Gadget Show Live 2010: Laptop bags, lawnmowers and Predator tables...?

While the bigger stands may be dominated by household names (more about some of those later), its also fun to look at some of the classic gadgets from the past, such as the Sinclair C5 (pictured right), and get your hands on the latest gaming hardware in the Game Zone.

But on the fringes of Gadget Show Live 2010 are some truly weird and wonderful things you wouldn't see in your local Comet store. So, while other websites bore you to death with the products you've already seen a million times, here's my picks of the show that you may not have seen before:

The good: everyone seems to have a laptop bag nowadays, whether they've got a laptop or not. You'll often see me wandering around with a couple of them, if I'm honest - one for the laptop and one for everything else. And while there's a lot of cool looking ones on the market, the Laptek range have some great little added bonuses to recommend them.

The thing about a lot of laptop bags is that they're just that - a laptop shaped bag. However, some like the Laptek range go a bit further and add some clever little bells and whistles. They're well designed too, really looking the part as well as having storage areas for accessories, CDs etc.

Here you see the 'Student Fixed' bag in action, showing the bag itself stay attached to the laptop to provide an entire working area, including a wrist support that doubles up (underneath) as a pen holder. Thanks to a plastic base plate built into the design, you even get a solid mouse mat that pops out either side, depending on whether you're a righty or a lefty. 

There's a '3 in 1' version as well that has a detachable smaller A4-sized bag for your documents, or whatever else - perfect if you're away and don't need to take your laptop to a meeting, for example. Apologies if this is starting to sound like a sales spiel, but I was really impressed - a load of seemingly obvious ideas, well put together.

The weird: the Husqvarna range of lawnmowers look properly space age - who wouldn't want to roll around their garden on one of these beauties? Living in a flat makes me slightly sceptical about putting one on my Christmas list though.

However, there's a pretty good grass verge running from my house to the shops that are 15 minutes walk away - maybe the council could sponsor me a bit? After all, I think the price tag of £6,000-£10,000 is a bit out of my other half's price range...

Why did these guys decide to visit Gadget Show Live? Probably for the same reason a bunch of people like Black & Decker made the effort - for every kid at the show on their half term, there was a dad in tow with a pocket full of credit cards itching to treat themselves to something fancy.

In fact it would be interesting to know how many dads dragged their kids along, rather than the other way around - anf how much money got spent on the kids, compared to the amount on 'practical' things that the parents really 'needed'.

...and the ugly: but whatever people spent their money on, I can't see too many front rooms being emblazoned with one of these beauties. 

Like the sci-fi geeks equivalent of those horrible plates you get in the back of  Saturday supplement magazines, its hard to know where to start with just how horrible this is. From the friendly chubby lil legs, past the weird paintball-like gun, to the unconvincing head, this has all the menace of a King Charles spaniel.

But if it's bad as a 'bronze', how can we make it even more horrible? Lets put a round piece of glass on top, making our already ridiculous looking alien into a piece of furniture! Genius.

All they really needed to do to top it off was give it a nice Burberry colour scheme. Or maybe make a pottery version?

I'll be back tomorrow with more Gadget Show Live pics, this time looking at some gaming set-ups that will make your jaw drop. Why have one measly monitor to play racers on, when you can strap six together? More tomorrow...