With a closed-back, over-the-ear design, and a durable design that has some portability, the Sennheiser HD280 cans are the king of the budget earphone mountain. Theyre not the cheapest, or the smallest, or the best looking, but they strike the best balance between clarity and resolution and the ability to handle multiple genres of music old and new. (December, 2011)

In our tests, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS4 took the clearest, most vivid outdoor and underwater stills. It generally found very nice balance in light levels its competitors would blow out, and it really makes colors pop (especially greens). Panoramic shots are excellent, at up to 360 degrees. Its generally able to attain focus ster than the others, and its the stest and cleanest at nighttime shooting with a flash. And it feels rock solid. If you hit someone on this head with this thing, it would hurt. A lot. More (July 2012)

Were adding our roundup of well-priced, excellently-performing lenses to the list, for those of you looking for an upgrade. (Dec 6, 2010)

No surprise here: OXO dominates kitchenware, and now itll own your freezer. The OXO Good Grips tray doesnt have any ncy iron lever or pinch tabsjust an extremely sturdy plastic body and a cover that slides with ease. Really, do you want to have to think about the ice cube tray more than you think about the drink the ice is going into? OXO gets that, and our Bestmodo nod in turn. More (July 2012)

The Bodum Bistro produced a slightly better cup of coffee than the competition every time and is by r the more personable machine. But it costs $250. Is the coffee $100 better than the Bonavita, when $150 is already a lot to ask people to pay for a coffee machine? Maybe, for something youll use every day, if youre thinking about spending that much in the first place (like on a Keurig machine).

If I wanted a n to help keep my office or any other full-sized room cool this summer, wed grab the $90 Vornado 660. As opposed to other dedicated floor ns, which come in either skinny tower form ctors or ultra-wide industrial ones, the Vornado 660 has both a design and footprint that makes it suitable for use on a floor or a desk. More importantly, though, this n moves some serious air.

The LG BD570s key virtue is file compatiblity-you can use this thing pretty much like an HD media player, a full-fledged Apple TV killer. The PS3 still holds its own, though. (May 13, 2010)

The PMX-685i Sports series from Sennheiser/Adidas simply give you the most boom for your buck, and by boom we mean bass. These pack some of the heaviest bass weve heard on earbuds, and theyre loud, too.

If you can afford one, hotshot, an AT&T LTE MiFi will change your life a little bit: you have Internet virtually everywhere you go, a wireless high-speed network in your bag. More

The measure of a computer isnt just a mess of specs and benchmarks: its the confluence of performance, design, usability, and the machines fit to its particular task and pricepoint. These are the computers we think bring the total package.

Heres the bottom line: The Vizio SB4021M is the best tool we found to attain good, instant home theater sound. And, at $220, its relatively cheap. For the price, youll be hard-pressed to find a better overall experience. More

The Logitech Performance Mouse MX takes everything thats great about the Marathon Mouse-the same wonderful scroll wheel, the same smooth glide, similar (but better) thumb-buttons-and improves upon it. The laser it uses to track its position will even work on clear glass, which is crazy. Its also rechargeable. (December, 2011)

Spotifys main draw over the competitioneven more than the free accessis the ability to meld your local library with Spotifys streaming catalog. Wed note, though, that Rdio still has the superior mobile app.

The Octiv 650 nails a near perfect harmony between sound quality, easiness, and price with a few unique features to boot. If speaker docks are unremarkable almost by definition, the Octiv 650 is a shooting star.

A zillion new smartphones are going to be announced soon at Mobile World Congress, each promising camera advancements that may or may not live up to the hype. But with whats on the market right now, Nokias Lumia 920 has the best smartphone camera you could hope to find. One major plus is the optical image stabilization, which helps the camera achieve a passable photo even under the toughest circumstances. Even using only the automatic setting, it still gets an accurate exposure and decent image in all shooting conditions. You cant beat it.More

The best combination of top notch performance and moderately reasonable price youll find right now is probably the Radeon HD 6970.

Its SugarSyncwith a few caveats. SugarSync was the best confluence of price, ease of use, and features, but if youre looking for pure, sheer simplicity for sharing your sharables with the lovable luddites in your life, Dropbox might still be the better option. And if youre a total cheapass, maybe take a look at Google, or Microsofts SkyDrive.

