteel – with ContourLine it is all about CleanSteel.

The Generation 6000 range includes ovens, microwaves, steam ovens, hobs, cooker hoods, refrigerators and even coffee machines.

There are a number of “operating concepts” to choose from as well but all of them follow the same logical principles. For example display panels are centrally located and all use high definition screens.

The M Touch concept places its focus on speed and ease of use, SensorTronic makes navigation around the functionality a dream whilst DirectControl uses a more traditional twin knob arrangement.

Which ever operating concept you decide is best for you – Miele have devoted a great deal of time and thought in order to make the experience as easy as possible – many featuring finger tip touch control that you’d expect to find on the latest touch screen smart phones.

Miele have also included some brilliant new features to make preparing food easy and efficient. On the ovens you’ll find wire less heat probes so you can track how long you’ve got left before the food is cooked perfectly. You can access hundreds of pre programmed settings for bread, cakes and meat to automatically regulate and control the whole cooking process.

On the microwaves you’ll find similar selections of automatic programmes and even a one touch popcorn button.

The coffee machine is an absolute joy to use with bean to cup processing and easy to select buttons for one or two cups. A built in sensor even detects the height of your mug or cup and adjusts the coffee spout height accordingly.

These may sound like gimmicks but collectively they all make the whole “kitchen” experience that much more simple and enjoyable.

At Gerald Giles in Norwich we are pleased to be one of only a handful of Miele Centres in the UK. That means we have installed and working Miele kitchen appliances that our staff can show you in action – you’ll also be able to have a play with them too.

Miele are not the cheapest appliances available. But we think that they are the very best available. The build quality is excellent and they are made completely from Miele parts – nothing is sourced from anywhere else other than a Miele factory. That’s why they last for years and years.

We are still servicing Miele dishwashers that we sold over 25 years ago – and they are still going strong. That little bit of extra investment now – could actually save you pounds.

So come along and visit our Miele Centre in Norwich to find out for yourself just how good Miele kitchen appliances are or visit our Pinterest image gallery.

In our last blog post we reviewed what we think are the best 32 inch TVs around at the moment. They are popular as second room TVs or for smaller living rooms especially if you don’t want the entire room dominated by the box.

Now we move on the larger but still extremely popular 40 and 42 inch TVs. Again these TVs won’t take over the room and are still great for second rooms or bedrooms. Whilst the best of the 32 inch TVs range in price from £350 up to £550, the 40 and 42 inchers that we’ve chosen here range from £950 through to £1,100. That may seem like a lot of money – but all the TVs listed below have excellent picture quality, great styling and let you do much more than just watching live TV.

Whichever one you pick – you’re in for an amazing cinema experience – in your very own home.

We start with a TV that has set pulses racing since it was unveiled earlier this year at CES2013. We are talking of course and about the phenomenal Sony W8 range of TVs, all new for 2013. We’ve already reviewed the 47 inch Sony W8 LED TV in previous blogs so we’re already very slightly in love with these TVs from Sony.

The Sony KDL42W805 (to give it it’s full name) is the 42 inch version of the above and is a Full HD LED 3D TV and comes with all the same fantastic features of including Near Field Communication (NFC) to transfer the contents of your smart phone straight onto the big screen.

The design is lovely, with a great elliptical stand with soft baffle lightly to indicate what mode the TV is operating e.g. watching TV or playing Blu-Ray. Obviously you can surf the web, Skype and watch movies and programmes when you want via the Sony Entertainment Centre.

Next up we have the Panasonic TXL42FT60B another new TV for 2013 and another Smart Full HD 3D TV with full internet access. This set has a really wide viewing angle which means you get a great picture from virtually anywhere in the room.

The portal screen and menus are really easy to navigate but what makes the Panasonic stand out is its use of voice recognition. Yes – just speak into the remote and the TV will act upon your commands, for example just speak a search term into the remote and results appear on the screen. Brilliant for those who are yet to master touch typing.

Slightly more expensive than the Sony at £1099.99, this is a great TV with great features and über modern design.

If you’re really into your web browsing then our next pick of the best 40 – 42 inch TVs will satisfy even the most ardent of web surfers.

It’s the Samsung UE40Es7000KEY – a 40 inch screen TV that is the ultimate ease of use smart TV and may see your lap top relegated to the loft because it comes with a free wireless keyboard (while stocks last) making surfing the net an absolute breeze.

