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PS2 LIGHT GUNS

Digital Derringers
Joysticks are fine, but nothing spices up a virtual killing spree like a light gun. These guns are compatible with games like the upcoming Time Crisis 3. Point one directly at your TV screen and a sensor lets you blast enemies with deadly accuracy. - Chris Kohler

SPLURGE: Blaze Scorpion3 $40, www.blaze-gear.com
With its svelte body, smart button layout, and fast trigger action, the Scorpion3 may be the most attractive light gun on the market. But what's really sexy about this model is an adjustable laser sight that makes aiming a breeze - no more squinting down the barrel for hours on end. The laser automatically turns off when not aimed at a bright moving surface.

BEST BUY: Pelican Pulse Cannon $20, www.pelicanacc.com
Sure, the casing is wildly unrealistic - more Flash Gordon than Vice City - and the button layout is awkward. But the featherlight (11-ounce) Pulse Cannon gives you the most bang for your buck. Turn on the rumble feature for a satisfying kick when you squeeze off a round. Or activate the auto-fire and auto-reload options, which the Scorpion lacks, so you're never empty.

OVERRATED: Hais Mission Light Gun $20, www.lik-sang.com
Looks like an authentic Israeli Desert Eagle .50AE pistol. Cool! Much heavier than the other guns, with sluggish trigger action. Lame!

DVRs WITH DVD-R

Hard Drive TV
Ask not for whom the bell tolls, VHS - it tolls for thee. These players pull double duty, recording shows to DVDs and the built-in 80-Gbyte hard drive. The DVRs, which store up to 100 hours of shows, also let you pause live TV and cut out commercials. - Peter Suciu

SPLURGE: Panasonic DMR-E80H $700, www.panasonic.com
Set up the DMR-E80H and you'll wonder how you ever lived without it. In addition to standard DVD-R recording, the unit supports DVD-RAM, which means it can use nearly every minute of space on the disc and erase unwanted segments no matter how they're sequenced. Bonus: It also plays CDs and CD-Rs, and you can record TV shows while you listen.

BEST BUY: Toshiba SD-H400 $549, www.tacp.toshiba.com
This eminently affordable unit is a media PC in disguise - the hard drive also functions as a digital media server. Connect it to your home network via standard USB and send digital photo or music files from your PC to your TV. Hate setting up your own program guide? Rejoice. The SD-H400 includes TiVo basic service right out of the box.

OVERRATED: Pioneer DVR-810H $1,199, www.pioneerelectronics.com
Same TiVo service as Toshiba's SD-H400, and analog inputs let you transfer your old videotapes to DVD. But the same money buys you two SD-H400s.

ANTISPAM SOFTWARE

Spaminators
Don't give up your email account just because it's become a spam magnet. Filtering apps have come into their own, blocking up to 99 percent of junk sent to users of Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express. - Seth Kaplan

SPLURGE: Cloudmark SpamNet $40 per year, www.cloudmark.com
Software is good at recognizing junk email, but humans are better. SpamNet relies on more than half a million subscribers to identify incoming trash; once enough users mark a message as spam, the software auto-updates to block the sender's address for everyone. The collective approach (think Borg) is good for letting through mass emails, like newsletters, that confuse filtering algorithms.

BEST BUY: Spam Bully $30, www.spambully.com
This program's Bayesian filter rapidly adapts to new types of spam. After a few days of your feedback, it's smart enough to stop nearly all junk email from reaching your inbox. Want some ads but not others? Spam Bully can learn to let them through. It can also route plausible offenders into a separate folder, so you can make sure they're garbage before zapping them.

OVERRATED: Norton Internet Security 2003 $70, www.symantec.com
IS 2003 is merely adequate - it misses a lot of junk and simply sends what it does find to the inbox with "Spam Alert" added to the subject line.

ATOMIC WATCHES

Real-Time Machines
What kind of obsessive, gadget-crazed freak needs a timepiece that's always correct to within a millionth of a second? You. These atomic watches sync up with NIST's super-accurate cesium atomic clock in Colorado, so you never miss a beat. - Gordon Bass

SPLURGE: Junghans Mega Solar Titanium 016/2302.00 $799, www.junghansusa.com
Don't want your watch to scream übergeek? With its titanium case, sapphire crystal face, and matte black dial that doubles as a solar panel, the Junghans is a real stunner. A small LCD displays the date, and the watch can be manually set when you're out of the master clock's 2,000-mile transmission range.

BEST BUY: Casio G-Shock GW300A-1V $99, www.gshock.com
What this ruggedized number lacks in elegance it makes up for in affordability - and features. Stopwatch? Check. Alarm? Of course. Time in 30 cities worldwide? Mais oui. Good to depths of 650 feet? Diver down! Insomniacs take note: When it's dark, tilt the solar-powered watch toward you to turn on the backlight, or switch to Sleep mode to conserve juice.

OVERRATED: La Crosse WT-961S $60, www.lacrossetechnology.com
It's butt-ugly, it can't be manually set, and its "special" features consist of a dedicated time-zone button and a low-battery indicator. Wow!

WIRELESS OPTICAL MOUSES

Cordless Clickers
If you hate your cumbersome old mouse more than Scratchy hates Itchy, try the latest unwired species. Optical sensors pick up your movements to within a few hundredths of an inch and relay them via radio frequency waves to your PC or Mac. - Brian Lam

SPLURGE: Logitech MX700 $70, www.logitech.com
The smooth Logitech MX700 glides over your desktop like quicksilver - no mousepad required. In Quake, I faked out my opponents with a split-second stutter-step strafe, and the MX700 read every move. A single two-hour charge is good for four days of steady use, and eight programmable buttons make this mouse the ultimate controller.

BEST BUY: Microsoft Wireless IntelliMouse Explorer $55, www.microsoft.com
The Intellimouse is nearly as fast as the MX700 during run-and-gun sessions - only the most vicious wrist shaking tosses it off track. For the 9-to-5 grind, a side wheel adds easy horizontal scrolling to office docs and Web browsing. Only downside: The unit isn't rechargeable. But a pair of AAs will last you up to three months.

OVERRATED: Memorex RF Optical ScrollPro $60, www.memorex.com
The five-button Memorex delivers more than enough mouse for spreadsheet jockeys, but fast movements make the sensor stall. Gamers beware.

PLAY

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Dragons, and Slime Molds, and Orcs! Oh, My!
Being Michel Gondry
It's a Surreal World After All
Boxtopolis
From Here to Infinity
Aliens in Our Midst
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