The Canon 5D Mark IIIs autofocus system alone is enough to justify choosing the Mark III over the Mark II. But its all of the refinements-the sum of the Mark IIIs parts-that make it the best camera you can spend $3,500 on. (March 2012)

Some of the coolest stuff you own doesnt fit into a broad, big box category. Here are some odds and ends that we love.

Were finally recommending an official pick for cans, Bowers & Wilkins P5sand theyre a doozy. As our Joe Brown says, they are, in a word, DOPE. (March 22, 2010)

Sennheiser PMX 680i Sports

The Pioneer VSX-1020-K is controlled by your iPhone, and anyone whos slagged through their ir share of ty AV receiver menus-whether on screen or on the receiver itself-knows what a boon it is to have a nice GUI in the palm of your hand. (Mar 4, 2010)

The 2012 MacBook Airs are a supercharged update on last years lovely SSD Bestmodo. They pack Intel Ivy Bridge processors at up to 2.0GHz, up to 8GB of RAM, and USB 3.0 for ster-than-ever connectivity. More (July 2012)

Weve added the dreamy Sonos system to our end of year listread Brians lifechanger-status writeup and youll understand why. (Nov 26, 2010)

What gadget should I get? is a timeless question. To answer it, heres our current leaderboard of vorite gadgets, including smartphones, laptops and camerasupdated with the latest and greatest.

In the absence of the side-by-side benchmark comparisons when you find when shopping for computers, home theater gear can be particularly hard to get a handle on. Giz has your back.

The new Xbox 360 is smaller, has more ports, runs quieter and costs the same: $300. It has a 250GB hard drive and built-in 802.11n Wi-Fi. (Jun 14, 2010)

You already knew this, but here it is in writing: Verizons LTE network is the countrys stest 4G service. LTE is just better. AT&Ts nascent LTE service is plenty st, but Verizons MiFis, dongles and hotspots will serve you very, very well.

The Microsoft Suce was the biggest new tech of 2012. Its first iterationSuce RT, a confusingly named and marketed tablet-with-a-keyboardbombed. Pretty hard. So why believe in the full-powered Suce Pro? Simple. Its a braver and more divergent take on the laptop-tablet convergence than anyone else has risked so r. And thats certainly not to say its entirely successfulbut as r as current Windows tablets, its the best youre gonna get.More

The Jawbone Era already has downloadable voices (You have...two hours... of talk time remaining) and runs lightweight apps. It doesnt take a lot of imagination to envision future apps that utilize the motion sensitivity. (Jan 20, 2011)

Even with the Phillipe Starck flashiness (which can singlehandedly ruin things sometimes), the Parrot Ziks are the best looking headphones in this battlemodo. Plus, theres the capacitive touch panel on the right ear, which allows you to control playback with gestures. The NFC capabilities allow you to automagically pair with compatible Android phones, and a sensor stops playback whenever you take your headphones off. All of this adds up to an unrivaled user experience. More

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The Core i5-2500K hits the critical bang/buck sweet spot for smooth gaming. Otherwise, pick your budget and check this list. (Feb 28, 2011)

The Apple AirPort Express (2012) is pretty, st, wonderfully , and appropriately capable. Unless youre a mega-power networker with a need for intricate customization, or are put off by the less sophisticated Windows version of AirPort Utility, the 2012 Express is the ultimate buy it and never think about it again objectand for a router, thats the ultimate praise. More (July 2012)

Heres the thing about the Nikon D4: There basically nothing it cant do. Need to take it into ultra-dark conditions and walk away with usable shots? Youre covered. Need speedy continuous shutter performance to capture quick journalistic photography at a protest? Its got you covered. And now that Nikons top-end cameras have caught up with Canons video capabilities, its hard to argue youd want any other camera (April 2012).

The Braven 625s is cheaper than the Jambox for basically identical sound quality, with better connectivity and battery life. Braven makes a less expensive, bare aluminum model 600-go for the 625s, but the rugged casing is worth it. More (July 2012)

The Nikon D300s and Canon 7D deliver for the money, but the 7D delivers more, since its packed full of newer technology and for the people who want it, the video component is truly killer (Nov 10, 2009)

When the Sony RX100 was announced, its one-inch sensor and f/1.8 aperture seemed too good to be true. Near-DSLR power packed into a body the size of a compact point-and-shoot camera? Well, it worked.More

Micro Four-Thirds cameras have long promised to bridge the quality of DSLRs with the size of point and shoots. The Olympus PEN EP-3 is the fullest realization of the Micro Four-Thirds dream so r.

