The Best Gadgets

"What gadget should I get?" is a timeless question. To answer it, here's our current leaderboard of favorite gadgets, including smartphones, laptops and cameras—updated with the latest and greatest.

We know you don't want to blow that paycheck on merely the shiniest, or the the simply newest. So we've considered a balance of price, features, reliability—and above all, quality—to make sure you're choosing a gadget that isn't just great, but one that's sensible. We've updated our roster of Giz-approved gadgets, and below, you'll find these picks.

The Best Smartphones

We can geek out all we want, but the best way to choose is a phone is not just by the hardware or the OS, but the phone and the carrier. Here's the smartphone to pick on each... for now.

Best AT&T Phone
Apple iPhone 4 (June 7th, 2010) And for those of you who want to venture into Windows Phone 7 turf, we now recommend the Samsung Focus. Want an Android? Then the Motorola Atrix is for you. (Feb 22, 2011)

Best Sprint Phone
The Galaxy S II we've fawned over has finally arrived on Sprint as the Epic Touch 4G with a bigger, 4.52-inch screen. It absolutely screams. It's faster, brighter, bigger, thinner, lighter and more powerful than any Android phone to date. Long story short: It's the best Android phone you can buy. (September, 2011)

Best T-Mobile Phone
We'll have a full review of the myTouch 4G Slide for you soon, but—spoiler alert—it's pretty good.

Best Verizon Phone
It's got some problems, like a seriously pixelated screen and lamentable battery life, but the Droid Bionic is the next step in bridging phones and computers-a beastly dual-core transforming thing of a phone that pulls down real internet from the sky. (September, 2011)

The Best Computers

The measure of a computer isn't just a mess of specs and benchmarks: it's the confluence of performance, design, usability, and the machine's fit to its particular task and pricepoint. These are the computers we think bring the total package.

Best Laptop
The new 2011 15-inch Core i7 MacBook Prois beefier than ever. (Feb 24, 2011) If you must have a PC, the Toshiba Portégé R700is a 3lb Core i5 monster. (June 21, 2010)

Best Netbook
The 11.6-inch Acer Aspire One 722 swaps out Intel's weak-sauce Atom processor for a beefier AMD C series APU. This 3-pound machine is light enough to carry around all day, has HDMI out for watching Netflix or Hulu on your TV, and lasts nearly 7 hours on a charge.

Best Ultraportable
Apple's brought both sizes of the MacBook Air line straight up to what you'd expect from a laptop in 2011, adding a Thunderbolt port, but more importantly some sweet Sandy Bridge i5 and i7 chips-and backlit keyboards (July 2011). We've also added the new Sony VAIO Z to our list, if you're seeking a super slim Windows machine. (August, 2011)

Best 3D Laptop
Asus' G51Jx 3DE beat out the competition. It has a built-in IR emitter, which offers a big improvement in overall experience. (Oct 7, 2010)

Best Value Laptop
Good design, comfortable typing and a great sound system make the HP Pavilion G6x the best budget laptop out there. ( April 6, 2011)

Best Gaming Laptop
Pretty much the diametric opposite of a budget laptop, the Alienware M17x (2011) is a monster. Its massive benchmarks are made more ridiculous by five hours of battery life-an eternity for gaming laptops. (February 21, 2011)

Best Processors
The Core i5-2500K hits the critical bang/buck sweet spot for smooth gaming. Otherwise, pick your budget and check this list. (Feb 28, 2011)

Best Desktop Graphics Cards
We've knocked off the ATI HD 5970 chipsetin favor of the Fermi-packing Nvidia GeForce GTX 580 (Nov 9, 2010). Otherwise, decide your budget, THEN pick the card from this list. *

Best Mobile Graphics
Anything with Nvidia's GeForce 400M series will have serious gaming muscle (Sep 3, 2010). *

Best Motherboard
The Asus Rampage III Extreme barely edged out the competition in our new motherboard roundup.

Best Router
The Netgear RangeMax V1 emerged victorious from the Ultimate Router Battle. (Oct 28, 2010)

Best SSD
Kingston's SNV425-S2 64GB drive stood outby delivering blazing performance on the (relative) cheap. (Sep 1, 2010)

PC Case
The Silverstone Temjin TJ11 is 9 inches wide by 25 inches high and 25 inches deep. It's massive and expensive and absolutely a preposterous thing to own. But it has amazing build quality, thermal control and moddability.

