Every once in a while, people who claim to know me, are wondering why I still keep using that weird blobby red USB-stick - since I've got some 10 high-capacity DAPs at hand, it seems strange to use a USB1.1 device. Yes, there are a few obvious things that contradict my usage of the Han-320. First of all, it's pretty old by now - it was first released almost 1.5 year ago and technique has definitely caught up with it.

The 55-inch Hitachi 55HDX62 UltraVision CineForm Director's Series Plasma HDTV ($6,999.99 list) offers a stylish design and plenty of quality touches, but this premium television failed to deliver a premium picture. The 55HDX62 allowed common image artifacts to taint standard-definition video, and its performance as a high-definition plasma display was comparable with that of a good panel from a year and a half ago. Hitachi televisions are among the best in the world, and the 55HDX62's showing suggests a modernized successor is overdue.

Samsung's latest flash-based MP3 player, with the characteristically cryptic name of YP-K5, has a very interesting twist to it: The back of the device slides open to reveal a surprisingly good-sounding speaker. Aside from that, the K5 has an FM tuner, a 1.7-inch color OLED screen capable displaying photos, touch-sensitive controls, and 2GB or 4GB of flash memory. While some may see this player as gimmicky and bulkier than necessary, I actually like having the speaker option. It's also got excellent battery life and the earbuds are unlike any I've seen yet.