Wired - 2006 Gear and Gadgets Guide

Chuck — Sat, 16 Dec 2006 23:51:00 -0500

Wired magazine recently released their 2006 gear and gadgets guide with the reviews available online for the first time. I’m a big fan of Wired and always enjoy reading the gear guide issue. The last paragraph of the editor’s note is quite amusing.

“Sure, there are other gear mags, but many of them don’t spend any hands-on time with the products they write about. In our world, that’s a catalog, not a guide. At Wired Test, we used everything we rated. If we say a product sucks, it does. And if we say it’s amazing, it is.”

This year, the gear guide has over 300 product reviews across 11 categories. The ”Best of Test” in each category are:

Mobile Phones - Motorola Q
Digicams - Pentax K100D
Videocams - Canon HV10
Televisions - Sony TAV-L1
Video Gear - Tivo Series3
Portable Audio - Toshiba Gibabeat MES30VW
Home Audio - Tivoli Audio Music System
Household - Black & Decker Infrawave Speed Oven
Laptops - Apple Macbook Pro 15-Inch
Gaming Gear - Nintendo Wii
Automotive - Lexus GS 450H

I own the Motorola Q and it’s perfect for my needs. I’ve been longing for the Tivo Series3, but I’m still waiting for the price to drop. There isn’t enough HD programming currently (I’m a Comcast customer) to justify the $700+ price tag.

The gadget on the Best of Test list that intrigues me the most is the Black & Decker Infrawave Speed Oven. I actually own another infrared oven, the Flavorwave Oven. And believe it or not, it works pretty well. I’ve roasted chickens, made prime rib and bbq ribs in the Flavorwave, and it produces good food in half the time of a conventional oven. I still prefer using a normal oven but if you are time constrained, an infrared oven will definitely save some time.

Getting back to the B&D Infrawave Speed Oven, I like the toaster oven form factor, which makes it more versatile than a Flavorwave Oven. The idea of heating up leftovers in half the time of a normal oven without the microwave soggy food issue sounds very appealing. I think I’m going to retire my toaster and replace it with a Black & Decker Infrawave Speed Oven. Sorry toaster, but I don’t eat enough toast to warrant your counter space.

Sprenzy Shopping Blog: Tag infrawave

Wired - 2006 Gear and Gadgets Guide