Have you bought a fad gadget?

1 May 2006 0:13 GMT / By Stuart Miles

Over £2.5 billion-worth of gadgets have been slung into cupboards across Britain after just 1 month of use according to a new report.

And video games consoles are revealed as the 21st century version of the fondue set with Brits using their new consoles on average half as often as they did in the first month they bought them.

The price comparison website PriceRunner.co.uk conducted national research looking at the cost per use (CPU) during their first year of ownership for 30 everyday items. It reveals that while fondue sets and ice-cream makers top the "fad list", games consoles come in fifth after foot spas.

New technology with the best "product mileage" in the first year includes the DAB radio, which comes in at 25p per use. Personal MP3 players such as iPods are used at least 23 times a month giving a cost per usage figure of just 36p.

The research identified items with surprisingly high CPUs such as TVs. Due to the advent of HDTV the average cost of TVs is higher than ever before therefore despite high usage figures (583 times a year) the CPU is £2.99 – the average cost of a DVD rental. Similarly a laptop’s CPU is £2.92.

The Top 10 in full:

1. Ice Cream Maker
2. Fondue Set
3. Exercise Bike
4. Foot Spa
5. Games Console
6. Back Massager
7. Toasted Sandwich Maker
8. GameBoy
9. Electric Fan
10. Keep Fit Video

Full tags

Gadgets, pricerunner-com