Gripping and brilliant, if a little long

This Charming Man has to be a classic Marian Keyes title - it has everything that you would expect - moments of heartbreak, daft but loveable characters and you feel genuine warmth and affection for her main characters. This book, I believe is not as entertaining as her previous titles but the subject matter is much more important and is written with real respect and thorough research. I enjoyed it immensly.
Having said that though I do feel that at times the book was overly long and certain chapters could have been edited without the real thrust of the story being lost.
However that could be just be me being nit-picky - Marian Keyes, in my humble opinion is still way in front of any other women writers in terms of storytelling and humour.

Stop bleating about postage!

I thought this was fantastic value for money, does the job great. I would hate to think what it would have cost if I'd bought it from a shop. Even with the cost of the postage this is STILL a bargain buy.
Would highly recommend the product and the delivery was super fast! What more can I say?

Grand Theft Auto Phwoor !!!

What can I say about this game that hasn't been said already.
Ordered on the Evening of Wednesday 23 Arrived Wednesday 30.

I had a few Problems at first Namely the game being dark and hard to see, but after a quick look at the menu I was able to adjust the contrast which improved things greatly.

Graphically this game is fantastic you see everything run someone over and you get a blood splat on the car. The people move and behave in a very realistic way, get into a fight and they will join in or call the police on there Mobiles.

Dating and taking friends out is greatly Improved no more Guessing where to take your Girlfriend she will suggest somewhere nice.

The stealing of Parked cars is now a touch harder making escapes that bit more fun, Niko has to break the window then hot wire the engine adding that little bit more realism.

Get lost easily well worry not every car comes with an easy GPS Sat Nav System giving you helpful directions to your chosen destination. A very handy Inclusion because remember real men don't ask for directions.

All in All a Top Notch game, well worth shelling out Forty Quid for I can guarantee you will not be disappointed.

Just one last thing keep away from the kids, I am seriously thinking about buying another XB0X Just to play this game (currently using the kids when they are not about).

Terrific fun

I bought a PicooZ for my son and very soon realised that I should have bought two, the other for me. I looks fragile however is very robust and flies well -despite having had the tail chewed by the cat. I eventually bought one for me which failed after a minute - the tail rotor motor stopped. After a few weeks delay I got a replacement from Amazon and it was well worth the wait. The PicooZ is simply great fun and it takes a little practice and many crashes to get the hang of it. Fully charged you will get 5 to 6 minutes flying time and now I need a bigger house as I have now explored every aspect of our living room. Buy one, you won't be disappointed.

Nice pack

I like this pack, it is simple to use very accesible and good for work. I use it to type up, make graphs etc. Have no problems with it as it works perfectly.

Problematic - do not buy

Having had the BT Baby Plus for aprox 7 months it suddenly stopped working. BT were very helpful and sent out the brand new BT baby monitor 150. The monitor and parent unit would not connect - so they sent another one. The vibrate does not work and the unit cuts out on anything other than sensitivity level 5. They have asked me to send it back so they can check it - without sending a replacement; they are asking me to go without a baby monitor for"a few days". As i do not want my child to be in bed, upstairs without a baby monitor I find that this system is flawed.

SIMPLY THE BEST

Gavin and Stacey is THE best new sitcom on the box...it's funny, (has me in tears) its emotional, (has me in tears), its got some cracking one liners and VERY lovable characters, it simply is bang up to the minute tele....it has to be seen, so get out there and buy the dvds if you've not seen it as it will be the best thing you do this side of Xmas!!!Enjoy!! ;o) Louise.

Clean teeth

This is an excellent, powerful electric toothbrush. I have long been a fan of manual brushing as I felt it cleaned better. After using this brush for a while not only are my teeth whiter but they feel much better. In addition to this my gums do not bleed anymore as the brush does the work so you dont mash the bristles into your teeth.

I especially find the timer function of this brush a real use. I never used to know how long to brush for but with the 2 minute timer inbuilt into the brush now I do. The brush pulses every 30 seconds to alert you to change the area of your mouth you are brushing, in this manner you spend 30 seconds on upper left 30 on upper right etc. It may sound silly but this gives brushing more purpose and I personally find it less of a chore. All in all an excellent value brush, I havent seen better for the price and I have looked at a great many.

