Technological Thrift

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The new Zeppelin Mini got me thinking about how I spend my gadget money. With a little creative thinking around some little used iPod features I came up with a plan to make this new iPod speaker the perfect device for my bedside table.

I am bad at falling for devices I don't really need, and forgetting about features on the gadgets I already have. My home office is strewn with casualties of my bright ideas - where I've spent more time surfing for new toys and not enough getting the most out of those I already have.

Case in point is my recent search for the perfect bedside alarm clock. My need to be woken by dulcet tones recently drove me to trawl the Internet for the perfect device. And as usual, the more I looked the higher quality I felt I needed and the more features I added to my list.

But this time, with a helpful nudge from my other half, I had a think about the gadgets I already had. Could one of these fill this alarm clock function for me? It wasn't long before I realised that my humble iPod Nano, gathering dust at the back of the drawer, had an alarm feature that wasn't a million miles away from what I wanted.

A bit of fiddling and I had setup two play lists - one of tracks I wanted to wake me up on weekdays and another, more laid back for weekends. I then created two alarms. One set for my 6:30am weekday mornings and one more civilised for my 7:30am weekends. Each of these I could set to repeat on the relevant days and link them to the related play list.

My old Nano suddenly had a new burst of life. I just needed a way to amplify the sound - if I wanted to use the play list rather than an inhumane beep to wake me up. This is where my thrift paid off as we had for sometime been saving for a music device for the bedroom. I could combine the two here and justify not only upping the quality of the sound system but also integrating my old iPod Nano.

I was excited to hear that a new, bedroom friendly version, of the Zeppelin iPod Speaker system was about to be released. I'd enjoyed the full sized version at a friends and had been blown away at the depth and quality of the sound - that quite frankly made a mockery of my music listening hardware.

So with my new found thrift I'm just waiting for the new device to hit the streets, and soon after my bedside table.

Written by Andy Robertson

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Andy Robertson writes the Family Gamer column.

"Videogame reviews for the whole family, not just the kids. I dig out videogame experiences to intrigue and interest grownups and children. This is post-hardcore gaming where accessibility, emotion and storytelling are as important as realism, explosions and bravado."

Here are the games I've been playing recently:

• Skylanders Trap Team
• Let's Play Skylanders Swap Force
• Skylanders: Swap Force
• Skylanders: Swap Force
• Home