The 100 Best Products of 2006
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
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
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
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
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