Pretty much the diametric opposite of a budget laptop, the Alienware M17x (2011) is a monster. Its massive benchmarks are made more ridiculous by five hours of battery life-an eternity for gaming laptops. (February 21, 2011)

More than two years ago, the Canon T2i set the standard for beginner DSLRs. The camera proved, for $1000, that you could get beautiful photos and slick HD video. With an auto-focus video and an incredible touchscreen, the T4i is the most refined version of this camera yet.More

for $600, the Sony NEX-F3, like the NEX-C3, is a great buy. Its a major improvement for people who would otherwise buy top point-and-shoot cameras, like the Canon S100. It provides the image quality, flexibility, and some of the features of a DSLR.

(October 2012)

The Canon 320 HS is a little more complicated to configure,new york escort but once it got going, the Wi-Fi features were ster and the design was a notch better than the Samsung WB150f, its main competitor.

Brent didnt think he was going to like a jacket called the Mountain Hardware Downtown Coat. It sounded pretentious and he didnt think it would hack it. Turned out to be love at first wearing. Its a thigh-length coat that provides ample booty-warmth. It has the Best. Pockets. Ever. Overall, this is definitely your winner. Grab-n-go winter goodness.

If your computer has a Thunderbolt drive, odds are its been pretty neglected. Some external storage options are good, but no one choice is a no-brainer. Until now, that is. LaCies vivid orange drive is the best way to back up files, supest. More

Despite its ugly new intece, the Apple TV is still the best of its breed. But thanks to its newfound stellar video quality, it now straddles two categories-sure, its the best streaming box, but it might actually give you a reason to avoid (or ditch) a Blu-ray player. (March 2012)

(September 2012)

It feels like the tablet market has been bursting at the seams, but for now the top choices are still relatively straightforward. Expect this list to get a lot more crowded in the coming months.

Theres a lot to love about the Audio Technica ATH-ANC9s. The plush leather pads on the earcups are so soft that they dont put much of a pinch on your head. On the inside, the cans have a great, slightly bottom heavy sound that doesnt blow up the clarity or detail on other frequencies. As for the sound of silence, the ANC 9s have three different levels of noise-canceling like the Sonys do-the only difference is that it, in this case, it really works. More

The Lenovo X1 Carbon does the impossible. It makes a business laptop-a business anything-cool. Cool because it looks good, sure, but also because it works the way its supposed to. More

If you know you want an Android tablet, the Transformer Prime is the one to buy. Its the best constructed, stest Android tablet out there. The only people who should hesitate are those who dont want to be confined to Wi-Fi. (January, 2012)

A great deal from Newegg.com, the Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E420 is a less-ncy-looking version of the very nice ThinkPad Edge E420s. Its got a 2.3-GHz Intel Core i3-2350M processor, a 14-inch 1366 x 768 anti-glare display, 4GB of RAM, and a 320GB hard drive.

If you want to try the minimalist running experience then you should buy the Merrell Barefoot Road Glove. They are absolutely the most comfortable minimalist shoes weve ever run in. At $110 bucks, they arent the cheapest, but they are simply terrific shoes.

The Panasonic VT50 delivers unrivaled picture quality. Incredibly deep blacks stand up in bright rooms. The 96mHz refresh rate handles 1080P with minimal st-motion blur and enough clarity to count the whiskers on Baumgarners ce in the post-game interview. More (July 2012)

We loved Samsungs 830 Series SSDs, and we love its new 840 Series even more. In the final tally, the Samsung 840 Pro took top honors in seven out of nine benchmarks, so it looks like itll be taking its predecessors place on our Best of the Best list. Samsung also claims this drive is energy-efficient and robust, which is great news, but in the end, just icing on a very, very st cake. (October 2012)

Still no iPhone for T-Mobile T_T, so the speedy, sturdy Google Nexus 4 is the champion of T-Mobile-land.