Best Networked Storage Alternative
Some aspects of the TS-459 Pro II hardware are comparable to the competition, and in other respects, it's just head and shoulders above the rest. A 1.8GHz dual-core Atom powers the TS-459 Pro II, and 1GB of DDR3 RAM comes preinstalled, though you can upgrade to 3GB yourself. QNAP also offers more connectivity options than most mortals will know what to do with, and it's strong on the software side, too. (September, 2011)

The Best Tablets

It feels like the tablet market has been bursting at the seams, but for now the top choices are still relatively straightforward. Expect this list to get a lot more crowded in the coming months.

Best Tablet
Here's the simple truth about the Apple iPad 2: there is nothing else like it. Maybe it won't replace your laptop. Maybe it could be even thinner and lighter and faster. But there is nothing else like it. (March 17, 2011)

Best eReader
Barnes and Noble's Nook Simple Touch is not a reinvention of the e-reader in any way. It's a refinement, and a very good one at that. (June 10, 2011)

Best Android Tablet
Even if the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is exactly the same as the Xoom and every other Android Honeycomb in terms of power, performance, features—this is the new Android tablet to buy. Because it's the first one to feel right. (June 8, 2011)

The Best Cameras

The great megapixel race is over. But now what the hell are you supposed to do? These are the best cameras of the post-megapixel world.

Best Budget dSLR
The Canon T2i is the ideal first DSLR. The simple controls shouldn't intimidate you for long, plus it can hold your hand a decent bit of the way, thanks to clever innovations like the Creative Auto Mode. (May 19, 2010)

Best Midrange dSLR
The Nikon D300s and Canon 7D deliver for the money, but the 7D delivers more, since it's packed full of newer technology and for the people who want it, the video component is truly killer (Nov 10, 2009)

Best 'Spensive dSLR
The Nikon D3s is a peek at the near future of photography where shooting in any lighting condition is possible. It's really exciting. (1D Mark IV if you're shooting more video) (Feb 26, 2010)

Best Micro Four-Thirds Camera
Micro Four-Thirds cameras have long promised to bridge the quality of DSLRs with the size of point and shoots. TheOlympus PEN EP-3 is the fullest realization of the Micro Four-Thirds dream so far.

Best Point-and-Shoot Camera
Canon's S95 was our favorite pocket camera. Um, it's probably not anymore. Meet the S100. What's new? Oh, Canon's first Digic V processor. A wider 24mm zoom lens. A 12-megapixel CMOS sensor (up from a 10MP CCD). 1080p video. And GPS built-in. (September, 2011)

Best Pocket Camcorder
The Kodak Playfull is a very capable shooter with several great features and one major shortcoming-a too-small display-but the fact that we found it selling at multiple online retailers for less than $100 goes a long way to make up for that deficiency.

Best Phone Camera
The iPhone 4 has a 5MP camera with an LED-based flash and great ISO, for better low-light performance. (June 7, 2010)

Best Waterproof Camera
Panasonic's 12.1MP Lumix TS3 is thoroughly rugged and does geotagging and 1080p video.

Best Helmet/Sports Camera
The GoPro Hero HD is cheap, impossibly rugged, and mounts on just about anything to take HD video at 60fps, while theContourHD Surfboard Mount is a surf video assassin. (Nov 4, 2009)

Best Camera Lenses
We're adding our roundup of well-priced, excellently-performing lenses to the list, for those of you looking for an upgrade. (Dec 6, 2010)

Best Photo Printing Service
Despite its outdated website, Wizard Printscan realize almost any scenario you can dream up-adhesives you can walk on, super-sized canvases, beautiful matte prints, and textured fabrics that turn into wall murals. (Jan 20, 2011)

The Best Home Theater and AV Gear

In the absence of the side-by-side benchmark comparisons when you find when shopping for computers, home theater gear can be particularly hard to get a handle on. Giz has your back.

