It's been building up to a crescendo, with Toshiba's announcement expected sometime this week that they are indeed pulling their support of the HD DVD format. At least the conclusion to this bloody battle will result in all of you finally being able to splurge your retirement money on a hi-def player, or upgrade your tired multi-format to one of these Blu-ray players.

So, in no particular order, here's the top five best Blu-ray players, as voted by Tech Digest and HDTV-UK.

1.) Panasonic DMP-BD30 - this baby offers full 1080p playback, Final Standard Profile functionality, picture-in-picture, audio mixing, Panasonic's P4HD technology, 1080/24 playback, HDMI 1.3B, Deep Colour compatibility, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD audio decoding, SD memory card slot, AVCHD codec, and EZ-Sync. £349, or $499.95, out now.

This happens but once a year, where companies feel compelled to spray-paint their products an embarrassing shade of red or pink in the hopes some daft fool will be forced to buy it at 5.42pm on the 14th of February, because Godiva and Charbonnel et Walker have run out of chocolates.

Here's my top five pick of what not to buy someone for Valentine's Day tomorrow. Not a single one. No-one. Just don't do it. Get them some tins of Green Giant niblets instead.

1.) Sony VAIO CR notebook - an expensive present for your loved one, this red-painted laptop will set you back $1,000, however you can be safe in the knowledge your partner will slap you for insulting him/her with a red matching cover and heart-shaped key chain. What? You think they actually like Sony VAIOs?!

Remember, remember the 5th of the November - that's how the saying goes. Now Guy Fawkes, there was a man who knew a thing or too about making a statement. If only he'd have done it with his gadgets though and shown off his status with some bling, rather than trying to blow up the Houses of Parliament.

So, as it's Firework Night today, what better way to mark it than with five top sparklers from the techno-world. Unfortunately, not all of them can be waved around in the air and they don't make pretty colours in the smoke, but with gold and crystals on them, each one definitely costs more than a penny for the guy!

24-carat MacBook Pro - Don't try using this on the train in the rush hour, or if you do just put a sign on your head that says 'mug me!' This Apple gizmo has all the usual specs like a 15-inch screen, wireleess, decent processor and 160GB hard drive but instead of the usual wipe-clean white, it's GOLD! Not only that, it's studded with diamonds too - and all for just $9,000, which with today's exchange rate works out to a British bargain at £4,500. There's also a gold version without the gems for $6.000. Imagine
turning up at UK customs with that in your back and walking through the 'nothing to declare' channel trying to look all innocent.

Erm, if you didn't know, there's some sporting thing happening tomorrow. The final of a rugby tournament I think it is, in Paris in France. Only joking, it's the Rugby World Cup Final tomorrow with Jonny Wilkinson leading our brave boys in the fight against South Africa to hold onto the trophy. COME ON!!

But just in case they need some help off-the-field, here's some technology that might give them a gee-up before the crucial tie.

PURE MOVE DAB RADIO
What a great endorsement this is! Not only do Pure make fantastic radios, this one has the England colours all over it. It was specially made for the tournament and has the little rose logo just above the display. It runs for 40 hours on the battery, does textSCAN for reading facts about what's playing, and there's an audio in for your MP3 player.

And if you wait until next week to buy it, it's bound to come down in price from £89.99 now that the tournament is over!

Alright, I know Scotty doesn't have Spock ears, but the temptation to Spockify Simon Pegg is far too overwhelming to actually be accuratehere. Sorry fanboys!

Any self-respecting Trekkie or Simon Pegg fan (they go hand in hand, surely?) would've heard late last week that Britain's favourite ginger-ninja has been given the role of Scotty in the next Star Trek film. Now, I'm sure his Star Trek knowledge is impeccable, but to help him (and us) get in the mood for the 11th Trekkie film, here's five of the best Star Trek gadgets money can buy...

Dear Lindsay,

If the word on the street is correct, you left rehab on the weekend after two months of detoxing and avoiding your court order of one day in jail taking care of your mind, body and soul. Now, we've seen how easy it is to fall off the wagon once you leave rehab (Britney Spears, Pete Doherty and Amy Winehouse can surely attest to that), so it's more important than ever to ensure you look after yourself, Lilo. That means no hard partying with Paris and Nicole, no more dangerous older men (unless you can snag Johnny Depp and pimp him to me occasionally), and please god, no more firecrotch flashes. I don't think my stomach can cope with that anymore!

Surely you know how to use a mouse, so just click on the button below, saying 'Continue reading', otherwise get your assistant to do it for you, and read my top five gadgets for keeping healthy now you're out of rehab. It's for your own good Lindsay, and ours too - we've been rather enjoying reading about Britney's downfall in the Metro newspaper every morning, and sadly there's just not enough space for you anymore. Stop sobbing, and take a look below.

Apple has great lawyers. Top-notch. They're so good, that even a brave, morally courageous blogger such as myself wouldn't dare print allegations that Steve Jobs CENSORED his CENSORED while taking CENSORED and CENSORED his CENSORED. Several times!

