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The article discusses high-definition television (HDTV) technology. Now that improving technology and falling prices have made HDTV viable for the mass market, buyers must make sure they choose a TV set wisely. Criteria to consider when purchasing an HDTV include screen size, resolution, LCD vs. Plasma screens, and inputs.

The article evaluates the Wii video game console from Nintendo.

The article reviews digital cameras, including Canon's EOS Digital Rebel XTi and the Nikon D80.

The article reports on the progress of high-definition DVDs. The discs have significantly improved picture quality and the ability to hold more information and special features. The discs remain incompatible with one another; Blu-ray and HD-DVDs are both trying to win share in the growing market. Blu-ray has more potential for growth but HD-DVD currently has more options and is more widely available.

The article discusses technological developments with digital cameras. Cameras can shoot fast and deliver several shots in quick succession and sport large LCD screens that allow users to review photos. Many cameras also offer motion stabilization, manual viewfinders, quick response, and telephoto zoom lenses. INSET: The Big Guns.

This article evaluates several digital cameras by measures such as responsiveness, size, price, and features. Single lens reflex cameras are big, powerful, fast and versatile. They offer an almost unimaginable range of options, from special shooting modes to interchangeable lenses and flash units, and their big batteries keep them shooting for nigh unto forever. But they were basically unaffordable for anyone who wasn't an extremely serious hobbyist or a busy pro--until last year, when Canon and Nikon both introduced popular SLRs in the $1,000 price range. Now comes Round Two. Canon has reduced the price of the original 6-megapixel EOS Digital Rebel to $750 and introduced the smaller, lighter 8-megapixel Rebel XT at the old model's $1,000 price. Cameras with long lenses are getting cheaper. Panasonic's Lumix $460 12X zoom DMC-FZ5 and $280 6X zoom DMC-LZ2 both have optical image stabilization. The main trend in digital cameras continues to be pocket-size models that take better and better pictures, thereby freeing you from the dangling touristic neckstrap. At the low end I particularly like Nikon's $200 Coolpix 4600. Want thinner? Sony's 5-megapixel Cyber-shot DSC-T7 is almost unimaginably skinny, and it has a surprisingly large 2.5-inch screen on the back that you can see moderately well in sunlight. This year small 7-megapixel models are turning up all over. Nikon's entry is the $400 Coolpix 7900, which includes a plethora of special modes. Sony's $375 Cyber-shotDSC-P200 is fast, works in lots of lighting conditions and has an easy shape to hold. INSETS: What's a Camera, Anyway?;What the Salesperson Won't Mention.

This article reviews Sony's Handycam HDR-FX1, a high definition video camera. Buy a high-definition TV this Christmas and it won't be long before you notice that your home videos don't look so hot. High def's windowlike clarity can mesmerize you even when the storyline and acting are lame; suddenly regular TV, including that tape of your kid's birthday party, seems flat and listless. But now you can change that scenario or, if you're not a professional videographer, at least come close. Sony's Handycam HDR-FX1 lets you record your cherished moments in sharp, clear high definition--for $3,700. Like JVC's pioneering model GR-HD1 (May 26, 2003), Sony's new camcorder employs efficient video compression and a standard called HDV to cram wide-screen high-definition content onto the same little MiniDV tape used in standard-def digital camcorders. But the Sony takes several steps forward in resolution, features and usability. It's an important harbinger of a time when today's digital camcorders will seem as quaint as Super-8 movie cameras. The biggest drawback, aside from the price, is that this camera won't fit in anyone's pocket. With an extra-life battery, it weighs more than 5 pounds. But thanks to the same kinds of features you find in just about every consumer camcorder today, including image stabilization and automatic focus, exposure and white balance, just about anybody can pick up this unit and shoot scenes whose high-definition looks will dazzle even when the drooling baby doesn't. And since this is a "prosumer" model, just about everything can be adjusted manually when you have the creative urge. INSET: Three's No Charm.

