Hot travel gadgets

The Apple Airport Express

If you spend a lot of time in hotel rooms racking up extortionate one-day wireless charges, this little white box will definitely come in handy. Originally marketed as a device for extending the range of an existing Wi-Fi network, the Apple Airport Express also functions as a wireless base station in its own right. If you use a Windows PC, you can download AirPort Utility for free and there is an incredibly easy setup from any iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Mac or PC. Priced at just £79, this is well worth the money if you spend a lot of time in hotels and airports.

The PlayStation Portable

You may think of portable handheld computer consoles and think of your kids, but the PlayStation Portable is perfect for whiling away hours on a longhaul flight. The movie selection onboard may not be to your liking, but the PlayStation Portable has over 300 films and 1,200 television episodes for sale so you have ample choice all on one, lightweight handheld of your own. And the games aren't bad either should you be inclined to give them a go... Prices start at £199.

Franklin Global Translator

Of course, there is no substitute for actually being able to speak a language yourself, but if French was never your forte, spending £199.99 might be the best investment you ever made. The 14-language Translator by Franklin (also available with 12 languages) has over 2 million headwords, idioms and phrases. The languages include Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Turkish, so it pretty much covers most languages you could need while travelling, and teaches pronunciation by speaking over 130,000 words with a human recorded voice.
Failing Latin wasn't the end of the world after all was it?

Franklin Spanish to English Phrasebook and Translator

Spanish and English cover a large part of the globe so a handheld language converter that provides words and phrases will really come in handy. What we particularly love about this product, however, is that it allows you to store up to 100 contacts while travelling and has a built-in currency and metric converter. It even has built-in games such as "Hangman" which will keep the whole family happy if your flight home is delayed. What more can one need?
Priced at £34.99.

JetRest travel pillows

Ok, so travel pillows aren't top of the fashion stakes, but they make a huge difference to the way you feel when you get off a flight and can determine how well you sleep. The JetRest travel pillows are L-shaped so, unlike traditional round-the-neck pillows, they give added support to your neck. They are held in place by the body's own natural forces (meaning you are likely to sleep deeper because your body is more relaxed). Priced at £18.95.

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