Product Reviews
Burning in a Heat Wave? Let Mr. Dyson's Latest Fan Blow You Away
Let's just get this out of the way upfront: This thing looks an upgraded version of the Guardian in the classic Star Trek episode "The City on the Edge of Forever." And I'm pretty sure sticking your hand through it could have more or less the same outcome.
But if you can't resist the temptation to put your hand (or head) though the gaping hole from whence forced air magically appears from the Pedestal, at least you won't get carved up by those pesky blades that have been the essence of every other electric fan since the device was invented in the 1800s.
The Dyson Pedestal (and the Tower, which we haven't evaluated yet) are the newest iterations of the Dyson Air Multiplier series introduced last year as desktop devices. And they're just in time too. We got one in to test-drive during what's proving to be one of the hottest summers on record (in New York, at least).
Dyson claims its "Air Multiplier" technology, which doesn't use conventional blades, "generate smooth, uninterrupted airflow with no unpleasant buffeting." I must say, it is a pleasant experience sitting in front of the Pedestal but I can't say the $50 floor fan I bought last week is unpleasant. And if that one buffets I have either not noticed or don't care or am not a sufficiently sophisticated air current aficionado.
Admittedly there is a fair amount of science involved here — suffice it to say this is as inventive as the Dyson vacuum cleaner, which (you will pardon the expression) redefined suck by showing how much other vacuums sucked. (Full disclosure: I've owned a Dyson DC25 Animal for many years. The Dyson Pedestal is a review copy).
Just as the Dyson vacuum got rid of the bag and thus the baggage of vacuuming, the beauty of this beast is the singular lack of rotating blades — indeed, there are no (visible) moving parts unless you turn on the 90-degree oscillation.
But there are reasons to own one. Knocking it over won't cause the fan to become uncalibrated. No flimsy wire cover will pop off, presenting a theoretical danger to small children, pets and inebriated guests (or hosts). It's dead simple to assemble and very easy to clean. No troublesome knob to keep it from oscillating. There's even a fingertip control for adjusting the angle — no heavyset screw.
But a possession like this is more about the aesthetic or even minor ease-of-use advantages, and there's no reason to apologize for sometimes placing a high value on style. The truth is that some people need a fan but wouldn't be caught dead leaving one out for "company" to see. This fan will get a prominent place in a living room and a lot of use.
No, the Dyson Pedestal will not be hastily stuffed into a closet when one is entertaining. In fact, I can imagine some Mr. Smooth showing it off to his date like the iPad he casually left on the coffee table and the Montblanc Meisterstück 149 piston fountain pen he never fails to carry (or use).
Just make sure that when you are putting the moves on, you avoid the phrase, "Hey, stick your hand in here!"
WIRED Really pretty and blasts air like you really would not believe. Assembles in seconds with no tools. Adjusts for height and angle. Three-button remote is stylish and thin — it runs on a watch battery — and even stands on end.
TIRED $450. For a fan. Mr. Dyson, you are brilliant, iconic, elusive and mysterious. But do you also have to be Steve Jobs? Noted: Your top-of-the-line wind machine is cheaper than an entry-level iPad, but not by much.
Feature-Laden GPS Camera Has No Sense of Direction
Take a compass on a trip and you'll spend a lot of time wandering around trying to find out which way is north. Take a camera with a built-in GPS receiver and you'll get tons of tasty geotagged photos that can be automatically dropped onto interactive digital maps in programs such as Apple's iPhoto or Aperture.
The problem is, not all GPS cameras are created equal. While testing several models on a five-borough photo tour in New York City, we got some interesting results, to say the least.
Is Nathan's Hot Dogs in Kyrgyzstan? The GPS-enabled 12-megapixel Samsung HZ35W certainly seemed to think so, placing Coney Island's culinary landmark in the mountains of Central Asia when we pulled our images into Apple Aperture 3's "Places" mapping feature. When the same thing happened with a replacement camera, we switched to Apple's iPhoto, which also has Places, and the geotagged photos were dropped properly into a map of New York City. Go figure.
Despite the glitch, the slightly chunky Samsung camera had the most extensive GPS features of the models we tested including Map View mode which displays your location and where your photos were taken on a map on the camera's 3-inch LCD. The mapping feature on our camera confusingly defaulted to Washington, D.C., though, showing us walking down F Street instead of 181st in Washington Heights. (Once the camera locked in on the GPS signal, the map switched to the current location.)
