Working Lunch Tech Shed feature looked at music players yesterday.

New iPod docks on the market are all about convenience – you download the songs to your iPod, then simply plug into the dock and play. The docks have good compact speakers and are easy to set up and use. They are small, minimalist and generally quite affordable. But how about the sound quality?

The sound quality experiment by Working Lunch looked at sound quality of old technology (old CD player with speakers) vs new (iPod dock with MP3 player). The results were as follows - 8 out of 10 people asked preferred the sound from the older CD player, which doesn’t suffer from the compression of the smaller MP3 players.

View some popular iPod docks as seen on Working Lunch

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The recent trend for retro kit has breathed new life into the teasmade. The teasmade had been out of production for years, but now as Working Lunch investigated, a group of businessmen have rescued the teasmade and given it a modern design and modern technology.

The teasmade has been around for 100 years, it is well loved, iconic and has been missed. Now the teasmade is back for a new market including students, mothers with newborn babies and pensioners – a product for all ages. This teasmaid is promoted on facebook and twitter.

Get a teasmade as seen on Working Lunch

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November is Will Aid month, as noted on Working Lunch yesterday. What this means is that you can get yourself a free will, or one for a small donation. Getting a will drawn up can be expensive, but as part of Will Aid month some solicitors will draw up a will for you in exchange for a donation to charity. You are asked to donate £75 to the charity of your choice but this is not compulsory and your donation can be lower if you can’t afford it.

For more information on Will Aid as seen on Working Lunch, click here

Discuss Will Aid in our forum

Heart Rate Monitors were the subject of Tuesday’s Working Lunch tech shed. Nick Morgan from the Lucozade Sport Sport Science Academy was on hand to explain the tech behind heart rate monitors.

Most of them are worn like a watch (and many have watch functions). They measure and monitor your pulse rate constantly and display the results on a LCD display. Some of the more expensive heart rate monitors on the market will chart your heart rate on a small graph display, or you can plug it into a PC and view your results on there. The Garmin Heart Rate Monitor at the top of the range has a built in GPS system telling you where you are and how fast you’re travelling. Great for hiking, jogging, cycling etc, the Garmin 310xt will cost around £289.94 when it is released next month.

Click here to buy a heart rate monitor as seen on Working Lunch

Question about this gadget? Ask in our forum

Ian Ailles appeared on Working Lunch to talk about his company Canvas Holidays, who provide family camping holidays and mobile home holidays in Europe.

In the wake of the Credit Crunch, more and more people are choosing the cheaper option of camping in Europe as a family holiday alternative to the usual hotel breaks.

Book a camping holiday through Canvas Holidays as seen on Working Lunch

In the Working Lunch tech shed today, Declan Curry looked at ways to save money on your electricity bill. First up was a company called VPhase who have developed a device called the VX1 to bring down the voltage round your home without affecting any of your electrical appliances. Chief Exec Lee Juby likened his product to loft insulation in that the VX1 is similar in cost and has the same money saving effect on the whole home. On average, the VX1 is set to save you 10% of your electricity bill. It will be ready to be installed in homes in a few months’ time.

From next year the government is bringing in a feed-in tariff which will give you money for energy you produce yourself, nicely offsetting the cost of solar panels or similar money-saving and eco-friendly devices that you may be thinking of installing in your home.

Energy saving lightbulbs are a more immediate solution. Some are now dimmable, making them more handy for use round the home. Energy saving lightbulbs are around 80% more effective than traditional light bulbs.

Thermafleece is an alternative form of loft insulation which uses all natural sheepswool to insulate your loft. No side effects, no chemicals used in Thermafleece which is great if you suffer from allergies to that kind of thing. It was described on Working Lunch as a great use of a natural product.

Discuss your energy saving ideas in our forum.

Yesterday Working Lunch looked at government helplines which could make your money troubles worse if you call them on a mobile. Calls to 0870 and 0845 numbers can cost up to 20 pence a minute and if you’re left holding for half an hour which is often the case, it all adds up to a nasty phone bill.

Working Lunch presenter Declan pointed out that a number of Working Lunch viewers had recommended a website, www.saynoto0870.com. This website lists a directory of local code numbers which can be called as an alternative to expensive 0870 or 0845 numbers, helping you save money on calls.

Visit the Say No To 0870 website as seen on Working Lunch

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Angels Den was featured on Working Lunch today. Angels Den aims to provide a service to both inventors and investors: people trying to secure business funding and people looking to invest in exciting business ideas. The meetings are done in the style of a speed dating event, where people looking for funding move quickly around tables of investors pitching their ideas and trying to get the interest (and investment) of the Angels.

Angels Den as seen on Working Lunch is like a cross between Dragons Den and speed dating.

Visit the Angels Den website

Bob Seelert, chairman of Saatchi and Saatchi, appeared on Working Lunch for a chat with Declan and Naga about the current state of the advertising industry. Bob Seelert has recently released a book entitled Start with the Answer: and other wisdom for aspiring leaders. This book contains plenty of wisdom and philosophy on the secret to a happy and successful career in business.

You can buy Start with the Answer by Bob Seelert as seen on Working Lunch here

118800 is a new directory enquiries company which has a database of millions of personal mobile phone numbers. Using 118 800 you can easily track down somebody’s mobile phone number by simply providing their full name and address. The 118 800.com service is bound to be highly popular and useful to many but it is not without its critics who worry about the possibility of children being targeted and contacted through the service. It also raises questions about data protection. Shona Forster appeared on Working Lunch to allay people’s fears about the new service and to tell Working Lunch presenters Declan and Naga of the many benefits of the service.

Visit 118 800 as seen on Working Lunch here

Data exploitation or useful service? Let us know what you think in our forum