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The kit

Essential items for seasoned travellers

Now that we are allowed one item of cabin luggage through airport security, you can pack these three gadgets to help you while away those long, tedious hours waiting for the call.

Bose Quiet Comfort 3 headphones, £279

www.bose.co.uk

The good: They are much lighter and less cumbersome than the previous model, the QC. They remove ambient sound almost completely and offer sparkling reproduction, particularly of bass. The battery is now rechargeable.

The bad: They cost more than an iPod and they don’t work as normal headphones without power. Beware of wearing them while you’re walking — you’ll hear your bones creak.

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Verdict: A nice piece of kit that has been nicely updated. They help to blot out the background engine sounds of travel and leave you feeling calm. But at a price.

Nintendo DS Lite, £99.99

www.nintendo.co.uk

The good: At last, Nintendo has stopped designing its games consoles for children. The new DS is light, compact and distinctly Apple in flavour. Now grown-ups can play without shame. And games are more varied and inventive than on the PSP.

The bad: Other functions are limited to what comes on a cartridge — so no movies, photos or removable memory cards.

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Verdict: The DS is finally worthy of the great games available for it.

Fuji World Travel Adaptor with USB, £24.99

www.fujifilm.co.uk

The good: Well-made and compact. The go-anywhere mains adaptor can now charge cameras and iPods, allowing you to leave miles of cable at home.

The bad: It’s not a transformer, so read the voltage requirements of your devices carefully.

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Verdict: An essential piece of kit for the regular foreign traveller.