Images captured by the HZ35W were only so-so with oversaturated color and blurry edge detail. We loved the 15x optical zoom though, which went as wide as 24mm for capturing landscapes and bridges.
WIRED GPS turns on easily with a switch on top of the camera. Displays current city, state and country on LCD in shooting mode. Map View will tell you where all the local Starbucks, McDonald's and Bank of America ATMs are.
TIRED GPS antenna is placed where you put your forefinger on the camera, potentially blocking the signal. Must download maps from Samsung website and store on memory card in camera to use Map View mode. Slowest GPS camera we tested.
Take the Plunge for Swiss Army's Dive Master Watch
Who needs concrete shoes to sink a body to the bottom of the ocean when there's the Victorinox Swiss Army's Dive Master 500?
This quarter-pounder (actually 4.7 ounces) of eye-grabbing design and Swiss engineering takes its name from its 1650-foot water resistance. Yes, you read that right; the Dive Master 500 sucker is capable of descending over a quarter mile below the surface where it will still function. To put it in perspective, you could break the world record for deepest scuba dive (1,083-feet) and still drop the distance of almost two football fields before the watch (or you) malfunctioned.
The Dive Master's heft and diving prowess are only part a Davey Jones' Locker full of geeky features. There are central 60-second and 60-minute counters, a 12-hour counter and a data calendar. A bi-directional rotating bezel helps calculate how long you stay underwater or, for us, how much money was left on the parking meter in front of the Y.
Some might complain that the orange-on-orange might be look like a neo-PantoneTM nightmare, but it actually serves a purpose. When you're six feet underwater or several hundred), things get dim, but a bright watch (complete with luminescent hands and hour markers) is easy to read in murky situations.
We dig the Dive Master 500, but it's not really for day-to-day wear. This is a watch for people who spend a good portion of their lives under the sea and hooked to scuba gear. Still it's an elegant timepiece that can survive a drop to some seriously deep depths, even if you don't.
WIRED Endlessly elegant Swiss precision. Can handle aquatic pressure over a quarter mile down. Multiple functions. Insanely cool, if not ostentatious, design.
TIRED Is that a boat anchor on your arm, or are you just happy to see me?
High Performing Laptop Is Stuck Squarely in the Past
Seeing — and lifting — the AVA Direct Clevo W880CU brings back fond memories of days gone by. Those were the days when laptop makers didn't give a flip about how big and bulky their laptops were, as long as they managed to wedge every last state-of-the-art component into the system. Battery life didn't matter and neither did looks. Also irrelevant was price: Gaming nuts would pay upwards of five grand for these machines.
In recent years, the market has changed, as vendors have managed to get high-end components into slimmer, sexier chassis and keep prices headed downward, too. Today, you can get a top-performing laptop without the bulk and without much effort.
And so the Clevo W880CU arrives, a machine trapped in the past, despite modern amenities bolted onto it, including a USB 3.0 port, 1080p display and a pre-release version of Nvidea's new GeForce GTX 480M graphics card. Under the hood, just about everything else is up to snuff, too: 1.73-GHz Core i7 processor, 4 GB of RAM and a 500-GB hard drive. About the only piece lacking, on paper at least, are a Blu-ray drive (the 1080p screen isn't nearly as dazzling with old DVDs), and a brightness upgrade on said LCD — it's the dimmest screen we've seen in more than a year.
Performance-wise, the W880CU is top-notch. Both general apps and gaming benchmarks set records, if by very small margins — both about 5 percent higher than our former record-holder, the BFG Deimos X-10 we tested back in October. However, it's worth noting that the Deimos cost $1,500 more than the W880CU, weighed 13 pounds, and had to use two GTX graphics cards to achieve its numbers; the Clevo only needs one to muscle its pixels around.
While the W880CU is awfully fast, you're unlikely to fall in love with its usability or looks. The trapezoidal case design is hopelessly dated and difficult to work with, the numeric keypad bafflingly puts the right arrow key where the "0" key should be, and numerous ports (including the power adapter) are hidden behind a giant, hinged flap on the back of the laptop. Seriously, a flap?