Joking aside, though, Apple needs good lawyers, because as a large consumer tech company, it's often the target of legal action - some flippant, some serious. iPhone has already caused its fair share of legal headaches, attracting several lawsuits already in its short life. Such as? Well...

1. The One About Price Discrimination. I reported on this at the weekend: New Yorker Dongmei Li is sueing Apple for price discrimination, underselling, discrimination in rebates, and deceptive actions. Why? On launch day, there were only 4GB iPhones by the time she reached the front of the queue, yet a couple of months later, that model was phased out and the 8GB model got a $200 price cut. Cue lawsuit. More info

It's the Tory party's political conference this week in Blackpool, and yes, you're right - politics has no place on Tech Digest. But while the MPs are by the seaside, we thought it'd be a good time to check out a few gadgets for Dave Cameron and his mates.

Lexon Roswell calculator

Now, any good Chancellor of the Exchequer has to be up on his numbers. And if George Osbourne wants to sit behind the door of No11 Downing Street then this might be worthy of his first purchase. As long as it's not put on his state expenses!

The Lexon Roswell looks great and is modelled on a flying saucer. So if his tax figures seemed alien before, at least now he has a reason for it. It only costs £32.50 and also includes a currency converter. And that could come in really handy when he's working out just how much better the other economies in Europe and America are doing compared to ours.

There's a definite gender difference when it comes to musical YouTube popularity. The men who become hits tend to be the silly ones, miming to the Backstreet Boys or obscure Moldovan pop songs.

Meanwhile, the women who make it big through YouTube tend to be just talented singers uploading home videos of themselves singing cover versions or their own material. Okay, so they're invariably young and attractive too, although that wouldn't count for much if they couldn't sing.

Anyway, recently one of those YouTube starlets, Marie Digby, was in the news after it turned out she'd had a record deal all along, and her YouTube vids were just a clever marketing campaign. What better time to round up some of the recent high flyers? Starting with Marie...

If there's one thing us fellas love more than football, it's gadgets! And with Jose Mourinho now leaving Chelsea and Stamford Bridge, he'll have a bit of time on his hands - plus a bit of spare cash no doubt with any payoff he may have got.

So, just in case he's sitting there at home today reading Tech Digest while watching the TV disect his and Roman Abramovitch's decision, here's our top five gizmos that the man in the funny coat might like. Five special ones for 'The Special One' I guess you could call it.

Kenpo iPod Jacket
All good football managers need a decent coat - not only does it keep them warm in the winter, it gives the papers something to write about and keeps the photographers busy flashing away. And if Jose wants to ditch that grey overcoat this winter, he could do worse than one of these casual iPod jackets from Kenpo.

Not only do they look pretty stylish, there's a hood to keep his shorn head warm and buttons in the sleeves to control the music player. Best of all, he could download the hilarious podcast from The Sun featuring Jose Mourinho impersonator Mario Rosenstock and remind himself of some fond memories! You can find it on the following page if you fancy a listen - just click below!

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Your whole life you've been ostracised for being a darn lefty, you've had troubles using implements such as knives and scissors every day of your life. Of course, you're blessed with an extra-creative mind, but that's small compensation when you can't even open a tin of baked beans. Today you can rejoice in all your left-handed glory however, as not only is it the international Left Handed Day 2007, but we've put together a list of the top five gadgets for lefties, enjoy.

1.) Virgin's Sony Ericsson LH-Z200 mobile phone - it's about three years old, but you can still find them lurking on eBay, where they have a unique keypad layout perfect for lefties, with the number keys positioned from right to left. It was £119.99 when it came out three years ago, but would obviously be significantly less now.

Yes, it's summer. Really. After all those weeks of frankly atrocious weather for the time of year, we've finally got enough sunshine for us Brits to indulge in our traditional summer pastimes of getting lobster-red 'tans', reporting neighbours for breaking hosepipe bans, and poisoning friends and family with poorly-barbecued chicken drumsticks. Heaven.

But wait a minute, it's too hot! We're never satisfied. But Tech Digest is here to help, with five gadgets you can buy right now to help you through the heatwave. Spend £554.82 on these, and you'll be cool as a particularly-cool cucumber.

1. Maytag Handy Chiller (£59.99 from Drinkstuff)
This gizmo (above) claims to be the fastest way to chill drinks, being 40 times quicker than a freezer. It can cool cans in one minute, wine in three and a half minutes, and it can 'super cool' bottles in six minutes. All it needs is ice and water to work its cooling magic. Get it

Yes, yes, we all know how the entirety of England is eight foot under water - infact, I'm typing this on my laptop in my garden, where the water is just under my armpits. Might explain why I keep on getting zapped and my hair's all frizzy. Oh...

Floods equals water. A ton of water, at that. And a bunch of water equals...BOATS! Yes, boats big and small, yachts, dinghies, catamarans, heck even junks if your heart so desires. So what's the best boat to zip around in in your local 'hood, where you can deliver fresh water to that cute girl a couple of doors away? Read on below for our top five...

Susi from Shiny Shiny is renowned in our office for having the world's most ridiculous watch. Like Macs, it looks good, but it doesn't really work very well, and in most cases, she just uses the time on her BlackBerry rather than spending 40 minutes studying her Tokyo Flash timepiece to work out how long she's got to catch the last train home.

