Gary Dell'abate

When I moved into my new house earlier this year, I had hopes of setting up some of my more antiquated gear. One of the pieces is a Technics turntable - state of the art, circa 1985. When people (er, guys) see it, they start waxing poetic about their vinyl LP collections and how, "one day," they're going to get another turntable.

I wasn't sure why the guys at S&V asked me to have a listen to Acoustic Research's AWD510 wireless 5.1-channel headphones ($350; audiovox.com). They looked big and clunky compared with many of today's much smaller 'phones and earbuds.

The dictionary defines a gadget as "a sometimes small electronic device with a practical use but often thought of as a novelty." Well, I'm here to tell you that the creators of the CHUMBY ($180; chumby.com) have honored the spirit of that definition.

My biggest issue when I pack for travel is what book(s) to bring. Should it be a hardcover (awfully heavy in my carry-on), or a couple of paperbacks? Sometimes I choose a book based on its size rather than if I think I'll like it. It looks like SONY has solved that problem for me with the PRS-505 portable reader system, a.k.a.