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Best- Great stuff - tested and approved in our top-secret labs.

Stand-Alone Photo Printers

Digital cameras are getting friendlier, and so are photo printers. The latest crop can make sharp hard copies of your images without ever touching a PC. Insert a memory card from your digicam, preview the shots onscreen or on a thumbnail proof sheet, and fire away - there's no bootup time or tangled wires.

FIRST CLASS

Olympus P-400
This 26-pound dye-sublimation monster can rip out an A4 or A5 glossy faster than you can toast a Pop-Tart. It fuses ink onto pages at 314 dpi (a fine resolution for this kind of printer), and slaps on a protective overcoat that prevents moisture and sun damage. Directional buttons let you pick shots and navigate menus; a mode dial switches print sizes and sets brightness and contrast levels. The hitch: Its tiny (1.25-inch) monochrome screen. Takes SmartMedia and PC cards/adapters.

P-400: $799. Olympus America: (800) 645 8160, www.olympusamerica.com.

BUSINESS CLASS

Sony DPP-SV77
Sony's dye-sub matches the Olympus in prowess, and, at 5.8 pounds, it's light enough to be portable. The DPP-SV77 saves space by running its interface through the preview display; you tap with a stylus on the 3.2-inch flip-up color touchscreen to select shots, zoom, and crop, and set brightness, color depth, and sharpness. It handles prints up to 4 x 6 inches at 403 dpiand accepts Memory Sticks and PC cards/adapters. Optional video-out turns albums into slide shows.

DPP-SV77: $500. Sony Electronics: (800) 222 7669, www.sonystyle.com.

COACH

Epson Stylus Photo 785EPX
An inkjet's prints may not last as long as a dye-sub's, but the hardware is more versatile: This 12-pounder doubles as a desktop printer. A six-color micro-piezo cartridge lays ink onto paper for 8 x 10s at 720 dpi. Buttons along the built-in LCD control panel change quality settings and paper type and size. But to sort out multiple shots, you'll have to print a thumbnail or buy the 1.6-inch color preview pane ($99). Comes with a CompactFlash adapter for the PC-card slot.

Stylus Photo 785EPX: $199. Epson: (800) 463 7766, www.epson.com.

Alternative-Power Radios

These radios are in the sweet spot of the zeitgeist. Whether you're subject to the occasional brownout, worried about the authorities forcing you underground, or adjusting to life as an info junkie, solar and hand-crank power will keep you on track when you're off the grid.

FIRST CLASS

Freeplay Plus
In most respects, this is the top model we tested - it has the sturdiest design and the clearest AM/FM and shortwave reception. The windup spring delivers reliable juice, and the 3- to 18-MHz shortwave tuner (aided by a portable antenna) pulls in signals from the ionosphere. When it's sunny, the solar panel provides more energy than the hand crank per minute of input. Of course, elbow grease works better in a bunker and at night. Flashlight included.

Freeplay Plus: $100. Portable Shortwave Antenna: $20. Available from C. Crane: (800) 522 8863, www.ccrane.com.

BUSINESS CLASS

Sun Tap Combo
To be frank, hand-crank dynamos work only so well. Often, a minute of effort equals about a minute of clear reception - which ain't so great for emergency uses. The Sun Tap Combo (which combines AM/FM, a weather band, a siren, an LED emergency flasher, and a flashlight) is more efficient, with up to 15 minutes of reception for every minute of cranking. It's the best value out there, in price and performance.

Sun Tap Combo: $60. Sun Star: (888) 278 6782, www.sunstar-intl.com.

COACH

Crank'n'Go
Performance and aesthetics are important, but cheap and practical will do in a pinch. The Crank'n'Go AM/FM radio won't win any industrial design awards, but the price is hard to beat. And the C'n'G's solar panel works well enough, particularly when used in sunny climes. In a class that's rife with shoddy and marginal products, it's a cut above the rest, which might explain the href="http://www.greatestproductever.com">www.greatestproductever.com).

Crank'n'Go: $27. Ardent Marketing: (877) 927 3368, www.crankngo.com.

DVD-Audio Players

Think you're using your home theater to its fullest? Standard CDs aren't meant to be piped through a half-dozen surround-sound speakers. DVD-A is. The format mixes music to use all six channels, scattering rays of sound for you to bask in. And, all DVD-A players double as high-quality, progressive-scan video machines.

FIRST CLASS

Pioneer DV-AX10
The gold standard in DVD-A players looks and acts the part. Its cover slides slowly out and down before the tray emerges. Inside, serious mechanics, such as copper shielding, reproduce crisp cymbal splashes and booming bass lines. The front panel deals only in essentials (Play, Stop, Next, Back) and leaves advanced setup to the remote and onscreen display. Besides reading DVD-A, DVD, and CD formats, this 60-pound behemoth plays SACD.

DV-AX10: $6,000. Pioneer Electronics: (800) 421 1404, www.pioneerelectronics.com.

BUSINESS CLASS

Rotel RDV-1080
Rotel says the RDV-1080 is descended from CD - not DVD - players. And you can tell. This machine just wants to get to the tunes. The disc tray moves rapidly, and lets you maneuver easily through music without an onscreen display. As for the sound, the RDV-1080's strength is its bass response. Others in this class have difficulty shaking the rafters without cranking the subwoofer to the max, but Rotel's unit handles the timpani rolls in Beethoven's Fifth without any manual adjustments.

RDV-1080: $999. Rotel: +1 (978) 664 3820, www.rotel.com.

COACH

Toshiba SD4700
The SD4700 makes six-channel audio affordable, so it's a great way to get into DVD-A. For just a bit more than a progressive-scan DVD player, you'll own a machine that also supports video CD, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, MP3, and CD formats. Although the unit doesn't reproduce the highest highs and lowest lows of more expensive models, connection and setup are child's play, thanks to its uncluttered rear panel and intuitive onscreen menu. Note: You'll have to manually switch the player to six-channel analog to listen to DVD-A discs.

SD4700: $300. Toshiba: (800) 316 0920, www.toshiba.com.