All posts tagged 'christmas'

Dec 201502

6 Must-Watch Christmas Movies

Joel Dear gadget inspector news

Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year, and there is no better way to celebrate this joyous season than to have the whole family gather round and watch a festive a film together! With that in mind, we have a few suggestions that we strongly recommend to get you in the Christmas spirit:

Be warned: spoilers may lie ahead.

How The Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

In this adaptation of the cherished children's tale by Dr. Seuss, the bitter,green Grinch (played brilliantly by Jim Carrey) comes up with a plan to take Christmas (which he absolutely despises) away from the cheery and festive inhabitants of Whoville (who he equally loathes). His plan may be foiled, however, when he bumps into cute Cindy Lou, who tries to melt his dark and black heart and change his devilish plans to ruin the festive season.

Elf (2003)

This beloved festive comedy is a favourite among many families, and for good reason! This film follows Buddy the elf (Will Ferrell), a human raised by elves, and his experiences with modern-day New York and human culture, whilst on the search for his birth father. The whole family will be chuckling away whilst they watch Buddy struggle with human life.

It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)

This film is well and truly the definition of a Christmas classic! It's entertaining and message driven, with a truly remarkable performance from James Stewart as George Bailey, a man who is contemplating suicide. By the end has a fresh, new outlook on life, as his neighbours all pitch in and help him get his life back on track. If you're not sobbing into your mince pie by the end of this film, there's something wrong with you!

The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)

Michael Caine, Gonzo the Great and Kermit the Frog – now these probably weren't what Charles Dickens had in mind when he was writing A Christmas Carol, but that is one of the many reasons to love this warm-hearted take on the classic story. Despite the presence of Muppets, it is to be believed to be one of the more faithful versions of the original tale, and is of course our favourite!

Die Hard (1988)

All John McClane (Bruce Willis) was hoping for was a a quiet and relaxing Christmas, but Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) has other ideas, when he holds the staff (including John's wife) of the Nakatomi headquarters hostage. With no immediate police help, John is forced to take matters into his own hands and try to save his wife from the evil German terrorist. This against-the-odds action is hailed to be one of the greatest Christmas films ever, and for good reason too!

Home Alone (1990)

After mischievous Kevin McCallister (Macauley Culkin) get's into an argument with his family, he's sent to his room. The next morning, the whole family leave for their trip to Paris, but accidentally leave without Kevin! He wakes up to an empty house, all by himself, and soon begins living an eight year old's dream. This dreams is short-lived, however, as he soon realises that two burglars are going to attempt to rob his house on Christmas eve. Left to defend the house on his own, Kevin sets up a host of make shift booby traps around the house to try and stop them..

What are YOUR favourite Christmas movies? Let us know on Twitter!

Dec 201423

Have a Merry Christmas!

Joel Dear gadget inspector news

With just a couple of days left until Christmas, we at Gadget Inspector are starting to wind down for the holidays. We'll still be processing your orders, of course, but you won't be hearing much from us on social media or this blog for the next week or so.

We'd like to take a moment to thank everyone who has made this season such a success for us - we've been overwhelmed by people's responses to our new website, and we're thrilled by all the new customers who have come on board over the last couple of months.

We'll be back to normal in January; in the meantime, have a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

Dec 201422

What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?

Joel Dear party gadgets

We know, we know - it's not even Christmas yet, so how can anyone be expected to start thinking about New Year's?

Don't worry, though, because that's the whole point: we know that you're neck-deep in wrapping paper and Quality Street right now, and so we're here to think about the New Year so that you don't have to.

If you're hosting the party...

Hosting the New Year's Eve party is a big responsibility, and not just because of all the tidying you'll have to do (probably hungover) on New Year's Day. When the party is being held at your house, the onus is on you to give everyone a night to remember. Here are some of the things you'll need:

Touch Speaker for Smartphones

Parties need music, but how best to provide it? If you use your stereo, you'll have to change the CD every 45 minutes; if you play Spotify off your phone or laptop, well, it'll sound like it's being played off a phone or laptop. What you need is this ingenious Touch Speaker - simply place your phone on top for instant amplification! There are no cables or pairing required, which makes this speaker ideal for parties - if someone wants to put their own music on, they simply have to take off the current phone and put theirs on instead!

Party Cups

Paper cups are surprisingly hard to come by at the last minute - by the afternoon of December 31, every shop in your area will most likely have sold out. So why not order some Solo cups now and save yourself the panic on the day? These top-quality cups are just like the ones you've seen in countless American teen movies, and those parties are always awesome, right?