In our testing, the W880CU also suffered from instability that, while not quite massive, was serious enough to force us through several reboots during testing. Merely playing a DVD managed to crash the computer in colorful fashion, and the whole machine vibrates dangerously when a disc is spinning. A collection of sporadic, random error messages didn't instill additional confidence, either.
Driver upgrades and patience may help matters, but that's asking a lot from someone who has shelled out $3,000 for ultimate performance.
WIRED Dazzling speed when the system isn't crashing on you. Don't laugh, but it's reasonably portable (8.6 pounds) and affordable (under $3K ) for this category.
TIRED Somewhat unstable. Record-setting (on the short side) 40-minute battery life. Janky design: No, really, a flap?
GPS Cameras Give Your Shots a Sense of Place
Forgot where you snapped that pic of a giant green French lady hoisting a torch? You need a GPS-enabled camera. We took the four newest models for a test drive.
1. Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX5V
If not for the picture of a satellite on the side, you'd never guess this camera is location-aware — the GPS functions are buried that deep in the menus. But once we activated them, the 10.2-megapixel HX5V geotagged our sharp shots with sniperlike accuracy.
WIRED Sweep Panorama mode intelligently captures oversize subjects — you know, the Grand Canyon, LeBron James. Just press the shutter and sweep the camera across the vista. Records 1080p video with stereo sound. GPS automatically sets the clock. Digital compass.
TIRED GPS signal defeated by buildings and overhanging trees. Doesn't display nearby place-names or points of interest during playback. Confusing menus.
$350, sony.com
2. Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS7
The ZS7 not only embeds latitude and longitude data in your shots, it also displays city, state, and country — along with points of interest — right on the 3-inch LCD. Too bad it's sometimes a step behind: When we were taking night shots of the East River in Queens, the ZS7 thought we were still in a Brooklyn park we had visited earlier. It had the best image quality of the batch, though, capturing crisp photos with bold, natural color.
WIRED Embeds location data in HD video, too. Fastest cam tested — blazing autofocus, no shutter lag. Landmark library spans 73 countries. 300-shot battery life.
TIRED Misidentified some points of interest. If you don't reset the GPS, you get info from your last trip. Lots of menu-digging to activate GPS.
$399, panasonic.com
3. Leica V-Lux 20
The main difference between this camera and the Panasonic ZS7 is the price: That red dot on the handgrip commands a $300 premium. Otherwise, the specs are almost identical: 12.1-MP sensor, 12X optical zoom, even built-in GPS that sometimes gets confused. On a positive note, the V-Lux 20 matched the superior image quality of the ZS7; on a sour note, it was a second (or two) slower on the draw. But maybe your subjects will be so dazzled by the Leica logo that they'll hold their poses indefinitely.
WIRED Ships with Adobe Photoshop Elements 8. Snazzy all-black design.
TIRED Took up to a minute to initially locate GPS signal. Records 720p HD video in Motion JPEG format, which produces larger file sizes. Slightly bigger body than the ZS7.
$699, leica.com
4. Samsung HZ35W
Is Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs in Kyrgyzstan? This 12-MP Samsung thought so, placing Coney Island's culinary landmark in Central Asia. Luckily, iPhoto was able to decode the cam's location-babble and tag the imported photos correctly. Even so, this chunky rig had the best GPS controls of the group, including a topside activation switch and a Map View mode to pinpoint your whereabouts on the 3-inch screen. Unfortunately our pictures suffered from oversaturated color and blurry edge detail.
WIRED 15X optical zoom pulls back as wide as 24 mm. Map View highlights nearby Starbucks cafès and BofA ATMs.
TIRED Map View maps must be downloaded from Samsung Web site and stored on the memory card. Slowest shooter in test.
$349, samsung.com
Wireless Home-Theater Headphones Kind to Your Neighbors
Are your neighbors screaming at you to turn down Gladiator ... again?! Plug into a pair of wireless home-theater headphones. They let you crank up the Roman blood sport without getting the thumbs-down from anybody.
1. Pioneer SE-DIR800C
These Pioneer 'phones have Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround effects to make you think there are five speakers inside your head. Not as painful as you might imagine: It really does sound like there are five separate sound sources, and tripping out on that was enough to keep us engaged. These are better suited to movies than music, though: If you stray more than 26 feet from the transmitter — like if you dance into a different room — the normally sharp sound loses its edge.
