They've Got Game
PC's For Games
Custom game PCs are the hot rods of computing. Under the hood you'll find the latest components assembled with meticulous loving care. And the gaudy exteriors are guaranteed to impress the ladies or at least your LAN party pals. - Brian Lam
SPLURGE
Alienware Area 51 $2,781, www.alienware.com
Prepare for an out-of-this-world experience! The case has H. R. Giger appeal, with an array of aggro cooling fans that huff through glowing intake vents. The cables are obsessively folded and tucked, origami-style, for minimal clutter and maximum airflow. The software installation is equally streamlined, free of bloatware, and fine-tuned to push max frame rates in the bundled games.
BEST BUY
Dell XPS $2,079, www.dell.com
The XPS is unassuming - courtesy of a quieter cooling setup and a conservative paint job. The nonstandard case design and the spaghetti cabling inside make upgrading video cards and hard drives a complicated affair. And you won't get any bundled games. Still, it churns out 3-D polygons as fast as the Alienware, making it the choice for budget-minded gamers.
OVERRATED
OCSystem Platinum Hast $2,259, www.ocsystem.com
A crazy design (fast and furious light rigs shine through its case) and overclocked parts can't make up for the sloppy setup.
Body Clocking
Heart Rate Monitors
When cardiometers can also plan your workouts, measure your pace, and chart your progress, who needs a personal trainer? Besides displaying the info on your wrist, these units let you download exercise logs from and upload training routines to your PC. - Bob Parks
SPLURGE
Nike Triax Elite $369, www.nike.com/timing
Nike's sleek Triax Elite makes other models look like prototypes. Put the pulse strap around your chest, thread a shoelace through the motion sensor, and let the virtual coach gauge your heart rate, speed, and pace during any activity. And when you're done, it's a snap getting performance data to your PC via a wireless USB adapter and flawless PC software.
BEST BUY
FitSense FS-1 $224, www.fitsense.com
The FS-1 measures speed more accurately than the Swoosh over a range of paces - from 5.5- to 9-minute miles. Though the wrist-top may seem bulky and outdated, think of it as your personal JumboTron: You'll be able to see those giant numbers through even the sweatiest workout haze. Meanwhile, the half-ounce accelerometer in the foot pod will go unnoticed, as it should.
OVERRATED
Polar S610i $259, www.polarusa.com
There's no mechanism for tracking pace, the lap button sticks sometimes, and the display is hard to read in bright sunlight.
Super Palms
Palm OS PDA's
Pocket PCs used to have a corner on the high end of the PDA market.But Palm and partner Sony are fighting back with souped-up wireless palmtops that sport keyboards, faster processors, and higher-resolution color screens. - James Turner
SPLURGE
Sony NZ90 Cliß $800, www.sonystyle.com
It's got Bluetooth, optional Wi-Fi, stereo sound, an enormous screen with 320 x 480 resolution, and a 2-megapixel camera. You can also scribble on the screen or spin it around and type notebook-style with the built-in keyboard. It'll even record movies in MPEG format and store them on a Memory Stick. There's nothing this PDA can't do.
BEST BUY
Palm Tungsten C $499, www.palm.com
The Tungsten C has a lightning-quick 400-MHz Intel processor and 64 Mbytes of RAM - four times more than other PDAs, including the NZ90 Cliß. Add to that built-in Wi-Fi connectivity, and you can supplant a bulky laptop. If you have thick fingers, the thumb board may be a challenge, but you can always use the newly simplified version of Graffiti on the 320 x 320 screen instead.
OVERRATED
Palm Tungsten T $349, www.palm.com
To email or Web surf, you'll have to hunt down a Bluetooth-enabled cell - or stick close to a Bluetooth access point. We'll stick with Wi-Fi, thanks.
Cinemascope
Widescreen Laptops
A widescreen will quickly make your old laptop display seem square. Multitaskers will love opening two windows side by side. The killer app: high-quality DVD playback for cinephiles on the go. - Dustin Goot
SPLURGE
Apple 17-inch PowerBook G4 $3,299, www.apple.com
The monitor is a full inch wider than the competition, and at less than an inch thick, the G4's lithe frame makes other wide notebooks seem like tanks. Images are sharp, and an ambient light sensor adjusts screen brightness and turns on the backlit keyboard. While you're shelling out, though, grab an extra battery - the G4 went dark in less than two hours.
BEST BUY
Compaq Presario X1000 $1,799, www.compaq.com
The Presario is the unassuming girl next door of widescreen portables. Its crisp, bright graphics - in static images and video - are the equal of any higher-priced model. At 80 Gbytes, the hard drive is 33 percent larger than Apple's. But where the Presario truly wins your heart is battery life. It dusts the competition at almost three hours of continuous DVD playback.
OVERRATED
eMachines M5305 $1,249, www.emachines.com
Colors are overly saturated and tend to look muddy. Images are grainy. Flash animation and DVDs sometimes demonstrated an annoying flicker.
Ear Buddies
Bluetooth Headsets
Now that most new cell phones support Bluetooth, more and more people have the option of cord-free, hands-free, static-free conversations. Shop carefully, however - some wireless headsets are unwieldy and uncomfortable. - Joel Snyder
SPLURGE
Bluetooth Headset HBH-60 $160, www.sonyericsson.com
The sci-fi design here is an elegant solution to a geeky problem. The earpiece is only adequate at cutting through background chatter, yet people on the other end said they could hear me best with the HBH-60. Hooking it to the charger is a chore. Still, well-conceived features, like a microphone mute and intuitive controls, show the marriage of Sony and Ericsson is generating useful progeny.
BEST BUY
Jabra FreeSpeak $99, www.jabra.com
With a gel earpiece and a flexible arm, the FreeSpeak fits well and stays put. Built-in sound reduction adds conversational clarity in crowded public spaces and on busy roadways. The device emits a bewilderment of flashes and beeps, and the controls have a bit of a learning curve. But you'll make up the lost chat in no time with Jabra's easy-to-use charging unit.
OVERRATED
Motorola HS800 $150, www.motorola.com
Though it packs some appealing features, the HS800 has an annoying tendency to fall off.
PLAY
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Evolution Of Species
Read Me: Freedom Evolves
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