The UE40ES7000 comes with Smart Hub, a load of apps, Video on Demand and it now includes NetFlix.

The whole package is brilliant. Oh and the picture and sound quality are pretty excellent too. The Samsung UE40ES7000 retails at £999.99 making it a great value LED TV.

Finally we’ve thrown a 46 inch TV into the ring for your consideration. The Sony KDL46HX853 was released last year and was the top of the range Sony TV. It’s still up there with the best of them in 2013. It’s a Full HD 3D TV with an extremely lovely and practical monolith stand that doubles up as a speaker array – the sound quality therefore is better than most other flatscreens.

As with most Sony’s, the build quality is excellent, set up is childsplay and to go with the exceptional sound quality you get a fantastic picture with an awesome range of colours and deep true blacks.

The other thing that makes this a great LED TV is that you can buy this 40 inch beauty (that normally retails for around £1,500) for just £1,099.99. Which is just a fraction more than some of the newer 46 inch TV models above.

So there you have it – our best 40 – 42 inch TV review. With a 46 inch LED TV thrown in for good measure.

Any of these will give great all round performance and with manufacturers like Sony, Samsung and Panasonic you really can’t go wrong.

For more images of these TV – check out our Pinterest Board – “Best 42 inch TV. Our review.”

The new Sonos PLAY:3 promo is all about giving customers the ability to TRIAL this amazing bit of kit by giving them the chance to try it out, in your own home for a full 60 days. That way you get a chance to experience the brilliant sound quality that the PLAY:3 delivers.

Basically you get everything you need to test the PLAY:3 in your home, for 60 days.

Gerald Giles currently have the Sonos PLAY:3 reduced from £299 to £259 – making this an even better time to sample the sound of Sonos.

The PLAY:3 is a real “blow your socks off” wireless sound system that is small enough to fit in any room and lets you stream and play your entire music collection in crystal clear, cinema, surround sound audio quality.

Set up is simple with the Sonos Bridge, which is included free in this promotion.

And the addition of unlimited 60 days access to Napster means you can search, find and stream literally millions of songs.

We’ve always loved Sonos, their products are really well made and the sound they deliver is amazing. Now this promotion gives everyone the opportunity to try Sonos in their own own home – risk free. You really have nothing to lose so why not give it a try. We think you’ll be amazed at how different your favourite tunes will sound when they are played through the the PLAY:3.

For more pictures and info relating to this Sonos promotion visit our Pinterest board that we’ve put together just for the Sonos PLAY:3 or come in to our Norwich showroom to see and hear for yourself what the Sonos PLAY:3 can do.

32 inch TVs are really popular as a second room TV particularly for bedrooms and studies. But even if a 32 inch TV is going to be your main TV – it doesn’t mean you have to settle for poor picture quality, limited functionality or clunky design.

Most top manufacturers like Panasonic, Sony and Samsung have some really brilliant 32 inch TVs. In this blog we take a look at some of the best ones on the market right now. We hope that this helps you decide which 32 inch TV is right for your home.

Like our other reviews we haven’t put these in any particular order preferring to let you decide which one best suits your needs.

If you’re looking for a 32 inch TV with great picture quality then the Panasonic TX-L32E6B could be the right choice for you. This is a Full 1080p HD LED TV from Panasonic’s award winning Viera range which means you get a great picture with stunningly bright colours and deep, opaque blacks. On top of that you’ve got WiFi built in meaning you can surf the web and get your hands on loads of content through Viera Connect. Even if you haven’t got WiFi, the TX-L32E6B comes with an ethernet port, 3 HDMI sockets and a USB port – giving you a truly connected experience.

The TX-L32E6B is on sale now at £499.99, which is a great price for a TV that delivers such brilliant picture quality.

For the geeks among you who want to use their 32 inch TV for more than just watching TV, then Samsung’s ES6300 Series 6 (or UE32ES6300UXXU) is the one. Like the Panasonic this is a full HD TV but it’s also 3D. With wireless connectivity to the web you’ll be able to Skype friends all over the world. Sharing content is easy too. You can play movies direct from a USB stick and you can record programmes straight onto the USB drive too. The other snazzy feature of the Samsung ES6300 is it’s “One foot connection”. Place a compatible device within a foot of the TV and it automatically detects it allowing you to browse through photos, movies and TV programmes with ease – all from your sofa.