WIRED Great sound reproduction is perfect for action flicks. Super-comfy headband.
TIRED NSFW (or anywhere but your house) — these giant cans look ridiculous. You have to remove the batteries and put them into the transmitter dock to recharge. Priciest of the bunch.
$399, pioneerelectronics.com
2. Sony MDR-DS3000
These sleek earmuffs are like a hug for your head — by far the most comfortable pair here. Alas, the DS3000s also have the worst range: Infrared signal requires line of sight and makes it only about 20 feet before degrading. The surround sound was good but no aural nirvana. The fit was so comfortable, though, we didn't mind.
WIRED Headset recharges in its cradle. Did we mention how wearable these are? Even after a marathon session, we had zero fatigue or swamp-ear. Included optical audio cable enables the best possible sound.
TIRED Bulkiest base station in the test. Hissing during quiet scenes or when you amble too far from the base.
$230, sony.com
3. Acoustic Research AWD210
At 200 bucks retail, the AWD210s are a serious bargain (and we found 'em for just over $100 on Amazon). Sound quality is nothing to w00t about — great bass, but range is lacking. The leather-covered headband and supple ear pads are comfy, but they don't sit on your head as naturally as the others, making them feel heavy after a while. The poor fit also let outside noise leak in.
WIRED Cheap! Volume and power controls on the left earpiece. Headphones charge with an AC adapter (no batteries required).
TIRED Plastic earphone casing feels flimsy. Some electronic interference; probably a good idea to keep your cell phone in a different room. Random dead zones when you move away from the transmitter.
$199, acoustic-research.com
4. TDK WR700
Road trip? Take the WR700s with you. Their compact size and the choice of 3.5- or 6.3-mm jacks means you can make any audio source wireless. Buy another pair, switch on Multi-User mode, and share sound with a friend. With Kleer transmission technology, they'll beam CD-quality streams. But even with a lossless source, the sound was tinny. And because the ear pads are smallish, noise isolation was only so-so — you shouldn't have to tell roommates to keep it down when you're the one blasting a movie.
WIRED Mini and standard stereo jacks. Volume buttons on right earpiece. Best range in test.
TIRED Transmitter just a box with a plug — a few inches of cord would make it infinitely easier to hook up. BYO batteries — two AAAs for the headphones, two for the dongle.
$249, tdk.com
It's a Water War! 'Cuz You're Never Too Old for a Squirtfest!
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The wimpy squirt guns of your youth have been overthrown by sting-your-face water cannons. You're never too old for a soakfest, so choose your weapon.
1. Water Warriors Vanquisher
If you're going into battle, this is the artillery you want to be packing. The Vanquisher holds 108 ounces of liquid and blasts streams up to 40 feet. Choose one of three shooting modes to conserve ammo, make a chilly statement, or all-out drench your opponents. Pressurized by a shotgun-style hand pump, the Vanquisher is as mean as it looks.
WIRED Comes with a shoulder strap for easy toting. Large-capacity tank minimizes trips to the hose for a refill.
TIRED When fully loaded, this baby weighs about as much as a real baby (8.75 pounds). Trigger is placed awkwardly at the top of the gun, so you kinda have to hold it like a purse.
$20, buzzbeetoys.com
2. Nerf Super Soaker Shot Blast
When most people think water guns, they think Super Soaker. But the cheery-colored models are ancient history. The new battalion of plastic liquidators look like they came straight outta Halo. And Master Chief would approve: The Shot Blast will launch bulleted streams about 25 feet, and its 38-ounce reservoir will last you to the end of most engagements. But beware the point-blank head shot: It stings.
WIRED Adjustable shoulder stock for optimal positioning. Powerful blasts will have your challengers running for dry land.
TIRED No trigger — you have to pump it every time you shoot, which is a lot of work for playtime. Don't drink from the nozzle unless you want to lose your face.
$20, hasbro.com
3. OF2000 Water Sports Stream Machine
Those looking to truly douse their friends (or enemies) should get their hands on one of these. Sure, it's an extremely simple design, but its ability to soak foes is incredible. To fill the gun, stick the nozzle in any pool of water and pull back on the handle. To fire, push the handle forward. Rocket science. The 36-inch-long barrel holds approximately 32 ounces, which is enough to cause almost anyone to raise the white flag.