Jagerbomb Cups

Of course, Solo cups aren't the only option, and if you're planning to serve up a few Jagerbombs at your NYE bash, these specially-moulded Bomber cups may well be a better choice. Fill the middle section with alcohol, fill the rest of the cup with energy drink, and get ready to drop one last bomb before the big countdown!

Bar Tools

You can rest assured that people will bring plenty of booze to your party, but all of those bottles will be useless if you've no means of getting into them. You'll need a bottle opener at the very least, but if you want to turn things up to 11, we heartily recommend our 'Manly Bar Tool' set (featuring, among other things: a hammer-shaped bottle opener, a screwdriver corkscrew, and a saw for slicing lemons).

Beer Pong Kit

No party is complete without a bit of beer pong! This American-style kit contains 14 cups, 2 balls, and a pair of mats on which to place the cups; if you really want to impress your guests, you might consider purchasing a Professional Beer Pong Table too!

If you're going to somebody else's party...

Just because you're not the host doesn't mean that you can't make an effort. Here are a few fun items that you might consider bringing along - each one is sure to kick the party into a higher gear!

Yard of Ale Glass

Challenge your friends and find out who the best drinker in your group is! As the name suggests, this absurdly large vessel holds and entire YARD of ale (or lager, or whatever). Furthermore, it's marked with ratings (ranging from 'Wimp' to 'Solid Legend') that will let you know exactly how a big a drinker you are.

Beer Bong

Of course, if drinking is your game then there's no beating a good old-fashioned beer bong. We've got a huge variety of bongs to choose from, ranging from the classic 2ft design to double bongs, balcony bongs, six-person bongs and more besides!

Drinking Games

Nothing whiles away the hours 'til midnight like a couple of drinking games. Our personal favourite is Drinking Jenga (pictured above) - pulling those blocks out becomes even harder when you're already a bit tiddly!

There's loads more like this in our Party Essentials section. No matter what you're doing this New Year's Eve, we hope you have a great time - try not to get too drunk!

Dec 201418

Order Before 2pm Today for Guaranteed Christmas Delivery!

Joel Dear gadget inspector news

Holy moly, you guys - Christmas Day is just 7 DAYS AWAY! This time next week, we'll be opening presents, eating roast dinner, and watching a boatload of brilliant Christmas telly. How exciting is that?

Still, as the big day draws ever nearer, your opportunities to purchase that perfect present get fewer. If you are planning to purchase some gifts from gadgetinspector.co.uk, today is your LAST CHANCE to use our standard UK delivery service - if you don't place your order BEFORE 2PM TODAY, we may not be able to get it to you by Christmas Day.

Now, if you miss this deadline, don't panic. You can still get your gadgety goodies in time for Christmas; you'll just have to use our Next Working Day delivery service to speed things along. The deadline for these orders is 2pm TOMORROW - that's the 19th of December. See our Delivery page for further details.

Right, now that we've cleared all that up, we're going to go and stare longingly at our Christmas countdown panel:

It's so CLOSE!!

Dec 201416

Delivery: Get Your Christmas Presents Before the 25th!

Joel Dear gadget inspector news

For the last few weeks, the Gadget Inspector homepage has been home to our very own Christmas Countdown. Here's what it looks like at time of writing:

Now, if that's not cause for excitement, we're not sure what is. Nine days! Just NINE DAYS until we can stuff ourselves with turkey and unwrap our presents and watch the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special. We can't wait!

Before any of that, however, we've some business to attend to. It has been brought to our attention that some people still haven't completed their Christmas shopping, and if you're one of those people, you may want to take a look at our Christmas Delivery Deadlines. There's not much point in purchasing a Christmas present if it's not going to arrive before the 25th, so pay attention and make sure you get your order in before it's too late...

If you are using our Royal Mail 3-5 working days delivery service, your order must be placed BEFORE 2pm on Thursday the 18th of December.
If you are using our Royal Mail 24hr delivery service (i.e. Next Day Delivery), then you will need to place your order BEFORE 2pm on Saturday the 20th of December.

If you miss the above deadlines, we cannot guarantee that your order will arrive in time for Christmas Day. Any orders received after 2pm on Saturday will of course be processed ASAP, but don't be surprised if they don't arrive until after the big day.

One final thing: it goes without saying that Royal Mail are exceedingly busy at this time of year, and we would like to remind our customers that, sometimes, delays are unavoidable. Since your order is being delivered by normal human beings (as opposed to a jolly old man with a magic sleigh), we will accept no liability if your order arrives slightly later than promised. Place your order now to avoid disappointment!