As far as looks and design goes both the Panasonic and the Samsung both look great.

But if you’re looking to make a real lifestyle statement then cast your eyes at the new for 2013 32 inch KDL32W653 from Sony. The W6 range has many of the features of the Sony W8 TV range which we recently reviewed – so that includes things like X-Reality image processing, Motionflow, Mirroring and access to the Sony Entertainment Network but what makes this 32 inch TV really stand out is the design. Simple and majestic the screen is slim with very little bezel and the stand is the epitome of understated elegance.

Finally, we thought we’d include another Sony 32 inch TV in our top picks simply because this one represents great value. At just £349.99 the Sony KDL32EX343 looks great, delivers really good picture quality, is fully connected and comes with FREEVIEW.

To see more images of these fantastic TVs – visit our Pinterest Board “The Best 32 inch TV. Our recommendations.”

Well, we hope our guide to the best 32 inch TVs has helped you decide which one is right for you.

As we said, there are some great TVs out there and with the manufacturers we’ve highlighted you can’t really go wrong but if you need any more help just drop us an email, pop into our showroom or give us a call on 01603 621772 and we’ll be happy to help.

More and more people are looking to improve the quality of their TVs sound by connecting a sound bar. We’ve talked already in our blogs about why flat screen TVs suffer from poor sound, and we’ve also highlighted some of the best TV sound bars around – namely the Sonos PLAYBAR and the Bose SOLO. Both of which are brilliant, lifestyle choices.

So we thought it was time to put together a top 5 TV sound bars to help you choose which is best for your budget, your TV and your room. So here it is.

Our top 5 is a blend of sound quality, ease of installation and obviously price – so we’ve tried to include a range to suit all budgets.

So in no particular order these are our picks of the best sound bars for TVs 2013.

This sits right at the top of the pile both in terms of quality and price. At £1300, it’s our most expensive TV sound bar but you do get an awesome subwoofer and it comes with its own remote. Dead easy to install – it’s pretty much plug and play. Everyone needs a mate every now and then. And so does your TV – so give it the Bose CineMate 1SR.

For £149.99 this beauty belts out 60 watts of power and you get a subwoofer too which delivers real 2:1 cinema sound. Plus you can’t go wrong with Sony, a great manufacturer with great, solid products. We like the hexagonal design of this one (see foot of the page) and it’s the perfect choice if you’ve got two or three flat screens at home that you want to upgrade.

What more can be said about this visually and audibly stunning sound bar from Sonos that hasn’t been said already. Check out our earlier blog dedicated to this piece of electronic wizardry. It sounds brilliant, looks gorgeous and with a globally famous DJ who wears a giant mouse head as an official ambassador – it’s dripping in Sonos coolness. We’re selling this for £599.99.

Similar in price to the Sony, this “less is more” designed sound bar can be yours for £179.99 and it pumps out a huge 90 watts of sound to give you the 2:1 channel effect. For the eco conscious amongst you – Panasonic claim this has a very low power consumption. The techies at Panasonic have also weaved some audio magic so that the sound actually appears to come out of the centre of the TV screen. This sound bar is great value and an obvious choice if you’re plugging it into a Panasonic TV.

We reviewed the Bose SOLO sound bar a while back. It’s not so much a bar – more of a slab. But that can be an advantage because you literally stand your TV on it, plug in one optical lead into the back of the telly and a power lead into the wall and it’s ready to rock. And rock it does. Bose don’t deal in watts – they deal in the quality of sound and for £349.99 you get phenomenal sound that you can actually feel.

So there you have it. Our five best TV sound bars for 2013. Remember we not only have these sound bars in our Norwich showroom, we also have them in our living rooms as well. Gerald Giles wouldn’t recommend products that we wouldn’t want to use our selves.

All of these sound bars deliver great performance and will really bring your TV to life. Come in and find out for yourself, give us a call on 01603 621772 or send us an email and we’ll be happy to help you find the one that is right for you.

Pictured below is the Sony HTCT60 with its smart hexagonal design. For more images of our top 5 sound bars 2013 visit our pinterest board where you’ll find out the identity of the DJ with the large mouse head.

