All products featured on WIRED are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links.
Prime Time Anytime
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These 20-gig portables play back recorded TV or full-length movies downloaded from the Net. And when they’re not packed with episodes of your favorite shows, they’ll tote data files, store thousands of digipics, and serve more tunes than your old iPod. All weigh less than a pound and have 3.5-inch or bigger screens, onboard speakers, headphone jacks, and video-out plugs for connecting to a TV. Differences in sound and image quality are relatively minor, so pick a system that suits your tech abilities and patience. Rule of thumb: The easier a device is to use, the fewer video file formats it accepts. - Bob Parks
SHOULD YOU DO WINDOWS? • Video players based on Microsoft’s Portable Media Center OS require access to a Windows XP or Windows Media Center PC. But they’re easier to use than other types of players and provide a legal means for acquiring content.
WHERE TO GET VIDEO • TV The three Windows-based players on the market accept shows recorded by a Media Center PC; the Archos unit can capture programs directly from a cable or satellite box. • CinemaNow Compatible with Windows-based models, this site is currently the only legal source of mainstream films for mobile players. • BitTorrent Do a Google search for BitTorrent metasites (indexes of movies and TV series available for download). To access the files - most of which are illegal and won’t run on Windows-based players - you’ll need BitTorrent software. • Entertainment sites Some official outlets (like baseball’s MLB.com) offer video downloads that will work with Windows-based players.
Creative Zen Portable Media Center
Watching episodes of Lost while riding Amtrak down the Northeast Corridor was blissful with the Zen. Its 3.8-inch screen is the biggest among the players tested, and its long-life ion-polymer battery - 22 hours for music, 7 for video - made mobile movie marathons possible. The Windows platform offers a truly superior interface for navigating and downloading programming (we hooked it up to a Gateway Media Center 2005 PC to record TV shows). Of course, our attempts to transfer a Web-downloaded episode of The Daily Show were foiled by Microsoft’s intellectual property schemes.
Wired: Big screen and long battery life. Decent sound, though, like all the players, it lacked bass. Tired: The bulkiest player tested - 5.7 x 3.2 x 1.1 inches and a scale-tipping 11.7 ounces. Colors were a bit washed out.
$499, www.creative.com 
Archos AV420
Wired: Plays MPEG-4 and DivX files commonly found on BitTorrent. No Media Center PC required; records directly from a cable or satellite box. Light and thin (9.9 ounces and only 0.8 inch thick). Tired: Not as easy to use as Windows-based players. Battery life less than three hours (for video).
$550, www.archos.com 
Samsung YH-999
Wired: Hip and square. At 8.1 ounces and 0.8 inch thick, it’s the only Windows-based player that can be called pocketable. Onboard speaker loud and clear. Rich and accurate colors. Tired: Feels fragile. Battery life as skimpy as Archos’ (three hours for video).
$499, www.samsungusa.com
iRiver PMC-120
Wired: Vivid colors: Reds really popped. Rubber strips on bottom keep the Windows-based player from sliding off the tray table. Weighs 9 ounces. Tired: Battery life slightly shorter than the five hours for video claimed by the company. Control layout and physical design far from Zen-like.
$500, www.iriveramerica.com 
Set Your JPEGs Free
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Online photo services are an escape valve for digipics. Upload images to one of these Web sites and get professional prints delivered to your door. You can also use them to share online photo albums and slideshows with friends and family. - Seén Captain
Ofoto Kodak lives up to its photographic reputation with this online service. Prints were sharp, with accurate color and good exposure and development. Frankly, they were the best of the bunch. Even poorly lit images came out looking better than they deserved. The site’s tabbed interface is easy to navigate, without feeling remedial. Ofoto will also accept traditional film by mail, scan it, and put the digital images online for $3.95 per roll.
Wired: Handles both expertly and amateurishly shot photos with finesse. Convenient photo-editing tools. Tired: Advanced features confusing at times. Accepts JPEGs only.
$0.29 per 4 x 6 print, www.ofoto.com 
Printroom Wired: Easy to use. Automated enhancement, adjustments by technicians, and even pro-level color management are available for an extra fee. Tired: Pics had oversaturated colors. JPEGs only. Rudimentary editing tools. $5 minimum order.
$0.39 (4 x 6), www.printroom.com
Snapfish Wired: Tabbed Web interface similar to Ofoto’s. For 5 x 7 or smaller prints, you can express upload lo-res files. Works with JPEG or TIFF. Tired: Prints lacked contrast and sharpness. Site cluttered with promos and third-party ads.
$0.19 (4 x 6), www.snapfish.com
Shutterfly Wired: Clean, easy-to-navigate interface. Offers well-designed editing tools, including a wide variety of border styles (many of them not cheesy). Tired: Prints were too dark, some with an unnatural amber cast or sickly flesh tones.
