Last week, when I was talking about the Consumer Electronics Show, I mentioned a handful of cool products I found. This week I present a few more nifty ways for you to spend your money.

Duck, It's Another MP3 Player

If you're interested in MP3 players, then you would have loved CES: They were everywhere. I have to admit that I'm not jazzed by MP3 players. Mine's ancient, a Diamond Rio--PMP 300, if you must know--that's got to be 5 years old. It holds just enough music for my 30-minute workout at the gym. (Stop laughing. The Scotch tape holding the battery cover is working just fine, as is the parallel port pass-through connection.) OTOH, PC World's Tom Mainelli, a much younger guy who knows how to differentiate among the millions of available MP3 players and features, did a roundup of the cooler ones in "CES Wrap-up: Less Is More With Next-Gen MP3 Players."

I'm not through with MP3 players: In "Creative Takes Aim at Apple's IPod," Jim Dalrymple talks about the notorious Apple IPod killer, Creative's 1GB Zen Micro. And if you're looking to buy an MP3 player (and no, my Diamond Rio is not for sale), check out "How to Buy an MP3 Player."

Dig This: Imagine you're sitting at a restaurant and the guy next to you is blabbing away on his cell phone. He's probably shouting. If you have the money (about $325) and the chutzpah, you can stop him in his tracks. All you need to do is turn on the Cell Phone Jammer. If the company would produce something to neutralize boom boxes and the throbbingly loud music from cars, I'd be the first in line to buy one. [Thanks to Don W.]

Dig This, Too: The one thing I didn't see at CES, and I'm sorry I missed it, is this must-have gadget for anyone renting DVDs. It's compatible with NetFlix and Blockbuster rentals, and you can use it with your private collection of DVDs. (Sure, you groaned--but I bet you had a chuckle.)

Okay, Show Me More Cool Stuff

When I first looked at Logitech's Harmony remote control, I broke into a cold sweat. The last time I'd tried using a universal remote, I ended up spending half the afternoon beaming infrared signals from older remotes to the new one.

But Logitech's Harmony 676 surprised me: Setting it up took about 30 painless minutes. What makes it easy is that you connect the remote to your computer via USB and do all the configuring on Logitech's Web site. I grabbed the model numbers of all the components in my living room--TV, DVD player, stereo, VCR, and DirecTiVo--and input the numbers. Then a quick transfer to the Harmony remote and I was in business. There are details about an updated model in "Logitech Updates Universal Remote," a story written at CES.

I have two more CES articles to tell you about.

First, skim through "CES 2005: Photos From the Second 24 Hours" for images of Archos' hot Pocket Media Assistant PMA 430, a portable audio/video player; Nikon's Digital SLR DX2, which can wirelessly beam photos; and, of course, more MP3 players.

Then scan "CES 2005: Show-Stopping Photos From Day 3." On the third day, PC World reporters whipped out their freshly charged digital cameras and snapped off shots of a waterproof MP3 player, lots of gadgets that let you listen to satellite radio, and at least two speaker systems designed for IPods.

What the reporters missed was Zvox's really good-sounding audio system. The Zvox 315 High Performance One-Box Audio Speaker is a black (or silver) box about 17 inches high, 14 inches deep, and about 5 inches high. For what looks like a box sitting on top of my TV, the sound was surprisingly good--clear and bright, with plenty of bass.

Honestly, the $200 system isn't a substitute for the much-more-expensive Cambridge 5.1 speakers I'm using, but it's certainly a hundred times better than what I hear from my TV's speakers. What's also great is the setup: Connecting the two wires took exactly five minutes, then I spent other five adjusting the subwoofer and the volume. You can use the Zvox 315 with anything with audio outputs--your PC, IPod, or MP3 player--because the speaker has a built-in amplifier.

Dig This: Take some time and play Road Blocks. It's a deceptively simple-looking game, and at the start it is indeed easy. But as you move up the levels, you'll discover how challenging the game is. Use your keyboard's arrow keys and one hint: Think backwards.

Steve Bass writes the "Hassle-Free PC" column in PC World's print edition and is the author of PC Annoyances: How to Fix the Most Annoying Things About Your Personal Computer, available from O'Reilly. Watch this spot for details on his "Updated and Revised" edition due out in late March. Sign up to have Steve Bass's Tips and Tweaks newsletter e-mailed to you each week. Comments or questions? Send Steve e-mail.