It’s seems like its been ages since Sony announced that they’d be bringing out a new range of Bravia LED TVs at CES2013. But we’ve finally got our hands on some of the new Sony W8 LED TVs and got one up and running in our Norwich store. And it’s been causing quite a stir. (#StoreStir)

The precise model we’ve been playing with is the KDL-47W805. The 47 means its got a 47 inch screen.

We’ve already given you a sneak preview of the W9, which, when its released will be Sony’s flagship LED. They are only currently only available to pre-order and are likely to be quite pricey. The 55 inch model will set you back well over £2,000 and the W8 has many of it’s features and gadgets anyway.

Obviously the picture quality is brilliant. We had the IPL cricket on yesterday afternoon and the colours were amazing, there was no blurring even when Chris Gayle was flaying the ball out of the ground. Sony are using X-Reality PRO technology to deliver a really sharp and crystal clear picture and Motionflow XR 400Hz makes the fastest of sports appear beautifully smooth.

Sound wise, the W8 TV is good. Here Sony are using Bass Reflex Box speakers that project sound right at you. You can always enhance the sound with a TV sound bar like the Sonos PLAYBAR or Bose SOLO. They’ll take the sound quality to another level altogether.

Sony have been bigging up the design of the W8. They call it a “Sense of Quartz”. What that actually means is that there are a lot of cut glass edges and beveling going on . Which is very nice indeed.

The other design feature you might like is the round stand that emits a soft gentle light of differing colours depending on where the content you’re watching is coming from.

But if you use one word to describe these 2013 TVs from Sony then that word would be “connected“. Connected because it uses NFC (Near Field Communication). So for example, bump your smart phone onto the remote and all your content, apps etc etc appear on the screen. When you enlarge something on your phone, it enlarges on the screen. When you open an app on your phone, it opens on the screen. And the picture quality is brilliant due to some clever rendering.

You’ve also got the ability to use Sony’s TV SideView Android app or Apple app which lets you use your phone as a remote and also gives you more information about the programme you’re watching and also what people are saying about the programme in real time on Twitter.

Plus you’ve got access to the Sony Entertainment Network which means access to more music than you can wave a stick at, exclusive channels and all the latest movies.

And you’ve obviously got the internet on there too – so this really is a TV that integrates and connects you to the rest of the world and your other devices.

The 2013 Sony W8 TV is sure to be extremely popular and we’ve already had a lot of enquiries about it. But there really is nothing like seeing it in action for yourself, so pop along to our store and you can have a go for yourself.

Back in 2002 Sonos set out to change the way people listened to music. They wanted to make it a brilliant experience, something that could be experienced in any room. And they wanted to make it incredibly easy to play the music you love and to find new music to fall in love with.

Well, in a little over 10 years Sonos have had a massive impact on the home audio market and their PLAYBAR is a great example of how they are achieving their goals of changing the way we experience music, one home at a time.

Put simply, the Sonos PLAYBAR is a speaker that plugs into your flat screen TV to improve the quality of the sound. As we’ve highlighted before, as TVs get thinner and thinner the quality of the sound has dropped – so that is where sound bars like the Sonos and the Bose SOLO come in.

But this Sonos PLAYBAR delivers much more than just hi fidelity Dolby digital sound through its 9 speaker rack.

First up, it is indeed very easy to install. You can fit it above or below a wall mounted flat screen or just place it on the stand your TV is on. It comes with just two cables – a power cable and an optical cable that plugs into the back of the TV.

When its plugged in – anything that is plugged into the TV will play through your Sonos PLAYBAR. Xbox, Blu-ray, DVD…anything.

Sonos claim that the PLAYBAR gives you access to “every song on the earth” – and that’s a pretty fair claim when you consider that you can stream music wirelessly to it from say, your iTunes library. But you can also stream from all of the major online music services like Spotify, last.fm and Pandora. All of which you can control by downloading free Sonos apps for Android, iPhone and iPad.

In fact, you don’t actually have to have a TV to use the PLAYBAR because it works as a standalone speaker should you want it to.

If you’re lucky enough to have other Sonos speakers around the house it will sync with them so you’ll be able to play music in any room you want.