WIRED Ridiculously light and easy to carry around. The thick stream is unrivaled.
TIRED Needs almost constant refilling. You have to either tote along a bucket of water or stage your battle on the beach.
$20, instantfun.ws
4. Saturator Electric Water Gun AK47
The most realistic-looking shooter of the bunch, the Saturator AK47 is also the noisiest. Its piston moving back and forth sounds like an automatic towel dispenser on the fritz. But that cacophony is the sound of violence: Powered by four AA batteries, the Saturator rattles off 240 bursts a minute. Each spritz is pretty light, but the rapid fire provides adequate soakage.
WIRED Just hold the trigger and the gun does all the work. Stream is tame enough to serve as an impromptu drinking fountain.
TIRED The clip holds only 10 ounces, and the tiny hole in its top makes for awkward refills. On second thought, it sounds like a dying cat.
$20, kapowwe.com
Fetish: Toshiba Netbook Ditches Keyboard for Second Touchscreen
Dedicating half your laptop to 80-odd keys is such a waste of space — at least, that's the message we're getting from the new Toshiba Libretto W105. With two 7-inch touchscreens, the 1.2-GHz machine does triple duty as a notebook computer, media player, and e-reader. Juggling serious work? The upper screen presents a typical Windows 7 OS while the lower pane hosts one of six keyboards. Catching up on Modern Family? Fill the top window with Hulu while you cruise Wikipedia for spoilers below. And if you're feeling literary, turn the Libretto sideways and load up Toshiba's ebook software. It shows one page on each side, just like the printed books Grandpappy used to read. For those not quite ready to surrender their physical keyboard, Toshiba will still sell plenty of models equipped with those clickety-clack contraptions. Perhaps you'd like one with a floppy disk drive and a 2,800-baud modem?
runMobileCompatibilityScript('myExperience114823905001', 'anId');Dell Streak Smears Line Between Phone and Tablet
Ed. note: Dell has not announced a price for the Streak.
Here's what you need to know about me. I spend more time checking e-mail, playing with apps and browsing on my smartphone than actually talking on the device.
So what if there was a gadget that had an enormous screen that also focused on apps and reading. Oh, with a phone feature, too.
That would look a lot like the Streak, a 6-inch slab of glass and electronics running the Android operating system — except it bills itself as a tablet. Streak is targeted at smartphone users who crave a larger display but still need a device that's portable and could potentially replace their phone.
The Streak isn't there yet. It is a bit of everything — a brilliant 800 x 400 display, a 5-megapixel camera, a reasonably capable phone, a solid browser and access to Android apps. But it doesn't blow you away with any of the features. There was nothing about it that made me want to abandon my current phone or tablet.
The Streak's 5-inch touchscreen display is just a tad bigger than the latest crop of Android smartphones (HTC Evo and Droid X each sport a 4.3-inch touchscreen) but significantly smaller than the iPad's 9.7-inch display. That puts the device in this awkward middle ground: too big to be a real phone, too small to directly take on the tablets.
Despite a gargantuan screen, the Streak sure doesn't suffer from obesity issues. It weighs 7.8 ounces, so it won't rip a whole through your pocket nor will you feel too silly holding it up to an ear. It's also just 9.9 mm thick — almost on par with the iPhone 4 (though the iPhone is much smaller with its 3.5 inch display.) The tapered edges and rounded corners means it's as svelte as Zoe Saldana, but don't expect to cram it in a pair of jeggings anytime soon.
The device is also locked into landscape mode on the home screen. Sure, when you access an app you can switch over to a portrait configuration, but this feature is a little confusing at first.
Dell hasn't extensively reskinned the Android 1.6 OS for the Streak, preferring to add just a few widgets and some user-interface enhancements. Some of it works pretty well: Two nice touches are the shortcut at the top of the screen that lets you click applications and the addition of a numeric pad next to the alphabets on the virtual keyboard.
But with the Facebook and Twitter client, Dell has taken two extremely popular tools and created versions that are ... pretty unusable. For instance, you can't check direct messages or @replies with the Twitter client, or photos and your inbox with the Facebook one. Instead of Dell's widgets, we recommend you download the apps from the Android market and use them.
