This review is part of the 1 Pound Challenge – can you find a decent gadget in a pound shop?

So far, it’s been quite a good hit rate with the products I’ve been reviewing as part of my 1 Pound Challenge – the majority have been rather good. And I’m happy to say that the trend is continuing.

I’ve now been taking a look at the Livewire Bluetooth USB Dongle – a tiny USB dongle that you plug into a PC or laptop to give it Bluetooth capability (in this case Bluetooth 2.0 and supporting voice data). It’s got a 100m range and 3mbps transfer rate. It cost £1 from PoundWorld.

I initially tried this on my wife’s Acer Aspire One and it worked immediately. It installed the appropriate drivers, the Bluetooth icon appeared in the system tray and everything worked as expected. Trying it on any of my other PCs or laptops – all running Windows 7 64-bit – failed, though. To be fair, the packaging does show compatibility with Windows up to (and not including ) Vista. This may be because of the built-in drivers that are part of Windows 7. Or that it’s 64 bit. Whatever the reason, it doesn’t appear to be Windows 7 compatible (and looking on the internet, other people are finding just the same).

The device is a tiny black plastic half circle (this is the bit that sticks out of the USB port) and a metal USB plug. The plastic has a number of ridges on it making it easy to grip for pushing in and pulling out. Unlike other similar products there is no blue flashing light built in (personally I see that as an advantage!)

The packaging shows the product is from ITP Imports, which shares an address with PoundWorld. ITP Imports have been in the news in the past for some suspect pregnancy testing kits and have to withdrawn dangerous items from sale (their “Deadly Dinosaurs” range turning out to be just that).

Summary of Livewire Bluetooth USB Dongle

If you’re not on Windows 7 this is brilliant value for money – it’s a particularly good way to add Bluetooth to a Windows XP netbook. If you have Windows 7 then buy with risk – it may not work.

Reviewed by David Artiss on 27th October 2011.

This review is part of the 1 Pound Challenge – can you find a decent gadget in a pound shop?

Next up in my quest to find excellent tech for one British pound is the bluefox laptop stand. Available from 99p Stores this is a grey, telescopic plastic stand that sits underneath your laptop, leaning it forward for a better typing position.

Once opened up, it splays in an “X” shape – the rear two legs fit (rubber tipped top and bottom) sit under the rear of your laptop. The front legs go up at the front to snugly hold onto the front of the laptop (otherwise your laptop would unceremoniously slide off each time).

Does it work? Yes – it raises your laptop up by about 3cm at the back, if your laptop is big enough and the underside is flat enough. My wife’s netbook is too small. My Lenovo Edge 11 is just about big enough BUT the underside narrows at the front – this means those upturned front legs have nothing to grip onto. They are about 15mm tall, so if you hold a ruler under your laptop from back to front, you will need the front edge to be no further than 15mm away from the ruler (I hope that makes sense).

I also tried it with a 15″ Lenovo ThinkPad and it worked just fine – certainly a 15″ or bigger laptop should have no problems. 20cm is,  by my reckoning, the minimum depth that you need.

When you’re finished with it the rear legs slide down and the front legs swing round to tuck under them, leaving you with a package just a few inches long.

It’s made by bluefox.

Summary of bluefox Laptop Stand

If you think you have a pressing need to raise the rear of your laptop up for better typing then this works (assuming your laptop is big enough and the underside is suitable). And at less than a pound, it’s another great bargain.

Reviewed by David Artiss on 22nd October 2011.

This review is part of the 1 Pound Challenge – can you find a decent gadget in a pound shop?

The origin of the USB Card Reader & Writer is a bit of a strange one. Labelled with a “link-it” logo it suggests a company by that name but the PO Box on the packaging is simple directed to a company named “USB Card Reader & Writer”. I’m guessing, therefore, that “link-it” is a red herring and this is the only product in their range. Which, as you’ll learn, is a shame.

I bought the product for 99p from 99p Stores. It comes in clear plastic packaging that, thankfully, doesn’t require scissors to get into it. Inside there is nothing more than the USB device and a piece of card with the product details on. No instructions are supplied but, then, what do you need?

This is an SD card reader which plugs into a spare USB port. There is a cap on both ends – one covers the USB socket and the other the SD card socket. Mine was in clear, transparent plastic, but other colours were available. The whole thing is put together very well and the caps fit on the ends nicely (they often quickly become lose with use, but that hasn’t happened for me).

There is an orange/red light on top which indicates use – I found this quite bright and irritating and would have preferred something more subdued.

Speed wise, SD card read and write speed was on a par with the SD card reader built into my Lenovo laptop. I was using an old 2GB SD card for testing which possibly isn’t the quickest and this shows when then compared against the speed of a dedicated USB memory stick – this was twice as quick for both reading and writing.

If you need a cheap SD card reader, this is ideal. However, where it really comes into its own is as a cheap way to re-use old SD cards. The cap on the card end means that you can insert an old SD card, replace the cap and then use it like a USB memory stick.

Summary of USB Card Reader & Writer

It’s well built, reads SD cards well and is 99p. An absolute bargain!

Reviewed by David Artiss on 18th October 2011.