This article presents an annual list of the author's favorite high technology products. The new Motorola RAZR V3 cellphone is such a smack-me-gorgeous sliver of technolust that you want to keep it up to your ear all the time and show it off. But you don't get to, see, because it works so well with Motorola's new Bluetooth wireless headset, which frees up the hands for less vainglorious activities, like driving. Motorola designers chased away any plastic they could, favoring aluminum, magnesium and glass. The perfectly flat keyboard has a nickel-plated chemically etched keypad with the numbers separated by thin silicon strips so your fingers glide over the right keys. You'll pay for all this high concept: The V3's retail price hasn't been set yet--the phone is due out in November 2004--but they're going for $700 on Ebay. Tivoli Model One: Even as radios go, this is bare bones. But that's why I love it. With its wooden enclosure and oversize dial, this radio, designed by audio legend Henry Kloss, looks an awful lot like the famous KLH Eight radio Kloss built in the 1960s. The beauty is that the Model One contains a high-tech interior, including a special semiconductor that provides astonishing reception. The Dyson. Nature abhors a vacuum. Not I, though. I happily roam all through the house with my Dyson, a sleek-looking, English-made, purple upright I bought seven months after it became available in the U.S. in late 2002. The Dyson's main selling point is that it doesn't lose suction over time. Ultimate Ears UE5c. Favorites of pros like Aerosmith and Jimmy Buffett, Ultimate Ears are custom-fitted to my ears. After I ordered a set, for $550, an audiologist was dispatched to my office to create impressions of each ear. A week later a small metal box arrived with what looked like really slick hearing aids, engraved with my initials on each bud, blue on the left and red on the right.

This article presents new digital cameras coming out this spring. With digital photography, doing that costs almost nothing, and today's cameras are easy to use and produce photos nice enough to satisfy almost anybody. Digital cameras have traditionally made you wait too long between the time you mash down the button and the time the camera snaps the picture, and then before you can take the next shot. The Sony's giant lens can swivel up and down, but it tends to feel top-heavy in your hands. Proud scions of their film forebears, these SLRs don't handle audio or video, and they have big batteries, bright optical viewfinders, and fast, sophisticated autofocus and exposure algorithms that you can override at the touch of a button. They all produce good pictures, but I found the Panasonic to be the best deal of the lot. It delivers the sharpest photos at point-and-shoot settings and has the simplest user interface of any digital camera I've ever tested. INSET: Three More Things You'll Need.

The article reviews new wireless technology products for home users. In the fast-growing state of wireless networking, Wi-Fi has won by a landslide. Wi-Fi has just about everything going for it: cheap chips, free spectrum, public hot spots sprouting up like espresso machines and magic that's migrating from geeky computers to familiar products like cameras and TVs. However, with wireless, as any cell phone user can tell you, stuff happens. And yet once you get a wireless home network set up, you'll wonder why you didn't do it sooner. After years of sharing files and Web access, the author decided to investigate what else he could do with his home Wi-Fi network. The answer: a lot! Printers: The winner in his personal Wi-Fi usefulness contest is the new $400 HP PSC2510 Photosmart multifunction printer. Audio and Video: In the just-does-music category, the $225 Sound Blaster Wireless Music from Creative Labs is the simplest, displaying nothing on the unit but an indicator showing whether it's connected to the network. On the computer side, Creative uses the same MediaSource server/organizer software as it does for its portables, so the Wireless Music can share a library and playlists with a Creative carry-around device.

Examines high-definition television and offers a buyer's guide. Advantages of a high-definition system, including improved images; Proliferation of high-definition equipment on the market; Mention of Marantz's VP-12S2 projector; What consumers need to know about buying a digital television; Overview of direct-view sets, rear-projection sets and front-projectors; Fixed-pixel systems; Information on LCD, plasma flat-panels and DLP.

The article evaluates wireless and mobile gadgets including the Kyocera Smartphone QCP6035 from Kyocera, the Palm VIIx organizer from Palm, and the AirCard 300 from Sierra Wireless.

Offers a guide to upgrading personal computer (PC) systems. Necessity of the PC for the Web experience; When the PC needs to be updated; Which operating system is best; The best way to buy; Types of PCs such as desktop and notebook; Specifications. INSETS: Buying Basics;When You Get it Home.