Inspired no doubt by the shouty 'NOW' watch released the other day, she's put together the top five most unreadable watches stupidity can buy you. Better keep a hold of your mobile phone just in case, natch.

Shiny Shiny's list of the best watches you can't read the time on

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Planning on queuing up to get the final Harry Potter book this Friday? I am, and have endured a relentless tirade of mockery in the office for the past week after letting that fact slip. I won't do that again.

Alex over at Shiny Shiny has been proclaiming her muggle status with her top five Harry Potter gadgets. Resist all you will, but when it gets to the point where you're excited about a vibrating Monster Book of Monsters, you may as well just give in and start searching eBay for a handmade Ravenclaw scarf.

Shiny Shiny's list of the top five best Harry Potter gadgets

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I was in Paris last week, and on a late night drunken binge, we ventured into Quick, which was obviously the red light district's premiere fast food joint.

I knew the Simpsons film was vaguely around the corner, but their completely Homer-fied menu quickly (heh) knocked the proximity into me. So, in ode to the Simpsons-themed 'Long Fish' burger, and Simpsons-fries I don't *actually* remember eating, here's my list of the five best Simpsons gadgets that Bart would spend his pocket-money on.

That last sentence was so wrong my mind feels like a deep-fryer now, and speaking of which...

1.) The Simpsons doughnut maker - Ignore the unappetising appeal those stale doughnuts have in the photo, when the machine only costs £24.95, and you can whack out six at once, who's complaining? Well, apart from Tesco, who do a mean batch of five for 99p. Mmmm...doughnuts...

Love or loathe Formula One, there’s no doubt Lewis Hamilton is the best thing to happen to British sport since Wayne Rooney became the Premiership’s youngest scorer at the age of 16 and 360 days.

And with the British Grand Prix at Silverstone this weekend, Lewis should be looking to spend his hard-earned prize money on some great gadgets and top technology. So just in case he’s stuck for what to buy, here’s our Top 5 guide to some cool kit Lewis might want to take for a ride.

Becker Ferrari sat-nav (above)

Annoyingly for Lewis, he doesn't get to drive a Ferrari for a living - just a McLaren Mercedes. What a hard life. But he could always shell out for one of these Becker satellite-navigation systems branded up by the famous Italian firm.

But it’s well worth lapping up. It comes in Ferrari Corsa red or Daytona black and has a 4inch touchscreen and navigation for 37 European countries. That could well come in handy for Lewis to explore the sights when he finishes zooming around the local circuits.

Although he doesn't really need it during a race does he, it's not like he can take a wrong turn. Using an SD card, it also works as a picture viewer or music player. Out now, it costs around £300.

We're several weeks into the new series of Big Brother here in the UK, and already the housemates have reached the 'shouting on endlessly about pointless arguments that really don't matter' stage. In fact, they've been there from about Day Five.

Meanwhile, over in the US, tonight sees the premiere of Big Brother 8, with their own house full of housemates who are guaranteed to be a.) better looking, b.) more prone to psychobabble, and c.) EVEN thicker than their British equivalents. And that's quite an achievement.

Big Brother has always been fairly tech-savvy, with text voting and live web streaming. But what it needs now is a Web 2.0 twist. Here's five possible ways:

1. Give every housemate a Justin.tv-style webcam-helmet, that streams live footage from their point of view 24/7. Sure to draw an even bigger audience for those under-the-duvet fumbling episodes.

When it comes to techno-watches, any self-respecting child of the 80s will tell you they don’t come much better than the one worn round Michael Knight’s wrist in Knightrider.

As a small boy I could often be seen whispering into my plastic Casio from H Samuel trying to emulate David Hasselhoff by calling KITT into action. Of course, he never came, and I was bitterly disappointed.

There was a time when just having a stopwatch on your timepiece was enough for hours of entertainment, then came the ones with little analogue radios and a hole in the side to plug in your earphones and remember the remote control ones that were perfect for winding up your teacher in class. Until they were banned!

But the latest watches on sale are much more powerful, packed with Bluetooth, music players, even the telly! Oh, they tell the time too... how novel! So read on for our Top 5 from the Tech Digest back catalogue.

IT’S been a good weekend for FERRARI – a one/two in the French Grand Prix saw the team keep Brit favourite Lewis Hamilton at bay.

And recently the legendary car marque has been making in-roads into the gadget world, doing deals to get its logo and classic red colour on everything from laptops to speakers.

But does that make the technology any hotter than Michael Schumacher’s tyres or is such spurious branding really the pits?

Take a look at our top five Ferrari gizmos and decide for yourself.

Art.Engine speakers

They cost 18 grand but shoving the Ferrari logo on is sure to make them more attractive.

Which is useful, as they’re not that nice-looking.

Only 1000 of the tower systems have been made - sold in the UK through Sound Directions - and at 47inch tall, they are available in all the official Ferrari colours including Rosso Corsa and Nero.

It’d be more fun to give them an engine noise setting to annoy the neighbours!