It’s a jungle out there when it comes to consumer electronics. The dizzying array of proliferating products gets kind of exhausting after a while, particularly if you’re not a gizmo-head. HD TVs, cell phones, MP3 players, PVRs, place-shifting devices, desktops, laptops, video cameras, digital cameras, gaming consoles…the list goes on and on, and it’s really hard to decide what to purchase and why.
For those of who need help figuring out all this stuff,Wired magazine has come out with a very cool guide called Wired Test which provides user-friendly reviews for 300+ products. And it’s just in time for the prime holiday shopping crunch.
Take the section on portable audio. The guide offers reviews of sixteen different MP3 players, from mini-players all the way to high-capacity units. In a bit of a surprise, the editors chose Toshiba’s Gigabeat as the best MP3 player to buy because it’s got tons more video capabilities (with built-in TiVo, Vongo, and Windows Media PC compatibility) plus does everything the iPod can do.
But there are also reviews (all gear was tested by Wired’s editors - “We brought them home, to the office, on our commute; we even took them to dinner,” the pub says in a note from the editors) of portable satellite radios, MP3 speakers, iPod accessories and web sites for buying music. This section is a one-stop shop, as are the others, which cover pretty much every category of consumer electronics most people buy. Check it out.
Cynthia Brumfield at 10:04 AM|Comments(0)
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