Mature Deep Cool

This album demonstrates that great bands move on .They are recognisable as the band of yesteryear but only a dummy would expect a complete reworking of that album.Here we have a broader and subtler palette but with depth feeling and control.Some lovely desolatetextures permeate the music and Beth does refer back to the folk-influenced singing from her solo album. Gone though are the Billie or Shirlie or Eartha impression which clog up the second album a little ,much as i love the textures there too. This is a mature deep album ,one which no-one should regret downloading or buying

The Good Life Starts Here!

Having watched the excellent and informative TV series I decided to part with my cash and buy the book of the series.

I have not been disappointed, the dishes I have tried taste wonderful, in particular potatoes and onions roasted in half a bottle of balsamic vinegar! Awesome!

The combination of grow it then cook it works well.

This is one of the most honest, unpretentious"celebrity" cook books you could find, full of easy recipes bursting with flavour.

The book would make an excellent present to both an experienced cook and novice alike.

Absolutly superb.

The only drawback, I now want an oven in the garden!

fantastic product for this price!!

i was browsing around for a new electric toothbrush and i came across this product with sonic technology, and seeing it was half the price i instinctively brought one. For 12 months i was using braun, it was great while it lasted but once i started using the HX7351 i could tell the difference.... who knew that 2 minutes is all it takes to give you lasting fresh breath through out the day. The sonic waves gave a tingling feeling during the first brush but nevertheless got use to the sensation. I recommend this product to anyone and at this price who can argue!

Good product, but activate by phone

I bought this copy of Windows XP from Amazon to install on an new intel-based Mac running Leopard. Purchasing an OEM copy was the cheapest way I could find to set up a genuine copy of Windows. I was a bit concerned about whether the process would work for an individual user, but I was reassured by the previous reviews.

Installation was easy. The product key worked fine. I installed it using on the Mac using boot camp partition and use VM fusion to open it. Following installation Windows wanted activation and I left this for a few days while I sorted some other issues out.

When I came to activate Windows I tried to do it by the internet, but I got a message saying that my product key had expired with no hint how to proceed. So I phoned up Microsoft support and they said I had to register as an OEM partner. Looked into this option briefly and decided that it was for computer manufacturers.

After an internet search I found an article which said that Microsoft had suspended internet activation because of fraud. There is freephone number to ring in the activation window. The activation process gives you nine 6-digit numbers to key in. Once you have done this you get seven 6-digit numbers to enter to complete the activation process.

So this OEM version works, but be aware that you need to activate by phone.

Great Value

What a great cable and at a very reasonable price. I plugged this straight into my XBOX 360 Arcade and into my TV and WOW what a difference when compared to scart.

The cable seems great quality and has immensely improved the graphics on my machine. It must be said that the cable is very short but if you are just connecting items that are on the same tv stand it should more than be enough. By comparison I would personally say HDMI is at least twice as good as component but that may just be me. Anyway great cable, great price, buy it.

HDMI Cable (PS3)

Buying this cable was a brilliant investment. I never knew what a difference HD has compared to an av socket. The picture quality is so much better! Its a definate must buy if you own a PS3 an a HD TV.

Doidy joy

I have not recieved my cup form amazon yet but have just order three because they are excellent. My son is seven months old and with help form his pops has always used a doidy cup. (a smaller one to start with ) He never liked a bottle teat in his mouth and on the very few occasions my husband tried to give him my expressed breast milk it seemed easier for him to take it from a cup. My son was exlusivly breast fed so when we started using this cup for other liquids at six months he found it more agrreable. The elipses mouth means that it is easier to drink from without spillage or choking and gagging becasue the parent can control the amount of fluid that is allowed to enter the childs mouth. The elipses alaos means that the fluid stays just as the lip of the cup and the baby can lap the fluid like a kitten, this is vital before six months to avoid choking and it also avoids bottle-teat and breast-nipple confusion which can happen if babies are bounced between bottle and breast too young or too soon. Using this type of cup does indeed mean that a the parent must give constant supervision until the child has mastered the art of sipping for itself but I would rather sit and teach my child to drink from a cup that do the boring housework... too often children are expected to manage new skils by themselves and are given apparatus to do so by themselves and I believe this is somethime what can hold them back. Why put off what children are entilrey capable off and my son certainly prefers his water like this (like the grown ups are doing it) to having a plastic spout in his mouth. (I have to say I did try to suck myself the spouty cup we gave him at six months and boy it was indeed revolting, no wonder he didnt fancy doing that!!!!) doidy cups are great, easy enough for children to hold (little handles to grip) and master drinking from...eventually by themselves.. It will amaze people to see your child doing it!!!!