The Silverstone Temjin TJ11 is 9 inches wide by 25 inches high and 25 inches deep. Its massive and expensive and absolutely a preposterous thing to own. But it has amazing build quality, thermal control and moddability.

The B.O.B. Ironman Jogging Stroller rolls like Curtis Mayfield circa 1972. It flies. Its ultralight frame and spin-happy hubs make for a delightfully easy ride.

This is what we were looking for: The NiteRider Lumina 500 is a super-bright, incredibly even pool of light. Its so perfectly focused that you can see even small objects when traveling at high speeds More

Are You A Nerd? And Other Questions We Asked Our Fellow Nerds At The Sloan Sports Analytics Conference

Yes, its action cam season. Sonys entered the market, Contour has updated its line with the Contour+2. But what about the latest from the brand thats come to define the category-the Kleenex of action cams, if you will?

Weve been putting GoPros highly anticipated Hero 3 Black edition (December 2012... More

We know you dont want to blow that paycheck on merely the shiniest, or the the simply newest. So weve considered a balance of price, features, reliabilityand above all, qualityto make sure youre choosing a gadget that isnt just great, but one thats sensible. Weve updated our roster of Giz-approved gadgets, and below, youll find these picks.

If you have your heart set on buying a keyboard/case hybrid for your iPad, then we suggest buying the Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover. Its the best of all the lousy keyboard cases out there. And its inarguably better than trying to type with Apples crappy on-screen keyboard.

Despite its t locking mechanism, the OnGuard Pitbull STD is a breeze to use. The lock clicks into a sturdy, secure mounting bracket that doesnt bounce around while youre riding. Hand tolls like hacksaws and bolt cutters wont do any damage to the lock, Gadgets, and even when we attacked it with an angle grinder it held up for a full two minutes. More (July 2012)

Some aspects of the TS-459 Pro II hardware are comparable to the competition, and in other respects, its just head and shoulders above the rest. A 1.8GHz dual-core Atom powers the TS-459 Pro II, and 1GB of DDR3 RAM comes preinstalled, The Best Gadgetsthough you can upgrade to 3GB yourself. QNAP also offers more connectivity options than most mortals will know what to do with, and its strong on the software side, too. (September, 2011)

The home theater doesnt have to be a patchwork afir of gear you put together one layaway at a time. The LG LHB976 all-in-one does a downright enviable job, with solid speakers, a great user intece and an iPod dock.

The well-loved Vizios XVT3SV series is a cheapasss dream come true. Its matte screen especially drew high praise. (Dec 9, 2010)

The new top MacBook Pros pack 2800 x 1800 resolution retina displays while weighing just 4.5 pounds. Theyre powered by a minimum quad-core, 2.3GHz Ivy Bridge processors, not to mention Nvidias Kepler GeForce GT graphics for gaming. SSD finally comes standard to the MBP line with 256GB flash storage thats upgradable to up to 768GB. Get your wallets ready because this things a powerhouse. More (July 2012)

Apples iPhone 5 is the champion. (October, 2012) If you want to take a crack at Windows Phone (and we recommend that you do!) the HTC 8x is the way to go (December 2012). Want an Android? Then the Google Nexus 4 is for you. (December 2012)

Gizmodo Editor Emeritus Brian Lam said the Joos Orange is the best solar charger [hed] ever tested. Its rugged, works in weak light and can charge an iPhone four times with just one full charge. (Jul 12, 2010)

If you want a taste of SSD speeds but cant afford one, or simply need more storage and dont feel like Frankenstein-ing your rig with a combo SSD/HDD setup, the Seagate Momentus XT Hybrid Drive isnt a bad deal at all for $180. An SSD for with a third of the storage costs twice as much. But definitely get the 750GB model-not only do you get more storage, you get double the flash cache and intece speed.

