The Best Toys for the Big Game

Feb. 4, 2006 — -- The big game is a big opportunity to ramp up your home theatre and get a few gizmos that will make your Super Bowl party truly super. According to the National Retail Federation, consumers will buy an estimated 1.7 million new TV sets in the weeks leading up to the big game. Another survey from the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association puts total Super Bowl spending at 5.3 billion dollars. Whether your budget is teeny-weeny or XL, here are some gadgets and high-tech devices to spruce up Super Bowl Sunday.

Don't miss a second of the game (even when you are in the John).
Sony has released 2 wireless LCD TVs in a 12.1 inch and 7 inch size. Using an 802.11, or Wi-Fi network, you can roam around your home watching TV. For the big game, I'd station this TV in either the kitchen or the bathroom (but wash your hands if you move between the two).For $800 this TV does a lot more than just allow you to watch wirelessly in your own home. It does something called location shifting- basically you connect the base station to your TV source at home and you can connect the Location Free unit to the Internet anywhere in the world to access and watch the media on your home system.
Get the full tech details from www.sonystyle.com

Surround Sound without the hassle of wiring the back speakers.
Logitech has taken the biggest hassle of surround sound and made it simple: you don't have to run wires from your TV to the rear-channel speakers in the back of your living room. The front three speakers for this 5:1 surround sound system are traditionally wired through the system's powerful subwoofer. But the back two need only to plug into a power outlet: they receive an audio signal wirelessly. I tested these with some trepidation: to date, wireless speakers have been sub-par, but I was pleasantly surprised with their easy installation, sound quality and consistent performance without interference. One thing to check-