Our favorite electronic products

In the normal course of producing this magazine we cover the sort of electronic products that go into end products, not the end products themselves, so we don't often have the opportunity to talk about the end-user electronics many of us use and enjoy. With this being the annual Product of the Year issue, it seemed an appropriate topic for this month's Viewpoint. My current favorite has to be Creative Labs' Nomad Jukebox MP3 player. While Apple's iPod is generating a lot of recent attention, hard-drive-based players like the Nomad have been available for over a year, allowing users to store huge quantities of music on a single, convenient device. On my 20-Gbyte Nomad, for example, I'm able to store about 150 to 200 high-bit-rate-encoded CDs all on one CD player-sized device.

Previously, when traveling, weight and space considerations limited me to a pitifully few six or seven CDs along with a portable CD player. More than once I would later find that I wasn't in the mood for the CDs I had brought along. Thankfully, those days are gone! I asked other members of Electronic Products' staff for their thoughts on some of their favorite electronic products: Alix Paultre, Associate Editor . The first thing that comes to mind is the iCybie from Tiger Toys, a surprisingly sophisticated robot, the kind of product that reinforces the stereotype of gadget as frivolous toy. However, my favorite gadget is my Sony Vaio notebook.

The ultra-slim device is almost a part of me, allowing me to write, communicate, surf, and play anywhere. Notebook computers, once considered expensive toys, are now commonplace, demonstrating the impact on society a truly useful gadget makes, to the point where many people wouldn't even consider a notebook computer to be a gadget anymore. John Polihronakis, Production Editor : The innovative Playstation2 is known for its remarkable graphics and form of entertainment. The one under my Christmas tree is calling my name.

I'm anticipating getting my hands on its complex controller with such features as vibrating handles that add to the excitement of the variety of video games. Also featuring the ability to play DVDs, it will be a pleasure to view movies with extreme clarity. Joe Suda, Associate Editor : Surprisingly, my latest electronic product was chosen not for its electrical or electronic features, but for its mechanical aspect. As a one-time aspiring concert pianist, I recently decided that I wanted an electronic keyboard that could substitute for the traditional piano–something with features I wouldn't quickly outgrow in six months (the editor is speaking from personal experience here), yet would fit in with a condominium lifestyle (read: won't disturb the upstairs neighbors through judicious use of headphones).

“Test-driving” several contenders at a regional music store, the Yahama Motif-8 quickly demonstrated one of its main “best-of-breed” characteristics: after months of both potential and non-potential customers beating on the poor demo instrument, its weighted-action keyboard still felt like a quality grand piano. Gary Jensen, Associate Editor . Last year I traded in my 35-mm SLR and darkroom light for an Olympus digital camera and PhotoShop. I've been a wet chemical, silver-based, living-in-the-dark photographer since I was 12 and I will never take another picture with anything but a digital camera for the rest of my life.

Besides the instant gratification of seeing the shot right after I take it, I have the reputation-enhancer of deleting my mistakes right after making them–as far as family and friends know, every shot is a masterpiece. Frank Notarbartolo, Associate Art Director. My latest favorite products are O-gauge toy trains, which have come a long way from when I was a kid, featuring realistic operation I never dreamed of then. Today's trains are digitally controlled, with speed-sensitive steam-chuffing sounds synchronized with side-rod/piston movement, smoke billowing out of the smoke stack along with the sound of an authentic steam whistle, real startup/shutdown sounds, and steam boiler sounds and random fireman/brakeman chatter digitally recorded from the actual life-size train from which it was modeled, not to mention station arrival announcement and crowd sounds.

My favorite feature is speed control, which maintains set constant speed regardless of load or grade change. Thanks to the modern digital engineering at MTH-Railking Trains and “Intel inside,” toy trains have reached a new level of fun. My nine-year-old son will attest to that! Ralph Raiola, Associate Editor : Playing in a band that covers music from artists as varied as Marvin Gaye, Del Shannon, and the Beatles, I use the MM4 modeler from Line 6 to produce fairly accurate representations of some of the most sought-after analog effects units and circuitry ever created. It would be nice to own the original–now vintage–equipment, but it can sell for hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

It's also very cumbersome to lug a bunch of heavy pedals to gigs, not to mention coordinating them during a show. With the MM4, when I step on one button, my guitar sounds like a Hammond B-3 organ; another preset invokes a pulsating Fender Rhodes piano. Do you have a favorite electronic product/gadget that you would like to share with us? If so, please feel free to email me. R. Pell, Editor-in-Chief