Drones, eco travel and more at the Gadget Show Live 2014

The Gadget Show Live is the UK's largest consumer technology showcase, where all manner of tech brands get together to show off their latest bits of kit. Held in Birmingham, the sparkling jewel of the Midlands, the show plays host to well-know brands like Sony and Samsung, along with a wealth of up and coming names. I hopped on a train to see what was on show.

Along with a slew of phone and tablet accessories, the show features new products from all categories. Music fans are well catered for, with headphones and speakers from Bowers and Wilkins, Pioneer, Libratone and audio streaming speakers from Musaic. Roland were there showing off their latest digital drum kit, the TD30K, which has hundreds of drum sounds on board recorded from actual drum kits to give a more realistic sound reproduction.

DJI's new Phantom 2 Vision+ led the charge in camera-equipped drones. Unveiled only last week, this quadrocopter has a built-in camera with stabiliser for smooth video from the air. It's incredibly easy to fly too, but it will set you back around £900. Parrot's AR Drone 2 comes in at around £350 and can be controlled from your iPhone.

Eco travel was a big theme from the show this year, with electric scooters, electric cars and a solar powered concept car from Cambridge University making appearances. Only 200 of Volkswagen's futuristic-looking XL1 cars will be made -- and will sell for £111,000 -- but their hybrid engines can achieve an astonishing 313 miles to the gallon. Can you afford not to get one? Yes, probably.

So is the Gadget Show Live worth attending? If you're a keen gadget nerd, then absolutely. Apart from getting up close and personal with the latest kit such as the Sony Xperia Z2 -- which is yet to even hit the shops -- you'll see a whole array of top-end gaming chairs, remote control cars, actual cars, headphones and loads of stuff that you wouldn't find in your typical branch of Currys.