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The 100 Best Products of 2006

Powerful computers, handy services, tiny utilities, mammoth HDTVs--our editors' top picks include all these and a whole lot more. Plus: the worst products of all time.

Alan Stafford

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Best Products: 61-70

61. Kosmix.com
Search Engine (free) Kosmix categorizes search results into major content areas of health, travel, and politics--a valuable feature, though you'll obtain fewer results from Kosmix than you would from Google or Yahoo. Review

62. T-Mobile SDA
Cellular Phone ($300) This Windows Mobile-based handset supports cellular, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth wireless technologies (but you can't use it as a phone over Wi-Fi). Thanks to its impressive battery life, you can browse the Web with it all day long. Review | Latest Prices

63. Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe
Motherboard ($200) This motherboard packs every feature you could want, including nVidia SLI graphics support, RAID support, six SATA ports, and plenty of options for overclocking. Test Report | Latest Prices

Dell Ultrasharp 3007WFP (left) Samsung LN-S3251D (right)

Photograph: Marc Simon
64. Dell UltraSharp 3007WFP
30-Inch Wide-Screen LCD Monitor ($2200) Seeing this humongous, high-resolution LCD after spending hours in front of a 17- or 19-inch model is a bit like turning a corner and walking into a billboard. Review | Latest Prices

65. Meebo (alpha)
Instant Messaging (free) When you're away from your own PC, you can still connect. Use this utility (still in alpha) in an Internet caf\0xE9 to access AIM, GTalk, ICQ, Jabber, MSN, or Yahoo buddies by browser. Review

66. Corel Painter IX.5
Graphics Software ($375) Corel's painting program does a fine job of mimicking real paint and canvas, watercolor and paper, and charcoal and paper. Paint runs and bleeds just like the real stuff does. A recent upgrade introduces a rubber stamp and new photo painting capabilities. Web Site | Latest Prices

67. Samsung LN-S3251D
LCD TV ($1799) Among 32-inch television sets that we tested recently, the LN-S3251D won by a significant margin. It's very bright, so colors really pop from the screen, and it has a well-designed stand that swivels fluidly. It's one of the best televisions we've seen, regardless of type. Review | Latest Prices

Trillian68. Cerulean Studios Trillian 3.1
Instant Messaging Client (free) Using Trillian 3.1 means not having to decide which IM client to adopt, since Trillian works with nearly all of them. Its interface is beautiful, especially compared with AIM--hoo boy, that thing is ugly. You can set Trillian up to log your conversations so that when you forget something you said, you can look it up easily. You can also set up alerts for when people are online, and you can issue a command from your laptop that shuts down the program on your desktop. A new version, called Astra, should be released later this year. Review

Click for enlarged view.69. Rhapsody
Online Music (free to $10 per month) After experiencing a rocky relaunch, the new Rhapsody service looks good. Now you can access it without desktop software (though you may want to use the client, since it works as your streaming service and plays songs from your MP3 library). Web Site

70. In2M Mvelopes Personal 3
Online Budgeting ($8 per month with two-year plan) When you put Mvelopes on the case, you may be surprised to learn how much you spend on Diet Coke and Doritos (you aren't under any obligation to change your habits, of course, but it's still nice to know). Recent updates make Mvelopes easier to use than ever. Review | Web Site

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"The 100 Best Products of 2006" Comments

With HP wireless printers, you could have printed this from any room in the house. Live wirelessly. Print wirelessly.

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