Best 3DTV
The LG 50PZ950's THX Certified display has amazing picture quality worthy of your Blu-ray collection. If streaming services are more your style, the TV has built-in apps for Netflix, Amazon Instant Video and even a web browser. 3D performance itself could be better, but the whole package is one of the best TVs out there. (September, 2011)

Best Budget TV
The well-loved Vizio's XVT3SV series is a cheapass's dream come true. Its matte screen especially drew high praise. (Dec 9, 2010)

Best Blu-ray Player
The LG BD570's key virtue is file compatiblity-you can use this thing pretty much like an HD media player, a full-fledged Apple TV killer. The PS3 still holds its own, though. (May 13, 2010)

Best Receiver
The Pioneer VSX-1020-K is controlled by your iPhone, and anyone who's slagged through their fair share of shitty AV receiver menus-whether on screen or on the receiver itself-knows what a boon it is to have a nice GUI in the palm of your hand. (Mar 4, 2010)

Best Game Console
The new Xbox 360 is smaller, has more ports, runs quieter and costs the same: $300. It has a 250GB hard drive and built-in 802.11n Wi-Fi. (Jun 14, 2010)

Best Media Extender
Now taking claiming the title as champion video streamer is Sony's diminutive, underrated almost to the point of nonexistence NetBox. It streams Bravia Internet Video (read: Netflix and Amazon), is DLNA-compatible and plays MKV and DivX files streamed across your local network. (Aug 25, 2010)

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Best Affordable Amplifier
The Topping TP-30 is the best audiophile-worthy amplifier to be had for under $500.

Best All-in-One Home Entertainment
The home theater doesn't have to be a patchwork affair of gear you put together one layaway at a time. The LG LHB976 all-in-one does a downright enviable job, with solid speakers, a great user interface and an iPod dock.

Best MP3 Player
When Apple reshuffled the iPod lineup, theiPod Touch became something else. It's not the expensive, fancy iPod. Or the cheap, gimped iPhone anymore. It's the iPod.

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Best iPod Dock
So yeah, $600 is a lot to spend on an iPod dock. But the Bowers and Wilkins Zeppelinpositively drips with engineering. It has 5 brand new drivers-2 mids, 2 tweeters, a sub-each powered by its own class-d amp, and 150 total watts of oomph.

Best Speakers
High quality sound doesn't need to cost a fortune—turns out there's a lot of great audio gear out there for less than $2,000.Audioengine's A5 speakers are $350 a pair, but pack serious sonic punch—and they're self-powered. Check out the rest of the roundup if you're looking to splurge a little more. (Sep 16, 2010)

Best Headphones
We're finally recommending an official pick for cans, Bowers & Wilkins P5s—and they're a doozy. As our Joe Brown says, they are, in a word, "DOPE." (March 22, 2010)

Best Home Audio Streaming
We've added the dreamy Sonos system to our end of year list—read Brian's lifechanger-status writeup and you'll understand why. (Nov 26, 2010)

Accessories & Miscellaneous

Some of the coolest stuff you own doesn't fit into a broad, big box category. Here are some odds and ends that we love.

Best Solar Charger
Gizmodo Editor Emeritus Brian Lam said the Joos Orange is the "best solar charger [he'd] ever tested." It's rugged, works in weak light and can charge an iPhone four times with just one full charge. (Jul 12, 2010)

Best Bluetooth Headset
The Jawbone Era already has downloadable voices ("You have...two hours... of talk time remaining") and runs lightweight apps. It doesn't take a lot of imagination to envision future apps that utilize the motion sensitivity. (Jan 20, 2011)

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Best Cloud Storage Service
It's SugarSync—with a few caveats.SugarSync was the best confluence of price, ease of use, and features, but if you're looking for pure, sheer simplicity for sharing your sharables with the lovable luddites in your life, Dropbox might still be the better option. And if you're a total cheapass, maybe take a look at Google, or Microsoft's SkyDrive.

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Best 4G Network
You already knew this, but here it is in writing: Verizon's LTE network is the country's fastest 4G service. LTE is just better. AT&T's in the process of field testing its own LTE service, though, so we'll have a fight on our hands.

Best Online Music Streaming Service
Spotify's main draw over the competition—even more than the free access—is the ability to meld your local library with Spotify's streaming catalog. We'd note, though, that Rdio still has the superior mobile app.