If this amazing full theatre sound is not enough then go mad and pair it up with Sonos SUB for 3:1 bass that will have your house pounding with sound and even add Sonos PLAY:3 to the PLAYBAR and SUB to create the full on surround sound experience.

Sonos SUB and PLAY:3 both connect at the push of a button so again set up in simple.

Looking back to their goals in 2002, Sonos certainly appear to be ticking the boxes on all of them. They have successfully created an audio system that is easy to set up, controllable from your smartphone and capable of connecting you to any song, anywhere in the world whilst allowing you to play music in any room that has a Sonos speaker.

Oh and did we mention, the kit looks gorgeous and they’ve got Deadmau5 in their promo videos eating a large piece of cheese in his trademark and slight scarey mouse head.

Does it get any better? Take a look at the Sonos PLAYBAR video by clicking here.

(Gerald Giles, Norwich are authorised Sonos retailers. Come in or contact us to find out how you can transform your living room into a home cinema).

A decent tumble dryer can be a real help around the house especially if you’ve got kids running around getting muddy and dirty. Then add to that our British weather – having piles of damp washing draped over radiators and clothes horses can be a pain.

Tumble dryers not only get clothes dry but it is said that nothing fluffs up towels like a spin in a tumble dryer.

Basically there are two types of tumble dryers. Vented dryers and condenser dryers.

Vented dryers direct the warm moist air out of the machine and then outside via a hole in your wall or out through a window usually using a large bendy tube.

Condensers collect the water in a tray or container which is then emptied. The water is collected by driving the warm moist air out of the drum and over the a “condenser”. Because the “condenser” is cool the water forms into droplets and is collected in a reservoir or it can be pumped out automatically.

Well, positioning is often an issue with vented dryers because the air needs to get out of of the house some how. However they do tend to use less electricity than a condenser.

With a condenser you can have it anywhere in the house, it doesn’t need to be near a window or have a hole built into the wall.

However, you don’t want to be constantly emptying out the reservoir – so if you’re doing a lot of washing and drying, then go for one that automatically pumps the water out for you.

Other things to consider would be what size of drum you need, the bigger the drum, the more washing you’ll be able to dry in one load. We have some compact 6kg models, perfect for small families and some larger 8kg models.

As ever with kitchen appliances, you really do get what you pay for. We’ve got a range of really good Bosch and Miele machines ranging from a little over £300 to some amazing machines for around a £1,000.

Some of the Miele vented dryers have a unique honeycomb venting systems that protects and cares for the clothes.

So there you have it, the difference between vented and condenser tumble dryers.

It’s really up to you which type you go for and if you need any more information give us a call on 01603 621772, send us an email or drop in and see at our Norwich kitchen appliance showroom and we’ll take through all the options.

In one of our earlier blogs (The Best of CES2013) we spoke a lot about Samsung and how they are one of the most innovative manufacturers around. At CES2013 they unveiled bendy phones, curved screen TVs and fridges with iPad style display panels. That was impressive enough.

They also began showcasing their new range of 4K Ultra HD TVs which they said would be ready for pre-order at the end of March. Samsung are calling these TVs their S9 range and they had the UN85S9 model on display.

So being in the end of March, we checked the Samsung site and it wasn’t on there yet. These dates are probably for Korean and US customers only. They’ve indicated that the TV will be available in the UK mid 2013. But we’ll keep checking.

Although there is very limited information on their site, what we do know is that the entry level model of the S9 range, the UN85S9, will set you back a stonking $40,000. That’s around £26,250 based on current exchange rates.

That is a lot of money for a TV. So what do you get for that rather large investment?

Firstly, a huge 85 inch screen that delivers a picture in UHD 4x the resolution of current full HD TVs.

But the biggest wow factor comes from the actual design on the TV. The screen is mounted in a frame a bit like a painters easel or one of those rotating white boards your teachers used to have. The picture above explains it better. Samsung say that this frame design allows the screen to be tilted and gives the impression that the screen actual “floats”.

At CES2013 there was a mixed reception for the design – however, we think that it really works. But obviously you can make up your own mind.

One of the reasons we love this design is that the speakers are housed in the frame itself and this allows the beast to deliver a whopping 120 watts of sound to give you the full cinema experience.

