If you just want a PC for surfing the web, watching videos and writing then this budget offering is a good option. The specs are fairly basic with a 1.6GHz Intel Atom Processor 230, 1GB of RAM and a 160GB hard drive. It also has a SuperMulti DVD burner which will write to DVD-R or DVD-RW discs. Connectivity is good with a 6-in-1 memory card reader, four USB ports and a VGA out. There’s also an Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 with 64MB dedicated graphics, 2 network ports, integrated sound and support for up to six speakers.

It comes with Windows XP installed as well as two months free Norton Internet Security and offers easy set up out of the box. It also ships with a keyboard and an optical mouse. It is a fairly compact model which is handy if space is at a premium and all in all it offers good value for the sub $300 price tag.

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This is Creative Labs release in the increasingly popular pocket video camcorder category. It is slim, measuring 6.9 x 7.5 x 1.4 inches and weighing just 2 pounds. The built in USB plug, which is a standard feature on pocket camcorders allows you to transfer files and also recharge the machine. It has one touch recording for up to 2 hours of video and it also features a 2x zoom. You can remove the rechargeable battery so a spare is an option if you are out and about and can’t recharge it.

The screen is a 2 inch color display with anti-glare and it captures reasonable quality footage. You can also upload videos to YouTube with ease, in fact the camcorder is built with ease of use in mind. Although the footage quality may not be as good as some of the competitors the price is definitely attractive and you can order one of these for well under $100.

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Looking for an MP3 player but on a tight budget? You can pick up one of these for under $50 so it could be worth considering. It comes with 4GB of Flash memory and features a full color 2 inch TFT LCD screen displaying at a resolution of 176 x 220. It has a touchpad control, multi-language support and you can hook it up to your PC via USB. It also has a built in FM tuner and a 3.5mm stereo plug so you can use it with other audio devices.

It is a nice slim design, measuring 1 x 1.6 x 3.7 inches and it weighs 8.8 ounces. Format support is good with MP3, WMA and OGG for audio, WMV, FLV and AVI for video and you can also load pictures and text documents onto it. A single charge should last 8 hours and you’ll struggle to find more for your money.

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This 19 inch LCD HDTV is very reasonably priced at around $200. It would be suitable for a bedroom or office and has a decent range of features for the price tag. It has a resolution of 1440 x 900 with 1000:1 contrast ratio, 420 cd/m2 brightness, an 8 millisecond response time and a viewing angle of 170 degrees. There is also a built in ATSC/NTSC tuner and a number of connectivity options including two HDMI ports, a component port, an S-Video port and a PC input.

There’s also a built in stereo speaker system with two 10 watt speakers but user reviews seem to highlight the sound as the weak link. The picture is reasonable quality and the set comes with a remote control. It also has V Chip with downloadable rating. While it certainly isn’t the best TV you can get your hands on it is a good option in this price bracket.

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This is billed as the world’s most advanced keyboard and it certainly looks the part. It is ultra-slim and laser cut from a single piece of Plexiglass set in a brushed aluminium frame and it comes with a sleek stand which also recharges the battery. The Bluetooth wireless technology means you can use it up to 30 feet away and there’s a USB port option too. The PerfectStroke key system is a precision micro-scissors mechanism which is supposed to distribute force evenly for natural and fluid keystrokes.

The keyboard also has backlit hidden hot keys which light up at your touch and a touch sensitive volume slider for precise control. There’s also a TouchDisc which is like a round touch pad for easy scrolling. The advanced Li-ion batteries can be fully charged in just two hours and a full charge should last for up to two months usage. It will work with Windows XP or Vista and while there is no denying it looks great it will set you back just under $150.

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This is a really popular GPS device from Garmin which is absolutely packed with features. Not only can it give the exact co-ordinates for where you are but it also marks the position where it was last removed from the mount so it can help you find your car too. It has a 4.3 inch color touch screen with anti-glare and full NAVTEQ maps for the US, Canada and Puerto Rico with almost six million points of interest.

The Bluetooth functionality along with the built in microphone and speaker allows you to use it for hands free mobile phone calls and there’s an FM traffic receiver for alerts. You can customise the device with a choice of icons and as well as voice prompts for navigation you can also use it as an MP3 player. There are several other handy applications like a JPEG picture viewer, world travel clock, currency converter, measurement converter and a calculator. You can order one for under $250 on Amazon right now.

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This is a smartphone which runs on Google’s open source Android operating system for easy access to Google applications like Google Maps, Gmail and search as well as messaging tools. It runs on T-Mobile’s 3G network and features full touch screen functionality, sliding open to reveal a QWERTY keyboard. The touch screen is 3.2 inches full color and there’s Wi-Fi connectivity for surfing the web. This phone is designed with internet use in mind and you’ll need a Google account to get the best out of it.

Additional features include Bluetooth functionality, a 3 megapixel camera with auto-focus (but no video recording), an MP3 player which supports multiple formats and voice recognition. It has 192MB of internal memory and you can expand it up to 8GB with a MicroSD card, in fact it ships with a 1GB MicroSD card as standard. You can hook it up to your PC with a USB connection and a full charge will give you 5 hours of talk time.

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This is Kodak’s effort to provide a small high def camcorder to compete with the Flip range and it compares well in terms of price and features. You can record at 720p up to 60 frames per second with a 16:9 aspect ratio. There’s a 2.4 inch color LCD screen and a flip out USB arm for connecting to your PC. It takes SD and SDHC memory cards so you can expand up to 32GB if you want.

It comes with video software for editing your videos and easy uploading to the internet. It comes with two AA rechargeable batteries and a charger, wrist strap and pouch. It is slightly larger and heavier than the Flip Video MinoHD Camcorder for example but not by much and as well as sporting a much larger screen it is also cheaper at well under $200, although you’ll need to buy a memory card separately because the internal memory is just 128MB.

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This home server is designed for centralizing and backing up your content for a network of home PCs. Powered by the Windows Home Server platform it is easy to set up by connecting to your router and then performing a quick software install on each machine. This will automatically back up your content and make file sharing much easier on your home network and it supports PCs or Macs with Windows XP or Vista, Mac OS X or Linux.

It comes with 750GB of hard drive space as standard but there are four hard drive bays for expansion and four USB ports for external additions. It features an Intel Celeron 2GHz 64-bit processor, 2GB of RAM and 10 Ethernet connections. It also supports wireless connections via a wireless router. The HP Media Collector is great for organizing your files and it is designed to be cool and quiet with a built in sleep mode that only consumes 1W of power. You can order one of these for $550.

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Flip have been focusing on producing small and convenient camcorders for a while now and this model is proving really popular. It will record up to 60 minutes of high definition video (720p) at a resolution of 1280 x 720, 30 frames per second in 16:9 widescreen. There’s 4GB of built in memory with no requirement for memory cards. The focus here is firmly on ease of use, the device connects to your PC via a fold out USB arm and it can also hook up to your HDTV for playback if you prefer.

You won’t find a device smaller than this which can record at this quality, it weighs just 3.3 ounces and it will comfortably fit into your pocket. It also has 2 x digital zoom and a 1.5 inch color screen for reviewing your footage. The FlipShare software makes it easy to upload video clips or email them and the device will charge while plugged into your PC via the USB connection. It costs just over $200.

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