A good bag is just about as important as the gadgets it carries. Your electronics are fragile and expensive to replace, and your back is fragile and impossible to replace. Ogios Renegade RSS bag is damn near as good as it gets at protecting both. With a crush-proof laptop pocket and more cushioned nooks and crannies than you could possibly have gadgets, this is the onlyand maybe lastbag youll need.More

Best Sprint Phone

If you dont have a tablet and you want to buy a tablet, buy the 2012 iPad. Its excellent. But unless you are a comic book natic or do a ton of reading on your previous-gen Pad, there is no reason to upgrade from an iPad 2. Its simply not that much of a difference. Yes, its better brighter ster stronger, but the hard truth of this new iPad is, its not very new. (March 2012)

The Canon EOS 5D Mark III inherited the venerable legacy of the Mark II by improving its already excellent HD video and its low-light performance. But what really blows this cameraand the photographerto stratospheric feelings of image-taking euphoria is Canons new 61-point auto-focus system that makes getting sharp pictures in harried situation a breeze.

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The Seville UltraSlimline EHF 12-Inch Personal Tower Fan has three speed settings. The highest cranks out 8 MPH-probably too loud for an office-but the lowest still delivers 4 MPH of breeze at a whisper. Its cheap-$25. Its modest-matte black plastic with subtle grilles. Youve probably used a tower n much like this one at some other point in your warm life, so youll be right at home... More

Best Spensive dSLR

Audioengines been proving that you dont need to spend thousands of dollars on a good set of speakers for a while now. Their A5 speakers last year were our vorites, and the A5+s are a direct upgrade. They have an improved cabinet design, better thermal management, a remote control, and a bunch of other nice improvements.

The great megapixel race is over. But now what the hell are you supposed to do? These are the best cameras of the post-megapixel world.

In terms of speed and accuracy, Google Voice Actions was ahead of Siri in almost all of our tests. Both have strengths and weaknesses, and both are handy convenience features. Siri has a little more colloquial chops and is more fun, but Voice Search is ultimately a ster, more efficient tool.

Its the iPhone 5 on Verizon as well, but if youre going to go with anything else, make sure its the new HTC Droid DNA. Its been a while since Verizon had a flagship HTC phone, and this one, we gotta say, was worth the wait.

Every detail has been attended to on the Sennheiser PX 100-IIs. The headphones fold into a slim compact package. Their build is sturdy. Though the earphones are only lightly foamed, theyre not the least bit irritating. The PX 100-IIs deliver lovely, textured bass of the kind youd expect from much more expensive headphones. But whats really impressive is that the PX 100-II sound full-bodied without losing a bit of detail from the music.

The Google Nexus 7 tablet is small, st, smooth, portable, and inexpensive. At $200 there is pretty much no reason to buy a Kindle Fire at all. More (July 2012)

A few years ago we had the pleasure of reviewing a pair of odd, conical, ceramic speakers by California-based designer Joey Roth. They were spectacular. Now Roth has built out the system with a beautiful ceramic subwoofer designed specifically for use with his speakers, but theoretically, they could work with any audio system. Its beautiful to look at, but more than anything, we cant get over how lovely this thing sounds. Unfortunately, ctors like fragility and cost mean theyre not for everyone.

We recommend the iPhone 5 for Sprint, too, but the LG Optimus G is a great alternative for Android ns. It absolutely screams. (December 2012)

The Kindle Paperwhite is a pivotal step forward for the technology of ereaders. It makes previous generations feel like a pulpy back held up next to an ornately illustrated tome. More

We can geek out all we want, but the best way to choose is a phone is not just by the hardware or the OS, but the phone and the carrier. Heres the smartphone to pick on each... for now.

The Zebralight H502 may look like the runt of the litter-smaller and lighter without the overbearing luminescence of the others-but this actually works to its advantage. Barely three inches long and 2.0 ounces, the H502 slips into a pocket or purse without notice. And thanks to its forward-cing optics, the H502 can also easily be worn on a belt, shirt collar, or headband as well. More

The Microsoft Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard 6000 hit the sweet spot. First off, its compatible with everything you can throw at it: OSX, Windows, Android devices, iOS devices, they all pair easily and youre good to go. They keys have great click to them. Theyre slightly stiffer than the Logitechs, but theyre not at all hard to press. Theres a very slight curve to the keyboard, it gently ergonomic without alienating people who are used to a straight tray. (December, 2011)

Most AirPlay speakers have iled at their central purpose. Life is not made easier. Your liberation from wires comes with a monstrous configuration headache. But not with Pioneers portable XW-SMA3. It finally delivers high-quality wireless audio in an easy, awesome package. You heard right! More