Best Of Tech

By Wilson Rothman

DIGITAL CAMERAS

INEXPENSIVE

$200 SONY DSC-U10 CYBER-SHOT U Older 1-megapixel cameras can be found for less, but nothing out there does as much for as little. This 1.3-megapixel camera comes with rechargeable batteries, movie mode and built-in photo effects. No optical zoom, but it's smaller than most cell phones. www.sonystyle.com

MODERATE

$700 FUJIFILM FINEPIX S602 ZOOM It's cameras like this one that make digital photography so popular. This 3.1-megapixel favorite comes with a 6X-optical-zoom lens, two LCD monitors and room for two memory slots. You can shoot video with sound at 30 frames a second and add voice annotation to stills. www.fujifilm.com

EXPENSIVE

$2,000 NIKON D100 So much for silver nitrate. Nikon's 6.1-megapixel wondercam blends the finesse of film photography and the precision of the digital revolution. It comes with an SLR mechanism, and it's not for amateurs. But it's a fine way to teach old shutterbugs new tricks. www.nikon.com

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$30 HOMEDICS ENVIRASCAPE TABLETOP FOUNTAIN For the Superman in your life, this tiny Fortress of Solitude provides the "soothing sounds of cascading water" in a light-up glass bowl. www.wal-mart.com

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$130 SOUND SOOTHER 20 RELAXATION MACHINE For anyone kept awake by snoring, this box offers 20 more pleasant soundscapes. If you miss the familiar drone, try the "fog horn" setting. www.sharperimage.com

DIGITAL CAMCORDERS

INEXPENSIVE

$500 SAMSUNG SC-D80 Yes, this digital camcorder is bulky--it won't win any design contests--but it's priced right and fully equipped. It's got 680,000-pixel resolution, 10X zoom lens, image stabilizer and "Nite Pix" for shots in the dark. Want bang for your buck? Shoot in this direction. www.samsungusa.com

MODERATE

$900 CANON ZR50MC Partygoers, take note: this machine comes with alluring features--buttons that change color and a "tiling effect" for arranging head shots in Brady Bunch fashion--but it's no toy. With 22X zoom lens, crisp images and still shots, it's worth the price. consumer.usa.canon.com

EXPENSIVE

$2,000 SONY DCR-IP220 Leave it to Sony to add a 2-megapixel still camera to a high-end camcorder. To capture DVD-quality video, the IP220 uses MicroMV tapes (instead of the more common MiniDV). Other geeky perks include Bluetooth networking and a touch-panel LCD. www.sonystyle.com

DVD RECORDERS

INEXPENSIVE

$700 PANASONIC DMR-E30 Since the advent of the DVD player, movie buffs have wondered when they would be able to record DVDs. The wait is over. Panasonic's cheapest recorder--which creates DVD-R discs that are easily recognized by most players--is as good an excuse as any to ditch the VCR. www.panasonic.com

MODERATE

$900 PHILIPS DVDR985

Plug your camcorder directly into this unit, and hit Record. That's one of the nice features about this machine. It also comes with crisp progressive-scan playback for normal DVDs. A price drop and unbeatable ease of use make it the best of this class. www.philipsusa.com

EXPENSIVE

$1,300 YAMAHA DRX-1 If you're looking for high-quality recordings, shop here. Yamaha uses DVD+R (write-once) discs and DVD+RW (rewriteable) discs, like the Philips. The DRX-1's smart editing tools make home movies and TV shows more entertaining the second time. www.yamaha.com/yec

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$40 ROCKY STREAM MOTION-PICTURE FRAME Long before smart frames, Spencer wowed us with this novelty art: a photo of water that "appears to be moving." Waterfall shot also available. www.spencergifts.com

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$3,000 DIGI-FRAME DF-1710 DIGITAL PICTURE FRAME In the Gift for Bill Gates category, a 17-in. frame that displays photos or MPEG-1 videos, and plays MP3 tracks through a hidden speaker. www.digi-frame.com

FLAT-PANEL TVS

INEXPENSIVE

$1,200 SHARP AQUOS LC-13E1U Leading the what-to-get-for-those-who-have-everything category is Sharp's 13-in. LCD TV. The 3-in.-thin monitor even features an "image inverter" for upside-down mounting--handy for those who want to squeeze a TV underneath a kitchen cabinet. www.aquos.com

MODERATE

$9,000 PIONEER ELITE PRO-800HD Couch potatoes beware! Buy this TV, and prepare to become a homebody. The 43-in. set has everything: HDTV signal, progressive-scan DVD, even a monitor connection from your PC. And the price has plummeted; earlier this year it listed for $12,000. www.pioneerelectronics.com

EXPENSIVE

$25,000 FUJITSU PDS-6101 If the stock market ever rebounds and you lust after the Rolls-Royce of TVs, consider this 61-in. giant. Its processor works in two ways to enhance still and moving images, and it has inputs to fit any hardware you could possibly own. www.plasmavision.com

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$40 MIDAS REMOTE-CONTROL WATCH This could win you the Geek of the Year award: a watch that doubles as a remote control. And you thought the calculator watch was cool. www.thinkgeek.com

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$1,700 PHILIPS iPronto HOME "DASHBOARD" The mother of all remotes, iPronto uses infrared and radio frequencies to control everything but the weather. www.philipsusa.com

DVD PLAYERS

INEXPENSIVE

$70 APEX DIGITAL AD-1600 The popularity of DVDs has spread like brush fire, and the prices of players have suddenly started to tumble. The AD-1600 offers zoom and programmable playback and can read Kodak Picture CDs, CD-R and CD-RW discs. It will even play MP3s. www.apexdigitalinc.com

