Advantages: Great idea saves time
Disadvantages: None

...Well, it had to happen, I suppose. All good things must come to a end, as they say. Our faithful steamer gave up the ghost after nearly eight years of Stirling steaming service. Time, we realised, to buy a new one. We decided to make our purchase of a new steamer at the BBC Good Food Show. After circling round and round the stands and displays several times ("too small, too big, doesn't look quite good enough, no WAY" are we paying that much!") we discovered the Tefal stand. We both fell in love with the Tefal Steam Cuisine Steamer. My comment was: "My god, it looks like something out of Star Trek voyager!" For yes, indeed, the Tefal Steam Cuisine steam cooker does look incredibly funky and very, very modern. It also has, for the amount of food that it can cook, a relatively small footprint. And this is, in the tiny and pokey... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Tasty, convenient, nutrition information is printed on the box
Disadvantages: could be expensive for some people; sodium content is quite high

...Lean Cuisine is a range of pre-packaged frozen meals for those people who want to eat a lower calorie intake and lose weight, and are great for people to take as lunches to work as they cook in minutes in a microwave. The range is very complete, and they cater to all tastes. There are Asian style dishes for those who like me love Chinese food - teriyaki beef, oriental beef, chicken fried rice for instance. For those whose passion is Italian, they do spaghetti, lasagne, and some other pasta selections, and they do a range of everyday type meals with vegetables. Most of the selections are between 250-320 calories and they have a nutrition guideline on the package so you can check fat gms, sodium and cholesterol content, ideal for those who have other dietary problems and need to keep track of their intake of those items. I... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Excellent, varied classical music, great shows, many good presenters
Disadvantages: Repetitive and irritating adverts, Simon Bates, Natalie Wheen

...Classic FM is the UK’s largest commercial radio station, and broadcasts superb classical music throughout the country (FM, 100-102MHz, depending on location, or through the Classic FM website). I have listened throughout the 10 years it has been broadcasting, and was surprised how few of the reported 6 million listeners have reviewed the station here, so thought I’d add my opinion! The station plays an excellent range of the most popular classical music, as well as new releases in the ‘cross-over’ genre and orchestral film soundtracks. It features many excellent shows and enthusiastic, personable presenters, but is let down by the repetitive adverts and self-promotions. I became a university student in October 2003, and since then have had Classic FM tuned in the vast majority of the time I spend in my room... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Sound Quality, The Features...
Disadvantages: The Podcast Feature Is A Little Useless...

... iPod Classic 160 GB iPods , the most amazing gadgets of all time. Who would have ever beleived that such a small mod con could hold so much memory and so much to explore. The family of iPod'swhich include the smaller yet impressive iPod Shuffle which runs on flash memory , the even more interesting iPod Nano which includes a video screen which holds 8 GB memory models , and it this just gets better because the next iPod in the family is the absolutely amazing iPod Classic which can even hols up to an impressive 160 GB of memory which is just unbelievable for an almost palm sized mp3 player, you just have to agree these are just so amazing. I bought my iPod from my cousin for a very good price of £150.00 , considering they are around £250 if you purchase them in a shop or online... The penultimate iPod in the family... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Excellent food and service
Disadvantages: The meal inevitably comes to an end

...room, with seating for around 30, is bright and cheerful. Colourful, fresh-cut flowers complement the soft but bright yellow walls, and sunlight streams in through the large windows that fill the front of the restaurant and look out on a small garden and a lovely terrace. (Weather permitting, al fresco dining is also available for an additional 15-20 people.) The weekly lunch menu includes several homemade pastas and gnocchi (bite-size potato-based dumplings). Always cooked to perfection and in flavourful sauces, the dishes manage to be rich without being too heavy; they are also usually accompanied by a small salad drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. The cook's southern Italian roots are reflected in many classic dishes, but he also takes obvious pleasure in experimenting and pairing together unusual ingredients. A few... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Good Classic Hip-Hop Songs
Disadvantages: None

...As most of you will know, Kiss, the popular radio station and music channel are always bringing out various artist Rap/Hip-Hop and also R'n'B collections. This Hip-Hop classics is one of Kiss's most recent presentations. With 2 discs, there are some great hip-hop classics thrown into this collection. Whether you are a hip-hop fan or not, you will know most, if not all of these hip-hop classics from the 90's and some even earlier. This collection is a 2 disc set, which has 19 songs on each disc. So, on with the songs. (Note: Some will be explained long, but others not so long as I am reviewing 38 songs!) Disc 1 ●Dr Dre ft. Eminem - Forgot About Dre● This song is a fantastic one to start off a hip-hop classics album, as Dr Dre is the first, most popular and best selling hip-hop/rap artist and producer, closely... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Classical music of the highest order providing 'Where have I heard this before?' entertainment.
Disadvantages: A pathetic excuse to release classical genius, along with poor album art and information.

...Overview… This album was bought after sifting through the discounted CD section of my local Tesco store. I am by no means a classical fanatic, and do not regularly listen to this music genre. However, upon browsing the track listings, I knew enough to recognise composers such as 'Beethoven', 'Bach' and 'Tchaikovsky'. At just £1.72, I therefore purchased my bargain thinking it would receive just the once over. 'Classical Greatest Hits' was originally released in 2003 on an import-only basis, and later re-released in May 2004 in white format. The album is a statement showing how many classical works are 'borrowed' by modern artists. It gives no less than 16 examples of this, providing over an hour of original compositions. Album Art/Information… The album cover pictures a conductor and the words 'Classical Greatest... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Several good shows; The Evening Concert; Classical music!!!
Disadvantages: A flood of adverts; Simon Bates

...I was surprised when browsing Ciao to note that there are only (currently) twelve ops on the radio station Classic FM (101.1). Any regular listener will know that they’ve recently been telling us all how well they’re doing in the radio ratings, but are these results justified? Your very own Jaxle will now investigate. Now, as maybe some readers know, I’m a very big fan of classical music (see my op on classical music) and yes, I must confess to being one of those who regularly listens to Classic FM, and yes, I do indeed prefer it to Radio Three. I’ll now run through the main programs that they broadcast with my opinions of each. >> BREAKFAST << Unfortunately, this show is completely ruined by Simon Bates (see below). Plays the more popular classical music and is excellent for news and traffic updates in the mornings... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Extremely thorough and visually appealing.
Disadvantages: None for me.

..."Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent." This is the quotation from French writer Victor Hugo which begins this Eyewitness Companion to Classical Music. Musically, I'm a bit of a butterfly. I flit around between all kinds of music, but as I've got older I've found myself listening to an increasing amount of classical. Partly this is because I am at home more and classical music seems better for my concentration when I'm doing any sort of work on the computer. I decided it was time I needed a handy music reference book that I could dip into. Something that would help me identify one Bach from another and give me some background on composers I am interested in learning more about. When I was browsing in the bookshop, this Eyewitness Companion really stood out. It is published... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Range Of Features
Disadvantages: None

...Apple iPod Classic 160 GB The iPod Classic is the best once so far with many features. There is not much you can't do on your iPod Classic and with 160 GB of memory you cant go wrong. When you used to have the 2 GB iPod Nano you was always worrying about how much space you had left but now everything is going to change. The iPod Classic is very durable and is practically unbreakable. The battery life on the iPod Classic is excellent. You can listen to music for up to 40 hours and you can watch videos for up to 7 hours. The memory is the best thing with the iPod Classic. You can hold up to 40,000 songs or 200 hours of video. It's just like having your whole music and video collection in your pocket. I paid about £200 for my iPod Classic and it was without a doubt well worth it. As most of you should know the click wheel... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful