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Wireless PS2 Controllers
No Strings Attached
It's so annoying when a housemate trips on your PS2 controller cord. Your onscreen persona gets pummeled while you're unplugged, and you have to deal with whining like "I hurt my ankle!" Prevent such mishaps by going wireless. - Suzanne Ashe

SPLURGE: Logitech Cordless Controller for PlayStation $60, www.logitech.com
The ergonomics of this pad make it ideal for extended play. It comes with all the standard features, like rumble feedback and multiplayer support, and pressure-sensitive buttons increase your ability to control subtle character movements. Though both battery life (four AAs get you 50 hours) and range (20 feet max) are short, it's soooo luxurious to hold.

BEST BUY: Pelican Predator Wireless $40, www.pelicanperformance.com
body

OVERRATED: HipGear 2.4 GHz Wireless Controller $35, www.hipgearproducts.com
The HipGear is neither as nice to hold nor as responsive as we'd like.

Portable Generators
Go With the Flow
A compact gasoline generator can help you ride out that next storm or weeklong family camping trip. The best models deliver surge-free juice with easy-to-use controls and built-in inverters and auto shutoff features for self-preservation. - Marty Katz

SPLURGE: Honda EU2000i $1,080, www.hondapowerequipment.com
This 46-pound generator can pump out 2 kilowatts for up to 15 hours per 1.1-gallon tank of unleaded, making it the most powerful luggable unit available. Its hum stays within a speech-friendly 53 to 59 decibels, and the resulting AC is laundered through an inverter, so you can plug in sensitive devices without fear.

BEST BUY: Yamaha EF1000iS $799, www.yamaha-motor.com
Yamaha's pint-size EF1000iS purrs at between 47 and 57 dB and weighs a mere 28 pounds, yet puts out up to 12 hours of 1-kilowatt power. Like the Honda, it comes equipped with a built-in inverter, making it safe for finicky electronics. Its 0.66-gallon tank is completely sealable for transport, and it boasts a unique valve for draining the carburetor to prevent gummy buildup.

OVERRATED: Coleman Powermate Mega Pulse 1850 $399, www.colemanpowermate.com
It's loud and lacks low-oil shutoff and voltage control. This thing sucks.

Media Center PCs
Multimedia Moguls
Just one Media Center PC will take care of all your TiVo, DVD, CD, and MP3-playback needs - not to mention handle Web surfing and email. The best of these boxes are silent, wrangle media swiftly, and won't choke come showtime. - Brian Lam

SPLURGE: Sony Vaio Digital Studio RZ46G $2,200, www.sonystyle.com
Underneath the Vaio's sleek facade resides a raging 3.2-GHz Pentium 4. This media-shredding badass simultaneously recorded TV, surfed the Web, and played music without a hitch. Ripping a full-length CD to MP3 took a scant three and a half minutes. Plus, the Vaio includes server software for sharing music, video, pictures, and live TV across your home network.

BEST BUY: Hewlett-Packard Media Center m370n $1,350, www.hp.com
The 2.8-GHz Pentium 4-equipped HP took five minutes to rip a CD and strained a bit when multitasking. Nevertheless, it's solid as a rock, which means you can relax, certain in the knowledge that Futurama will be recorded as planned. And when it's time to watch Lost in Translation the ninja-quiet fan won't disrupt Sofia Coppola's cinematic melancholy.

OVERRATED: ABS Media Center PC 8500 $1,749, www.abspc.com
It's fast for a 2.6-GHz box, and the black aluminum case looks damn cool, but a half-dozen crashes and a buzzy fan were real turnoffs.

Fish finders
Thar She Blips
Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he'll waste whole days looking for a good spot. Thankfully, sonar fish finders tell you exactly where to sink your line for a catch. Next time, the big one won't get away. - Peter Suciu

SPLURGE: Furuno FCV600L $895, www.furuno.com
The only thing missing from this tracker is a TV tuner. Then again, you'll be so busy reeling them in you won't have time for a break. The finder emits two sets of sound waves and, based on how many bounce back, it demystifies the deep. The results, including likely fish, appear on the high-resolution 5.6-inch LCD. The Furuno is easy to set up and searches down to 3,000 feet.

BEST BUY: Navman FISH 4500 $700, www.navman.com
This finder matches the Furuno's depth range for a lot fewer clams. Sure, it's bulkier, more difficult to set up, and has a smaller screen. But it adds an array of alarms that let you know when you've drifted into an area too shallow or too deep and alert you to temperature changes in the water - both of which are helpful for improving your daily catch.

OVERRATED: Humminbird Matrix 97 $850, www.humminbird.com
The display pales in comparison to the other models. With a maximum depth of 1,500 feet, it might just let the quarry below make an escape.

LED Flashlights
Shine On (and On)
Why cart around a clunky four-D-cell flashlight when you can replace it with something the size and weight of a cell phone? LED flashlights are ultrabright, ultrawhite, and possess longer battery lives than their traditional counterparts. - Joel M. Snyder

SPLURGE: X5 $60, www.inovalight.com
The X5's five LEDs throw an intense beam, suitable for tactical night missions like, uh … changing a tire. The cool anodized aluminum barrel is even strong enough to use as a hammer. The X5 relies on small but expensive lithium batteries, though, so you'll get only 20 hours of lumens before you need to throw another $15 into it. Still, it's the brightest, toughest light tested.

BEST BUY: Princeton Tec Impact XL $30, www.princetontec.com
This rubberized, waterproof, crash-resistant model uses four AAs to power a single LED. It's not as bright or stylish as the X5, but it cranks out 70 hours of light and features a glove-friendly grip, great for cold nights. The Impact twists on and off, and with no switch to fail it's more likely to keep shining when you need it most.

OVERRATED: EternaLight 4Z EliteMax $90, www.techass.com
A flashlight shouldn't need a four-page manual, and the flimsy plastic case won't hold up to abuse or water. And what's up with the URL?

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