Obviously its packed with the very latest tech – a quad core processor, Smart View (stream content from your mobile to the TV) and an up scaling engine that will up convert HD and full HD to UHD quality giving the best and most vivid picture quality on the market. They’re doing this because UHD transmissions are extremely limited at the moment. (Ed: Just a note here, you’ll also see TVs with 4K screen resolutions. Well 4K and UHD are the same thing).

Samsung have also improved the their Smart Hub technology so that you can now control or manage all your other Samsung gear from your sofa – what that means is you can track and control your washing machine, cooker, air conditioning and so on right from your sofa.

So in summary this is one hell of a TV, 85 inches of fantastic picture quality, 120 watts of sound delivered from a stunning and unique design. However, do you need an UHD TV right now?

Probably not as there are very few broadcasts supporting UHD (hence the up scaling engine) and the Blu Ray people are still working on UHD. But UHD will come – it’s just a matter of time.

In the mean time however, we’d suggest taking a look at the current Samsung full HD TVs – like their UE55ES8 which has a 55 inch screen is 3D and at a little over £2,000 is a 13th of the price of the S9. And it has a lovely stand too.

On Friday 15th and Saturday 16th March we have something rather special going on in our store in the centre of Norwich. In fact we have two rather special things going on.

Firstly, on both days we’ll be demonstrating the future of TV in the shape of the Bose VideoWave® II.

This home entertainment system combines an HDTV 1080p super vivid flat screen with the phenomenal surround sound that you would expect from Bose. In previous blogs we’ve talked about how although TVs are becoming thinner and thinner the quality of the sound they produce is not really improving. That’s because the thinness of the TV means that you can’t get a decent speaker system in there.

Well the Bose VideoWave® produces an unbelievable cinematic sound quality with no visible speakers or wires! So if you’re in the market for a new HDTV, sound system or home theatre – then the VideoWave is definitely worth a look.

Come along and see it in action, you can even bring along your favourite DVD or Blu Ray movies and we’ll show how they should look and sound – or bring along your iPod or iPhone and we’ll plug that in too.

Oh and we don’t have any neighbours – so we can turn the VideoWave® up really loud.

Then on the Saturday 16th March, from 10 – 2 we’ve got the Miele chefs in store cooking up a real treat using their fantastic range of cookers, induction hobs and steam ovens to name but a few.

50 years ago we were one of the first retailers in the UK to stock Miele appliances and it is that long relationship that means Miele will come along to our store and put this sort of demonstration on.

And remember this isn’t just a few people from Miele talking about their kitchen appliances, they’ll be rustling up some proper food and you’ll get the chance to do the same.

We’ve held these events before and they are very popular, great fun and there is always some tasty food to see and sample – we’ve even seen the Miele chefs steam bake a chocolate cake (yes steam bake) and it was, to use the that Americanism – to die for.

So we’ve got a pretty busy and exciting weekend planned this March that you simply should not miss out on.

You could just come into town and wander around aimlessly looking for a new pair of socks, a cushion for the sofa or a nice set of kitchen knives, on the other hand could come along to Gerald Giles, have a cup of tea or coffee while you see and hear the next revolution in home entertainment courtesy of Bose or find out what is possible in the kitchen using Miele’s outstanding range of cooking appliances.

All of you will have seen the energy efficiency labels on just about every electrical appliance you can find in the shops these days. From fridges to freezers, cameras to coffee makers – they are everywhere.

They are supposed to make it easy for all of us to buy appliances that use less energy and help us to keep our utility bills as low as possible. And it’s true they do make it easier to chose which is appliance is more efficient. But there are a few things that are not quite as straight forward.

So here we’re going to try and help by explaining how you can understand these energy efficiency labels but also give you some simple tips on how to save on your energy bills.

The labels typically range from a green (good) through to a red (bad) rating, using an A to G type rating respectively. As appliances have got more and more efficient – they now tend to run from A+++ through to D. Most are specific to the type of appliances, so a washing machine will be rated on a typical wash cycle, tumble dryers on how dry they get the clothes, a dish washer on place settings and so on – so they are pretty useful.

So outside of choosing the most efficient products – what else can we do to reduce our energy bills?

This leads us to a bit of a conundrum. The conundrum is that appliances can have the same energy efficiency rating and yet consume wildly different amounts of electricity. How does that work?