Best Mobile Broadband
Our Dear Leader Joe Brown is in love with his Clear 4G Dongle. Its performance is great, and it's purty to look at, too. (May 3, 2011)

Best Weatherproof Kindle Case
Case Logic's Water Resistant Kindle Sleeveis made of thick plastic and has an easy to grip neoprene case, double ziplock-type seal. Perfect, otherwise.

Best Universal iPhone Remote
The Griffin Beacon is an IR blaster that converts actions from your iPhone into signals all media boxes can understand. Sleek. Inoffensively decorative. Imagine a polished stone sitting on top of an Apple TV-that's pretty much what the Beacon is.

Best Stroller
The B.O.B. Ironman Jogging Stroller rolls like Curtis Mayfield circa 1972. It flies. Its ultralight frame and spin-happy hubs make for a delightfully easy ride.

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Best Mobile Bluetooth Keyboard
The Targus Bluetooth Wireless Keyboard for Tablets came out on top of our mobile bluetooth keyboard deathmatch. It doesn't fold or roll up like some of the other ones, but after using the it for a few minutes you forget it's undersized. The individual keys have some separation between them, making keyboard errors less frequent, and it's attractively priced.

* We realize these picks are a little out of date—we're working on a fresh batch of reviews and roundups.

BLACK COMIC ATTACKS HERMAN CAIN USING RACISM

Black comedian D.L. Hughley is at it again, making racist and incendiary comments about Republicans. Apparently, Herman Cain’s victory in the GOP Florida straw poll was too much for the liberal-minded Hughley to bear. On September 27, Hughley launched into a stream of demeaning, racially charged tweets about Cain on his Twitter account @RealDLHughley, which his loyal followers responded to in kind. You may remember Hughley’s fleeting CNN talk show was cancelled in 2009 because he said during an interview with former RNC Chairman Michael Steele “the Republican National Convention literally looks like Nazi Germany.”

Hughley’s tirade against Cain may have gone unnoticed were it not for @blackrepublican tweeting about Hughley’s incendiary commentary. “Herman Cain won the Florida straw poll by a lot! I loved Herman Cain when he played Mr. Gaines on a different World,” Hughley tweeted. This prompted other tweets by Hughley and his followers that implied Cain was an Uncle Tom and not REALLY black because he is a conservative who doesn’t choose to believe in Democrat plantation policies that keep blacks economically oppressed.

Apparently, Hughley was too absorbed in his racist Twitter banter to notice a recent Rasmussen pollthat found Cain trailing Obama by just 5% in a hypothetical match-up.

Several tweets later, Hughley wrote:

This enticed others to compare Cain to the “original Cream of Wheat,” “Stepin Fetchit” and the “butler in Gone with the Wind” — all of which conjure up demeaning, racist caricatures used during the pre- and post-Civil War era to describe the “dutiful slave.”

It’s shocking that, in the 21st century, blacks would so viciously attack a black man because he didn’t agree with their politics. Martin Luther King Jr. would be horrified because this isn’t the freedom he fought and died for.

Even more surprising is the fact that Hughley hasn’t removed or denounced any of the tweets, particularly the one which makes an offensive reference to Sarah Palin.

Most shocking of all, the liberal media has completely ignored the story. If the shoes were reversed and a white conservative comedian or radio host like Rush Limbaugh authored and incited such offensive commentary about Barack Obama or a black Democrat, the left-wing news media and politicians would be outraged. They’d demand apologies, firings and boycotts. But when a black comedian says racist things about a black Republican, he gets a free pass.

While the liberal establishment is busy protecting the double standard, their policies are doing nothing to create jobs for the 16.7% of blacks and 45.6% of black teens who are unemployed. Instead of mocking black conservatives, maybe it’s time for black liberals to turn their attention to some new ideas. After all, the Democrat hand of government isn’t helping blacks rise up. It’s only keeping them enslaved and dependent on a promise that is never realized.

Crystal Wright is a black conservative woman living in Washington, D.C. She’s the editor of the websiteConservativeBlackChick.com. Some would say she’s a triple minority: a female black Republican living in a Democrat-dominated city.

TAGS: CRYSTAL WRIGHT, D.L. HUGHLEY, HERMAN CAIN, RACISM