$0.29 (4 x 6), www.shutterfly.com 
Double Duty
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All-in-one washer/dryers are the Crock-Pots of laundry - load ’em up and come back when they’re done. These top models wash as efficiently as front-loaders, then dry using a condensing process that doesn’t require a vent. Perfect for apartments and cozy houses, they run on just 110 volts of juice and conserve energy and water. The trade-offs? Clothes can take three hours to dry, and that terry bathrobe will still be damp. - B.P.
LG Tromm WM3677HW
By far the largest-capacity combo, the Tromm cleaned better than some traditional front-load washers: It removed grease, cherry stains, and tomato sauce from a T-shirt. Sensors feed data on water level, temperature, drum balance, and spin speed to a brawny microprocessor, and custom settings can be saved on its flash memory - think macros for your socks. Drying was underpowered, though: Towels needed finishing in a real dryer.
Wired: Huge capacity - 22 pounds, or about 12 bath towels. Cleverly designed rollers inside drum scrub gently. Quiet. Child lock. Impressive 1,100-rpm motor. Tired: Big for a combo unit: 38.7 x 27 x 29.8 inches. Large loads didn’t get completely dry.
$1,699, www.lge.com
Malber WD1000
The Italian-made Malber is the quintessential combo. It’s small enough (33.5 x 23.5 x 20.9 inches) to be stashed under a counter, but packs a powerful 1,000-rpm motor. It didn’t remove ground-in dirt, sauce, or mold as well as the LG (or a traditional washer), though it cleaned well overall. The unit got sheets bone-dry, but was inadequate for bulkier jobs like towels and sweats, in part because the drying cycle has a two-hour limit.
Wired: Decent capacity - 11 pounds, or about six bath towels. Dry cycle handles smaller loads well. Compact. Tired: Mechanical controls hard to set. No frills like water-level or temperature sensors. Not great for drying heavy loads.
$999, www.malberusa.com
Wi-Fi Bloodhounds
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Laptops make it possible to work almost anywhere, provided you can get online. Pocket Wi-Fi detectors sniff out 802.11b/g networks before you’ve even unpacked and powered up your notebook. But watch out - some really bite. - S.C.
Canary Wireless Digital Hotspotter
Wired: Only model with an LCD display: Shows each hotspot’s ID, channel used, and whether it is open to guests or closed and encrypted. Takes two AAA batteries. Tired: It’s bigger than its competitors at 2.5 x 2.2 x 1 inch - and costs nearly twice as much.
Kensington WiFi Plus
Wired: Small (2.6 x 1.7 x 0.5 inch) and attaches to a keychain. Signal-strength and direction modes help you home in on a hotspot. Detects Bluetooth devices. Integrated LED flashlight. Tired: Doesn’t provide any specifics about hotspots. Uses hard-to-find lithium batteries.
$30, www.kensington.com
Chrysalis Development WiFi Seeker
Wired: Teeny (2.3 x 1.2 x 0.4 inch) and key-ring ready. Very fast detection of hotspot signal strength and direction. Tired: Looks and feels cheap. Doesn’t provide name or encryption status of networks. Replacing lithium batteries requires disassembling unit.
$30, www.wifiseeker.com 
Flexible Flyers
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High-performance sleds scream past those flimsy plastic ones you used to bomb hills on. They carve turns and stop on a dime. Some even pull off flips, jumps, and barrel rolls. Don’t forget a helmet. - B.P.
Airboard Classic
Wired: Fly face-first down the mountain with your nose 10 inches from the powder. Current speed record is 78 mph. Approved on the slopes of six major US ski resorts. Tired: Learning to slalom was tricky. Head-up position tiring. Pricy.
$269, www.airboard.com
Surfster ICE
Wired: Provides a quick, cushy ride. Runners along bottom hug the hills for decisive turns and stops. Tired: No center runner, so it loses some stability and speed in straightaways. Inflation valve wouldn’t stay down; it poked rider in the chin.
$100, www.ripitupsports.com
Mad River Rocket Killer B
Wired: Includes a quick-release strap that lies over riders’ thighs, allowing big air, tight turns, and aggressive 90-degree hockey stops. Tired: Slicing through ice is rough on the abs. Kneeling position better for acrobatics than speed runs.
Eurosled Snow Blazer
Wired: Easy to control, fun, and responsive on powder or hardpack. Seat cups your bum. Dual braking system digs in for real stopping power. Tired: Touchy steering caused numerous spills. Weighs 25 pounds. Doesn’t fold or deflate for travel.
$170, www.3playinc.com
credit ABC inc.
Creative Zen Portable Media Center
credit Fox Broadcasting Co.
Archos AV420
credit Corbis
Samsung YH-999
credit MPTV.NET
iRiver PMC-120
LG Tromm WM3677HW
Malber WD1000
Canary Wireless Digital Hotspotter
Kensington WiFi Plus
Chrysalis Development WiFi Seeker
Airboard Classic
Surfster ICE
Mad River Rocket Killer B
Eurosled Snow Blazer
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