Also missing are little UI touches that would have made the device go from good to great. The ability to directly delete widgets off the touchscreen — as with the iPhone — rather than having to press a separate menu button to do it is just one example.
The Streak uses version 1.6 of the Android OS, which should be familiar to any Android phone user. The 1-GHz Qualcomm processor — pretty much a standard fixture on premium Android smartphones — keeps the device zippy.
But the older version of the OS (major smartphones are expected to update to Android 2.2 Froyo this summer) also means features are missing, such as support for Flash or multiple Gmail accounts.
The browser works beautifully on the larger display. Web pages feel more spacious on the screen, and the pinch-to-zoom feature makes it easy to handle. What would have helped is a little kickstand (as in the HTC Evo) to make watching videos on the Streak easier.
Dell isn't offering its battery life spec, but the Streak's battery lasted about eight hours of a heavy day's use — using Google Maps' turn-by-turn navigation for about 30 minutes, downloading eight or so apps from the Android market, checking e-mail, making a few calls, and playing with the browser. After flogging its capabilities all day, it finally went kaput around 8 in the evening.
Ultimately, that's what we think defines the Streak. It is not a device for multiday use like the Kindle or the iPad. You will still have to plug the Streak in at the end of the day to keep it juiced.
Really this is a device that looks, acts and even quacks like a phone. Sure it's a tad large, but it sure is capable. And after all, big is beautiful.
WIRED Sleek, slim design fits right into the pocket or a tiny purse. Simple UI makes for an easy-peasy experience.
TIRED Shutter lag makes photography difficult, Android 1.6 OS is so last-year. No Flash or tethering.
Electro Grill Stokes Our Hearts, Exceeds Expectations
Normally we think grills with electric heating elements are a dumb idea. That was until we used the Q140.
After we got over our prejudice against a grill that uses neither gas nor charcoal for heat, we realized that the Q140 was a pretty effective cooker. Its heat-reflecting lining and oval shape direct BTUs at your grillables, and closed-lid cooking provided excellent results on fish and veggies. Keep the lid closed, though: Despite the benefit of plugging into a 120-volt outlet, this 1,560-watter struggled to reach 500 degrees Fahrenheit in our tests; those who want to seriously sear their burgers and steaks should look elsewhere.
The grill provides an ample 189 square inches of cooking space, second largest in our test, allowing a dozen burgers to be easily zapped simultaneously. Of all the food we cooked, chicken fared the poorest, finishing with a rubbery outside that is typical of electric ovens, rather than the char that comes with flame. The heat-up test provided the slowest results in the comparison, taking 27 minutes from plug-in to boil a pint of water.
For condo and apartment grillers who don't have yards, the Q140 likely solves the "no barbecues on the balcony" rule by eliminating the hazardous flames. However, it is still strictly an outdoor-only grill, as the heating element can be dangerous in enclosed places. We also stumbled over the power cord on occasion, which may be a compliment to how well this grill ended up performing alongside its fiery cousins in the test.
WIRED Never runs out of fuel as long as you pay the electric bill. Optional fold-up stand clears up table space for food and eating.
TIRED Low top heat. No temperature gauge. Its portability ends 6 feet from a power outlet.
It Keeps You Runnin': The Best Hydration-Bottle Packs
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Ah, summer: The time when runners don their skimpiest spandex and hit the trails in search of sunshine, fresh air and dehydration and, uh heat exhaustion.
Seriously, staying hydrated is important. It's even more critical if your run stretches to an hour or more and the weather is hot. Unless you're on a well-stocked marathon course with water and first aid stations every few miles, you've got to carry your own refreshments. That means some kind of pack.
We tested four waist packs, a popular choice for runners. (Water-filled backpacks are too hot and heavy for most runners, and most people don't like handheld bottles.) We subjected each pack to at least 10 miles of city and trail running.
What we found didn't exactly impress us: The bottles bounce, their straps chafe and you'll spend way too much time cinching and un-cinching them in search of the perfect fit. Our advice: Go to a store where they'll let you try them on before you buy, because the ideal fit is going to come down to the shape of your body.
On the plus side, carrying water could mean the difference between finishing that 8-mile run with a smile on your face and collapsing halfway through in a puddle of sweat and muscle spasms. As a bonus, most of these packs will also hold your phone, iPod, high-tech energy gels and any other gadgets you consider essential for running.