A dissapointing end to a decent storyline...

Stargate SG1 has been my favourite show for the last ten years, so I was obviously disappointed when it was cancelled. But then it was announced that two feature length specials were to be made (with the potential for more), and I rejoiced.

However, the first of these two specials, The Ark of Truth, was a big disappointment after two years of storylines and a further one year between the end of the series and its release.

I was naturally expecting some kind of climatic battle between the forces of good and evil, but what we got was an unbelievably tame conclusion, that was dependent on a rather bizarre set of events (a sturdier table would have seen the Ori victorious).

The tacked on story with the old returning enemy was ridiculously placed in to add a bit of filler to what could have been done in a normal one hour time slot, had the writers not filled the last couple of seasons with so many poor stand-alone episodes. In fact had they prepared better, we could have seen this as the final episode of the series, instead of Unending, which was basically a waste of an episode as a massive reset button was hit at the end of it (don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it, but we basically had all the events of the episode undone in the last few minutes).

There is however, still hope for the future, the recently released trailer for the next movie Continuum suggests that it is the epic big budget special Ark of Truth should have been, as well as that, Atlantis continues to go from strength to strength, and then there's the potential third series, Stargate Universe, which is currently in the conceptual stages.

All in all, Ark of Truth should have been better, but there's still plenty of opportunities for those mistakes to be rectified in the future...

Disco(mbobulation)Ball

It takes a brave man (or a somewhat foolish manager) to time ones' debut album release with that of Mrs.Ciccone-Ritchie's latest extravaganza but Mr Sparro gets my vote straight off the bat with this scintillating slice of chic, sophisticated electrofunk.

Anybody who can manage to weave the word 'discombobulated' into a pop song
(trust me it's there in 'Cottonmouth') immediately gains my full attention and respect.

It's a very strong first showing indeed, 'Black And Gold' having been
around for a little while now as an amuse-bouche to whet our appetites
until the whole three courses (plus petit fours and coffee) arrived at the table.

And what a damned fine meal we have set out before us here.

It's as though a hyperactive schoolboy has been rooting around
in his elder brother's 70's and 80's funky disco collection,
absorbing the best and ditching the rest.
The retro references are witty, cunningly integrated and sharply performed.
(I sense an encyclopedic knowledge and enthusiasm for the genre).

Mr Sparro's voice shifts comfortably between a rich (and slightly sleazy)
baritone and a finely honed falsetto (watch out Mr Shears !) navigating
the thirteen numbers in this collection with confidence and authority.

This largely uptempo set would feel as at home in the surburban drawing
rooms of Purley as it doubtless will in the darker corners of West Hollywood.

Highpoints for the yet-to-be initiated include : aforementioned groovetastic single
'Black And Gold'; '21st Century Life' for it's punch-in-the-guts slap bass;
'Cottonmouth' for it's smart-arse, loping elegance;'Hot Mess' for it's hot hook chorus
and personal favorite 'Pocket' which has pretty much everything in it that I want from a pop song.

Full Marks Mr Sparro. It's shiny shirt and disco flares for me tonight for sure....
....and I want to dance with somebody !

Nothing new.

I already owned the Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales. This book doesn't add much more to the versions of the tale of the children of hurin as recounted in those earlier volumes. I am not sure it would be very easy to read for those unfamiliar with the Silmarillion, as there are so many characters from the tales of the First Age that will be unknown to those who have only read Lord of the rings.

Looks is deceiving

What impressed me as much as anything about Neil Strauss' lifting of the lid on the world of PUA's (pick up artists) is the quality of the writing. This is so much more than a how to manual (which it isn't really although along the way you learn a bunch of the techniques used by these guys). It's funny as hell, genuinely fascinating and above all a morality tale that is often dismissed by people who haven't read it as being some chauvinistic tract on how to use women to your own ends. It's much more complex that that even if it does paint a portrait of what it often a pretty seedy and vacuous world. Strauss knows this whilst at the same time finding it hard to resist - his reinvention himself as Style, ladies man extraordinaire and general guru to a whole bunch of desperate men, is something that he does not do without misgivings and this is what makes the book interesting and well worth a read.