Advantages: Are cheapish and can hold enough weights to build muscle.
Disadvantages: Are a little awkward to get home if you have no car. Hand grips are uncomfortable

...As Christmas is over, it is now time to forget those eating habits, get back to the exercise and build that muscle back or even burn off all that Turkey and chocolate. I went to the Gym the other day and it was full to the brim, they come for a week, lose a few pounds then you never see them again. I bet it is because they all have these dumbbells. Anyway, onto the review. Body Sculpture 18kg Combination Dumbbell set. The weights are cast iron and painted with blue metallic paint. This set comes with 4x 0.5kg cast iron plates 4x 1.5kg cast iron plates 4x 2.0kg cast iron plates 2 chrome dumbbell bars (14 inches in length). 4x chrome star collars. These weights are ideal for both men and women you can use just the bars as weights for a beginner. These weigh about 2kg each alone so would be enough to tone upper body. You can have... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Very powerful and crisp
Disadvantages: Expensive - but worth it

...The 154R is a member of the Roadseries range of cabinets from Mach. It is fundamentally a trapezoidal design loaded with a 15" driver complimented by a 1" compression horn. As with the rest of the product families, the cabinet is made to last. It has good structural supports, and is finished in a very tough coating. Together with excellent corner protection, carry handles, flying points, top hats and twin Speakons, who could as for more. While we are on the good points... It is reasonably light-weight in terms of it being a single person lift, and has a small footprint with excellent stability. The bad stuff... Not a lot, but it does have some problems with the compression driver weight not being supported properly on the rear of the horn flare, if the rubber pad falls ou of place, making a nasty banging sound, or even an expensive... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Good bench for beginners, Sturdy, Stood the test of time, Potential for many exercises
Disadvantages: Problems occur with heavy weights (n/a for beginners), Fairly expensive

...Having started weight lifting 4 years ago I am pretty experienced in benches, exercises and what is needed to build muscle successfully. The York DB5 bench is a pretty good bench for beginners as the multi-usage means you can start your weight lifting career in your leisure at home or wherever you decide to keep the bench! Personally when I bought it I stuck it straight in the garage and used it in all weathers including cold temperatures, rain, heat, snow and it has still only rusted marginally despite these conditions. It caters for the following: Flat Bench for Pec, chest & arm exercises. – good for these as a solid technique can be used for each while using the bench. Concentration curls (for arm) are fairly hard to do because of the shape of the bench, but still do-able. Helps if you are taller than 6ft! Incline Bench... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Can do a variety of exercises on it
Disadvantages: Bit of an eyesore in the house

...The gym ball, swiss ball, fitness ball, stability ball or whatever other name it comes under, seems to have taken the fitness world by storm. These balls can be purchased in most sports shops, department stores, tv shopping channels, chemists and even supermarkets. They cost between £5 and £15, come with their own pump and usually an instruction leaflet or DVD. Fitness balls come in a variety of sizes, 42, 45, 55, 65 and 75cms and you should select your size depending on your height. For safety reasons, the rubber material has been designed to deflate slowly in the event of unexpected damage, so the ball should not burst suddenly, leaving the user in a heap on the floor. Pumping up the ball, with the hand pump provided does take a little time and the novice user may be unsure of how firm it should be. I'm not sure how... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Solid, Look like they will do the business, Spinlocks keeps weights in place well
Disadvantages: Susceptible to rust after long periods, Not heavy enough for veterans, Calluses on palms

...18-kg cast-iron dumb-bell kit 4 x 2kg, 4 x 1.25kg, 4 x 0.5kg discs, 2 x 1.25kg, 35cm dumb-bell bars with 4 spinlock collars These dumbells from Body Sculpture are solid looking, blue and raised bars which do nothing for your calluses. Personally I don't mind getting them as it's a sign that you lift weights and are part and parcel of the whole lifestyle. The bars may make your skin slightly hard and dry but to be honest if you don't like them then weight lifting is probably not for you, for any women not wanting to have tough looking hands, then a plastic set of weights can be bought which was eradicate the problem. Also moisturiser applied daily reduces the hardness of the skin. These were some of my first weights I ever used and are targetted mainly at beginners with the total weight of 18kg easily liftable for people who have... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Robust, Cheap and Chunky
Disadvantages: No hex mode