MODERATE

$280 TOSHIBA SD4800 The folks at Toshiba invented the DVD player, and they're still ahead of the curve. This machine's progressive-scan output looks great on any TV. It even recognizes those DVD Audio discs that offer high-fidelity surround-sound versions of classic albums. www.toshiba.com/tacp

EXPENSIVE

$1,500 MARANTZ DV8300 Once this machine debuts in your living room, the CD player is probably best put out to pasture. The Marantz offers more than just crystal-clear video images. It can also decode both DVD Audio and Super Audio CD--formatted surround-sound music discs. www.marantz.com

HD-READY TVS

INEXPENSIVE

$1,000 SAMSUNG TXM-3096WHF Who says high-definition television has to cost a fortune? This 30-in. DynaFlat widescreen comes "HDTV ready"--meaning you still need either a progressive-scan DVD player or an HDTV tuner to see the next-generation television images in their full glory. www.samsungusa.com

MODERATE

$3,000 PANASONIC PT-40LC12 Despite its girth, this 40-in. HDTV-ready rear-projection system does not come with an integrated HDTV tuner. What's cool about it? A picture-in-picture feature that lets you view two shows (or a PC desktop and a TV show) side by side. www.panasonic.com

EXPENSIVE

$5,300 HITACHI 65XWX20 This is tomorrow's TV today. Hitachi's 65-incher has built-in HDTV tuners, VirtualHD for improving TV and DVD signals, and a system for remote control of other home-theater components. It's also got 12 interfaces, including FireWire and DVI. www.hitachi.com/tv

HOME THEATRE IN A BOX

INEXPENSIVE

$300 RCA RTDVD1 This is a dorm-room special. For a great price, you get everything but the TV: a DVD player, audio receiver and speakers. RCA's 200-watt system even comes with MP3 playback (a must for college kids), Dolby Digital sound and an S-video output. www.rca.com

MODERATE

$600 PIONEER HTD-520DV At the heart of the 520DV is a five-disc changer that doubles as a 500-watt receiver. Dolby Digital and DTS decoders provide surround sound, but two powerful front speakers deliver a great two-channel stereo experience as well. Perfect for master bedrooms. www.pioneerelectronics.com

EXPENSIVE

$1,200 SAMSUNG HT-SK6 No longer just Sony-on-a-budget, Samsung has joined speaker-maestro Klipsch to build the HT-SK6, a progressive-scan DVD player with 725 watts of power. Precision speakers, designed for easy placement, are from Klipsch's famed Quartet Microsystem. www.samsungusa.com

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$40 LEAPFROG LEAPSTART LEARNING TABLE It's not Elmo, but it's got the music and visual effects to wow any two-year-old--at least long enough to teach letters, numbers and songs. www.leapfrog.com

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$400 ARCHOS JUKEBOX MULTIMEDIA 20 An audio-video toy for bigger kids, this jukebox holds more than MP3s; it can store up to 40 hours of MPEG-4 video for viewing on its LCD screen. www.archos.com

CELL PHONES

INEXPENSIVE

$200 SONY ERICSSON T68i This phone can be had for as little as $150, and it's about to become very trendy. It offers multimedia messaging, high-speed data and PDA-type apps, a color screen and Bluetooth to boot. Many carriers even throw in the removable camera module for free. Without the camera, the older model sells for as low as $50. www.sonyericsson.com/us

MODERATE

$300 SAMSUNG A500 For folks addicted to their cell phones, customization is key. With the A500, you can create icons for every caller and set the background using any JPEG you want--a great way to make use of the active-matrix LCD. Sprint's PCS Vision even lets you download Java games and other programs straight to the phone. www.sprintpcs.com

EXPENSIVE

$550 T-MOBILE POCKET PC PHONE If you care about looking cool and staying connected, buy now. This is gadget-of-the-year material. By adopting the GPRS high-speed data service, the T-Mobile Pocket PC can offer its HTML browser and instant messaging. There's also Pocket Word, Excel and Outlook, plus Windows Media Player for MP3s and video files. www.t-mobile.com

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$1 DISNEY GANG 9-0Z. CUPS Make your own walkie-talkie. The question is: If string is required, is it still wireless? www.1800partyshop.com

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$60 MOTOROLA DISNEY TWO-WAY RADIOS Too cute for anyone over 8, these radios transmit short Disney-voiced phrases. As usual, Donald's expressions rule. www.motorola.com

PDAS

INEXPENSIVE

$150 HANDSPRING VISOR NEO A perennial in our buyer's guide, Handspring still builds the best all-purpose PDA. Integrated USB allows for fast data transfers on Macs and Windows PCs, and the 8 MB of storage puts the Neo in league with far costlier devices. For a dash of fun, the Neo comes in three translucent hues: red, blue and smoke. www.handspring.com

MODERATE

$350 TOSHIBA E335 Pocket PCs used to suffer from being more expensive than Palms, but now the tide is turning. Palms are becoming pricier, and the cost of feature-rich Pocket PCs is dropping. Toshiba's newest offers an active-matrix color screen, a 300MHz processor, 64 megs of RAM and one USB port. Sound a lot like your last laptop? www.csd.toshiba.com

EXPENSIVE

$600 SONY NX70V CLIE The new Palm-powered Clie is a giant step forward for Sony. The NX70V sports an MP3 player, a QWERTY keyboard and a camera that shoots still JPEGs or MPEG-4 video. The hard-core gadget geeks will want to go for the optional Wi-Fi wireless network card ($150) and plug in a 128-MB Memory Stick ($90) for music and videos. www.sonystyle.com