Are vibrators a girl's best friend? Cadillac Carter gets the buzz on the benefits of playthings.

Vibrators have come a long way since they were plugged into a wall, massaged your clitoris like a lawnmower and imitated the sound of a jet taking off. Today's models are more user-friendly, they have more discreet sound effects and, for those who can't leave home without one, can be carried around in your handbag.

First, let's point out that vibrators are not just for sex-starved or sex-crazed single women. Recent research carried out by My Pleasure, a US sex toys supplier, revealed that 20 per cent of women use a vibrator while masturbating - an excellent way to electrify your orgasm. But, sex toys don't just help women reach new heights of pleasure. They are also a lifeline for women with problems obtaining orgasm and can help increase sexual confidence.

Sex toys have been around for at least 2,500 years. Dildos were popular in Ancient Egypt, and even the Romans were known to make large penis-shaped candles. Adult toys have come a long way since then. Nowadays the variety of sex toys on the market is huge and you'll want to experiment to find the right one for you. If you're new to the world of vibrators, there are two main types: the battery-powered dildo, which is penis shaped and designed for insertion, and its smaller counterpart that's designed solely to massage your clitoris.

My first exposure to the latter type occurred when my friend Kirsty dropped in from New York. All she could talk about was the new vibrator she'd acquired. 'I've discovered my clitoris,' she crooned, and took the object of her newfound pleasure out of her bag.

I was expecting to see something that resembled a super-sized frankfurter, but instead I was confronted with an object smaller than a remote control, topped by three ball bearings that rotated to a low hum when switched on. 'It's not for insertion,' Kirsty warned. 'You just run over the - um - sensitive parts, and you orgasm in seconds. When I first got it I didn't leave my bedroom for three days.' Fortunately, her new little friend doesn't look like a conventional sex toy, which was an advantage when Kirsty left it out by her hotel bed. 'I would have been so embarrassed if the hotel maid had found something looking like a dismembered penis on my bedside table. Instead she probably thought it was some sort of muscle relaxant.' Right Kirsty.

Some vibrators provide an extra orgasmic buzz, combining a penetrative action with an appendage to stimulate the clitoris. At Fe-lines, a British sex shop for women, the top seller is the 7-inch, Rabbit Pearl Jelly - the infamous device that kept Sex in the City girl Charlotte busy in bed for a day. The Rabbit Pearl does everything a penis doesn't - the main shaft swivels around inside you while a vibrating appendage provides concentrated rhythm to those sensitive spots.

One caveat however: vibrators are not meant to be replacement penises, although some men worry that they are. They are a way to extend and heighten pleasure, to reach the spots that conventional masturbation techniques can't - and it's all in the name of getting to know your sexual self even better.

Men can get uppity when presented with a sex toy designed to penetrate, as one woman found out the hard way. 'Jack and I were having a bath together and it was getting really steamy,' admitted my friend Melvina. 'He was really turned on so I decided to bring out my new Dancin' Dolphin vibrator. I hadn't told him about it and wanted it to be a surprise. It's waterproof, silicone coated and has a curved nose to hit the G-spot. I explained all this to Jack but he became hysterical. He said if all I needed was 10 inches of silicone, what was I doing with him? He still hasn't come round to the idea, which is a shame because I've been having some real fun with it in the shower.'

Not all men are averse to some vibrating fun, though, and an increasing number of women are buying sex toys to use with partners. Kathryn Hoyle, director of Sh!, a British sex toy shop for women, reports an increase in sales of strap-on dildos amongst couples. 'Thirty per cent of our strap-on sales are to couples. Men are discovering the pleasure of being penetrated and having their prostate rubbed and aren't worried about being considered gay in the process', Kathryn says.

If male reserve isn't the problem, then noise certainly can be. Jane and her boyfriend, Matt, were keen to use their new vibrator. They'd heard that using one for foreplay could be a mega turn-on. When Matt reached for the vibrator and switched it on, Jane screamed, 'Oh my God. Turn it off! That thing will wake up the entire neighbourhood.' Since then, they've tried everything to keep the sound down, piling under three duvets and even locking themselves in the wardrobe to muffle sound. In the end, though, they gave up. They're now going for the vibrator's distant relative - a vibrating cock-ring that hums like a bee.

While most vibrators are discreetly quiet, some devices still have motors that make a lot of noise. Vibrators that use C size batteries are louder than their smaller battery counterparts, but give more intense vibrations. Vibrators made from jelly vinyl are quieter than plastic ones. But, no matter how quiet your vibrator is, as Melvina found out, when used in water it will be four times as loud!

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