...The fx-83MS is not a bad number pad, but, in my opinion, it does not live up to the standards of my old Casio which I've had since school days. DESIGN The size and shape I find are perfect. It's not fiddly and the buttons are hard plastic, not rubber. Rubber buttons are easily pulled out during moments of extreme frustration. The buttons on this will survive such episodes. The cover slides off the front and slides onto the back while the calculator is in use - this saves you from losing it. Although I have wasted time looking for the cover only to remember that it's still with the pad. The whole thing is a very dull colour, I happen to like that. FEATURES My main complaint with this thing is that it does not do HEX, i.e. there is no facility for hexadecimal calculations (or any other base). It also misses some of the more advanced... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: fully equipped, nice atmosphere, luxurious
Disadvantages: expensive, a little crammed

...Having just moved to London from fitness crazy New York, I decided I could not live without my (almost) daily gym fix. So I went to check out HP which is the closest to where I live. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. They gave me a tour on the spot, then one of their sales guys sat down with me and explained the different options to me. Basically, you can have a normal membership (about £400 to join and about £75 per month). There is also a discounted option (about 25% less), but you can only use the facilities before 5pm and not on weekends. I guess that only works for people who don't work regular hours. Ok, so there was a bit of a hard sell as they offered me £100 off if I joined that same day. I fell for it, but I don't regret it as my experience has been very good so far (2 months later). First, you get a private... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Safe to you in your own home for all areas of the body
Disadvantages: Grips can give sore hands

...Body Sculpture 18kg Combination Dumbbell set. £20.00 from tesco's This is a great product if you are looking to tone your body or are a complete beginner. Using these weights you can tone every major muscle and for those ladies out there who are worried about building muscle, with only 9Kg per dumbell there isnt really enough weight to do this. To make sure all you need to do is lift a weight that you can complete 15 repetitions of for 3 sets, ideally feeling hard for the final 3 reps of each set. If you are looking to build muscle then you need to be working at a much higher intensity whereby you couldnt really lift the weights more than 8 times per set. The only problem with this equipment is that you will need some gloves to stop your hands becoming sore as being metal they are quite harse, also you dont want hard skin developing... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: +it makes an attempt to introduce a new mechanic for DS
Disadvantages: -Boring - Bad audio - Boring gameplay

...The general premise of Doodle hex seems quite good, The player draws "runes" on the touch screen which casts a spell which travels around the play board, and towards the oponent. Its a relatively original idea, a new method of using the touch screen for a battle game, sort of similar to the battle concept from the world ends with you. I read some reviews on gaming web sites about Doodle hex, which raved about the battle system, but i found that its just not enough to hold my attention. The main attraction of this game is the new battle concept but i found that scrawling these runes as fast as possible, i played without any strategy and just drew as fast as i could. This is really really boring after a short time, maybe its just me but Doodle Hex couldnt hold my attention one bit. Graphically the top screen shows some nice 2D art... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: A great season!
Disadvantages: None if you're a Simpsons fan!

...] - The Principal and the Pauper [3G02] - Lisa's Sax [5F02] - Treehouse of Horror VIII [5F01] - The Cartridge Family [5F03] - Bart Star [5F04] - The Two Nahasapeemapetilons [5F05] - Lisa the Skeptic [5F06] - Reality Bites [5F07] - Miracle on Evergreen Terrace [5F24] - All Singing, All Dancing [5F08] - Bart Carny [5F23] - The Joy of Sect [5F11] - Das Bus [5F10] - The Last Temptation of Krust [5F12] - Dumbbell Indemnity [4F24] - Lisa, The Simpson [5F13] - This Little Wiggy [3G04] - Simpson Tide [5F14] - The Trouble with Trillions [5F15] - Girly Edition [5F09] - Trash of the Titans [5F16] - King of the Hill [5F17] - Lost Our Lisa [5F18] - Natural Born Kisser [5F20] - Lard of the Dance Episode Summary [4F22] - The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson Story Line: Sixth months after Barney lost Homer's car, it turns up in New York... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful