As December has now come upon us we thought it time to jump onto that Christmas-themed consumer bandwagon with our Countdown to Christmas. With this feature we hope to give you ideas for Christmas presents as well as pointing you in the right direction for some decent deals from around the Web, hopefully helping you out, to some extent, when embarking on your Christmas shopping.

For more ideas click through to our Christmas homepage, where you'll find a whole host of guides to help you find that perfect present for the gadget lover in your life.

Our first Countdown to Christmas item is the Slanket, also featured in our Perfect Christmas presents for console gamers, it looks ideal for anyone who spends a long time sat in front of the telly, perhaps watching a classic Christmas flick or playing a video game. The Slanket is basically a blanket with arms, enabling you to read, hold a controller or anything else that needs a degree of fine motor control.

Yes, there's an air of the gimmick about it, but if you stick with it over an extended period and it turns out to be warm enough for you then you might save yourself a couple of pounds on your heating bill. The Slanket is on sale pretty much everywhere but Firebox seems to be on the money - selling it for £24.95.