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UNIVERSAL REMOTES
Control Freaks
If your den is littered with clickers, go universal. The new breed of brainy remotes can fire up your home theater, spin a DVD, and turn on your TV with a single touch. They all have intuitive interfaces, too, so setup and operation don't require a PhD. - Brian Lam
SPLURGE: Philips iPronto $1,700, www.consumer.philips.com
You'll feel like James T. Kirk as you pilot your home entertainment center with iPronto's space-age touchscreen. The unit has a 4 x 5-inch, hi-res interface with IR control and a Wi-Fi link to your PC, so you can browse channel guides and surf the Web without leaving your captain's chair. Visit Philips' site to download the proper function controls for your assorted components.
BEST BUY: Intrigue Harmony Remote SST-768 $299, www.harmonyremote.com
The SST-768 takes stock of your myriad boxes and automatically creates shortcuts for everyday activities. Select "Watch a DVD" from the scrollable list of options and this IR remote turns on and syncs all necessary devices. If one element is singing off-key, just hit the Help button: A brilliant troubleshooting wizard will track it down and tune it up.
OVERRATED: MX-800 $499, www.hometheatermaster.com
It has an RF transmitter that's powerful enough to go through walls. But for the price, we expect a more streamlined setup and a built-in program guide.
DIGITAL PHOTO VIEWERS
Slide Shows to Go
Thanksgiving is the perfect time to share family photos. But force Grandma to squint at your digicam's tiny LCD and she'll probably spit in your stuffing. Use a photo viewer to turn any TV into a slide-show screen. - Peter Suciu
SPLURGE: SmartDisk FlashTrax $500, www.smartdisk.com
Showing your photos on FlashTrax is like showing home movies on IMAX. Archive thousands of images on the 30-Gbyte hard drive, preview the goods on the 3.5-inch LCD, and then hook the unit up to a TV for group viewing. Transfer files from PC via USB, or from your digicam's CompactFlash memory cards. MP3 support means you can even add your own soundtrack.
BEST BUY: Lexar Media Digital Photo Player $80, www.lexarmedia.com
Lexar's viewer accepts all CompactFlash and SmartMedia cards, and unlike the FlashTrax, it has a hi-res S-video as well as a standard composite connection. It also provides slide-show functions, such as Rotate, Zoom, and Pan. The viewer works with both NTSC and PAL TVs, so you can take it on the road and watch dailies of your next European vacation.
OVERRATED: Dazzle Universal TV Photo Show $100, www.dazzle.com
This six-in-one card-reader offers plenty of bells and whistles, and it can hook up to a PC or Mac via USB - but why no S-video connection?
EXTERNAL LAPTOP BATTERIES
Backup Power
There's nothing worse than being stuck on a plane, halfway through a Sopranos episode, and running out of laptop juice. An external battery can extend your viewing pleasure for hours. But shop wisely: The price would give mafia dons pause. - James Turner
SPLURGE: Electrovaya PowerPad 160-A $449, www.electrovaya.com
BEST BUY: Valence Technology VNC-130 $299, www.valence.com
OVERRATED: Hi-Capacity 140W $470, www.battery-biz.com
As if its ungainly Soviet-era design wasn't bad enough, this unit stores only 9.6 AH (about five hours) and costs more than any other Wired-tested battery.
HIGH-END EARPHONES
Hot Aural Action
They may look like the flimsy earbuds that come bundled with your iPod, but they're the new high end of portable 'phones. They place a high-quality speaker inside each ear to deliver intimate sound and seal out the rest of the world. - Paul Boutin
SPLURGE: Shure E5c $499, www.shure.com
It might seem absurd to pay 500 bucks for what looks a 1.1-ounce electronic stethoscope, but hearing is believing. The E5c has a tiny woofer and tweeter in each bud to deliver distortion-free bass and crystal-clear treble. Properly fitted, these are the audio equivalent of VR goggles. All that's missing is a mini-subwoofer to strap to your chest.
BEST BUY: Etymotic ER-4P MicroPro $330, www.etymotic.com
The P in ER-4P stands for power, and these microspeakers live up to their billing. Etymotic's earphones weigh less than an ounce but drive cleanly to 122 decibels - that's DJ-booth level. The sound isn't as full and crisp as Shure's, but they've got plenty of oomph and are more effective at silencing the outside world than noise-canceling headphones.
OVERRATED: B&O Earphones $160, www.bang-olufsen.com
Form trumps function. These units look cool but lack both the airtight bass beat and whisper-in-your-ear treble overtones of the high-end models.
VIDEO EDITING LAPTOPS
Home Movie Mogul
Imagine having your own mobile postproduction facility. These "desktop replacement" laptops edit, render, and burn your home videos to DVD. The 60-Gbyte hard disks store four hours of footage. Polish off your masterpiece en route to Sundance. - B.L.
SPLURGE: Voodoo Envy M:355 $3,285, www.voodoopc.com
The M:355 renders video fades and wipes of kid brother's senior recital with a svelte 1.7-GHz Centrino processor, backed up by a swift hard drive. The 7,200-rpm disk easily keeps the CPU fed with raw video while recording the finished MPEG output. Finally, the 2X DVD burner means you'll be watching your feature while the competition is only halfway through a write session.
BEST BUY: Fujitsu LifeBook N3010 $1,899, www.us.fujitsu.com
Starving indie filmmakers, take note: Despite a cheaper, battery-draining Pentium 4 pumpin' in its chassis, the N3010 nearly keeps pace with the Voodoo model. The 4,200-rpm hard disk is what prevents the N3010 from working faster - in Wired tests, it missed a frame during video capture. The single-speed DVD burner works only in real time, but for this price we've got no complaints.
OVERRATED: Gateway 450XL $2,279, www.gateway.com
Last place in render time, dropped several frames during transfer, and it burned a bunch of drink coasters before producing a working disc.
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