Well it’s all down to size. An A+ rated fridge with a a cubic capacity of 287 litres like this Bosch is going to cost you more per year to run that the Liebherr which has the same A+ rating but has a capacity of 154 litres.

The same applies to TVs, freezers, cookers and so on – small is more efficient. So our tip here is to pick the most suitable size for you and your family.

Next up is our old friend – stand by mode. According to the Energy Saving Trust we spend nearly £100 a year simply by leaving appliances in stand by mode. With our ever growing number of electrical appliances – that figure is going to grow. So by turning off, at the plug things like TVs, laptops, routers, DVDs we can easily save ourselves a fair bit of money. You can even buy plugs that will turn, say your TV completely off once it’s been in standby for a minute or so.

Obviously things like fridges and freezers are switched on 24/7 so for these products we’d recommend you get the most energy efficient one you can find. Aim for an A+ rating and remember, as we said – size matters.

Tumble dryers and washing machines burn through electricity so hang your washing on the line or a clothes horse if you can and use a lower temperature when washing. We have several washing machines with an A+++ rating – which is the most efficient you can get. Like this Panasonic. And many more that are A+ or better. Visit our washing machine pages to find out more.

Finally, although we all love a cup of tea and a nice biscuit, when you consider the average UK home boils up the kettle 1,500 times a year – that’s a lot of tea, a lot of fig rolls and a lot of electricity. Cutting out the odd cuppa here and there would easily cut down on your bills.

So there you have a few simple and effective ways with which you can cut down on your energy bills and that has to be a good thing especially as energy bills seem to be constantly on the up.

We’re just back from the Panasonic Exhibition in Nice and although many thought that plasma TVs were a bit old school, usurped by those LED TV upstarts, Panasonic have put plasma firmly back in the game with their new flagship plasma TV – the ZT60.

We got the chance to take a really close look at the ZT60 (which has a model number of TXP60ZT60B) and we have to admit that this is a stunning bit of kit.

Unfortunately to understand what makes this plasma unique means yet another new three letter acronym (TLA) to learn. The Panasonic ZT60 has an AGL screen. AGL standing for Air Gap Less.

In all other plasma TVs there is an air gap between the glass screen and plasma. A lot like double glazing. If you hold a lit match up to your double glazing – you’ll see two reflections of it. One for each sheet of glass. The same is true normally of plasma TVs. Whilst that is good for keeping home warm – the reflection is not great for picture quality.

So what Panasonic have done on the ZT60 is to remove that gap making it AGL. Air Gap Less. Reduced reflection means better picture quality especially on blacks. And the picture quality is indeed amazing.

The down side of this AGL technology is that they are difficult to make, meaning when the ZT60 comes out in May (we think) it will be pretty expensive and available in just the one size – 60 inches.

Additionally, worldwide – there won’t be many made. Only around 20,000 – so you’ll have to move fast to get one.

Because they are limited edition, flagship models each one comes with a uniquely numbered booklet, signed (in person) by the engineer. Which is a lovely touch.

Outside of the stunning picture quality the Panasonic Smart Viera ZT60 is a 3D TV with full web browser, built in Wi-Fi and gorgeous styling. The stand itself is brilliant.

It also features Panasonic’s My Home Screen technology which means you can personalise your home screen with apps and widgets a bit like you used to with Windows Vista. Only much better.

It has a built in pop up camera that uses face recognition to load different home pages depending on whose is sat in front of it. Smart. This camera is also used for Skype.

The ZT60 also comes with Panasonic’s Miracast which means you can flick content from your phone or tablet onto the screen and the content is re-rendered for the big screen. So you can play Angry Birds on a 60 inch screen with the same picture quality as you’d get on your tablet.

Panasonic also include a touchpad remote with voice recognition so that you can tell the ZT60 what to do and the new Panasonic Electronic Smart Pen which is a drawing stylus for the screen turning it into a scribble pad or drawing board.

You can be your own Gary Neville or Andy Gray by freezing the picture on the TV and drawing all over it.

We’d like to say “well done” to Panasonic for breathing new life into plasma technology. The TXP60ZT60B is right up there with the best in terms of picture quality and the extras included like voice recognition, Miracast, My Home Screen and the Smart Pen are not just gimmicks – they really add to the experience of owning this flag ship flatscreen from Panasonic. We can’t wait to have them in store in May.