Christmas gifts 9: Gadgets - and a discount for readers

Blokes like gadgets. That's probably sexist and stereotypical too, but look, we just like gadgets. The way to a man's heart is with an iPad 2, and soforth. If you have the budget then a new phone - HTC Sensation XL is one of the cream of the current Android crop - great, he'll love it unless he's an Apple user (if he has an iPhone 4 or 4S then his sim won't fit the new phone anyway). If he has a BlackBerry have a think about a Playbook - it syncs with your BlackBerry and then works like any other tablet computer. I've been playing with one, it's a good machine and the lacklustre sales so far have me stumped.

There are also new land line phones from Magicbox like the Torque, which looks like a phone on a plate which answers itself when you pick it up. Very chic. A new iPad holder from Vogel's called the Ring-O is very useful, turns into a desk stand, wall bracket or attaches to the headrest on a car seat so the kids can have a movie going on the journey to the in-laws. Add a decent pair of headphones - my new ones from BlueAnt are pretty good, a little bulky but who cares in the car - and they'll even be able to hear the film.

Maybe you're a little more eco-conscious than all that, and the good news here - no, really - is that readers of LifeOver35 can have a discount on a JetStorm from Ecocamel. This is a shower head that adds air into the mix so you get just as good a shower as you would with any other head, but you should find your water bill goes down 40% a year. Families of four should, the company says, save up to 56,000 litres of water a year and annual savings average out at £240 per annum. This means you'll save enough to have paid yourself back for the purchase price after three months, according to the blurb.

Or two and a bit months if you help yourself to a 25% discount for readers of LifeOver35 - just go to the website above and order the shower, entering the code EC13 at the checkout and twenty five pee in the pound will vanish from your purchase price.

Other gadgets pitched to LifeOver35 this season include a whole load of coffee machines. These are a bit of a dark art to me; I'm honestly happy with our DeLonghi matching kettle and toaster, and we bought these because they look nice rather than because we think the water is going to be boiled any better by using them.

Note: in case anyone's wondering, I have no affiliation with any of the companies mentioned in this piece; you can order nothing or a million shower heads, I won't get a penny, this is an independent blog. That said, if you *did* by a million of them, please tell me and I'll try and flog the company an ad...