Amphipod Full-Tilt Velocity
A horizontally mounted, contoured bottle helps this pack snug up against your lumbar area, a bit higher than most water-bottle packs. Because of its shape, it bounces less too. However, the location also makes it more difficult to get at anything you've stashed in the nylon pocket.
WIRED Snuggest fit of the packs tested here.
TIRED Horizontal bottle, with a nylon hold-down loop, is a little hard to remove and reinsert. Exterior stretchy pouch accommodates a phone, but feels a little delicate.
$32, amphipod.com
Amphipod PureRun Trail
The only bottle pack to use a stainless-steel bottle, Amphipod's PureRun Trail is compact, relatively bounce-free and includes a pocket that's large enough to accommodate an iPhone, a Clif bar or two, and your car key. Unfortunately, it's too easy to leave the bottle cap only partially closed, with the result that water leaks all over your butt. How embarrassing!
WIRED Bottle imparts no nasty plastic taste. Largely chafe-free design. Looks cool! OK, looks less dorky than most hydration packs.
TIRED Bottle cap more complicated than it needs to be, and can leak if not carefully closed. Standard bottle only holds 16 ounces. Weighs more than a plastic bottle.
$50, amphipod.com
CamelBak Delaney Plus
Bigger than the other packs in this roundup, the Delaney sports two separate modules: A main, back unit that holds a generous 24-ounce bottle, with a mesh pocket for Gu packets and gorp, plus a front unit that looks like a mini-fanny pack, with a small zippered pouch for your phone and a pocket for other stuff. If you're running the ridge trail and expect to be away from civilization for half a day, this pack's your friend.
WIRED Room for lots of stuff.
TIRED Feels bigger than a Hummer and twice as ugly with a leopard-print paint job.
$40, camelbak.com
Nathan Elite 1
This diagonally mounted water-bottle pack is straightforward and bare bones. If you don't need much more than the 22 ounces of water it holds, it might be sufficient. But one annoyance kept nagging at us: The little Velcro straps for bundling up the tail ends of the waist belts are just plain annoying. Bundle the end around itself and it bounces around while you run; strap it to the main waist belt and it will scratch you all day long: Either way it'll drive you up the wall.
WIRED Trim, lightweight design. No unnecessary frills.
TIRED External pouch is too small to hold an iPhone or similar-size phone.
$30, nathansports.com
Glaring Omissions — Polarized Sunglasses Field Tested + Rated
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When you're fishing or biking or driving (really anytime you're outdoors) you'd do well to strap on a set of sunglasses with polarized lenses. These optics are designed to filter glare from notoriously reflective surfaces like water, asphalt and sand. The best ones are capable multitaskers, winnowing harsh photons without distorting colors, all while looking effortlessly cool.
Ray-Ban 8041 Aviator Titanium
There's a reason why pilots, cops and your dad have been wearing aviators for years. They look tough and provide Secret Service-level protection for your eyes. Ray-Ban's model 8041 amps things up by adding polarized lenses and titanium frames to the equation. Bright, overhead retina-searing sunlight? Filtered handily without a hint of color distortion. In our water tests, the lenses drastically cut glare, even when the surface became choppy. And the titanium frames are a revelation for the accident-prone. We repeatedly sat on, dropped and haphazardly tossed the frames without seeing them get bent out of shape. Best of all the specs look good on everyone. An assortment of folks in the Wired office modeled the 8041s; some with enormous heads, others with mighty shocks of hair, and folks with slim, angular faces. Without exception, everyone looked awesome wearing aviators, despite not being jet-jockeys or police. (We did have a few dads.)
WIRED Frames are the ideal mix of ruggedness and style. Look good on everyone regardless of head size or face shape. Titanium frames sits snugly on your face and never get uncomfortable. Kills virtually all glare dead.
TIRED Lenses not as tough as frames — they scratched like a pissed off tabby. Tough to keep clean; oily residue built up faster than a beach along the gulf coast.
$215, ray-ban.com
Persol PO2979S
For style, you can't beat a pair of tortoise-shell Persols. (Just ask this guy.) The lenses handily eliminate aquatic glare, but they really distinguished themselves behind the wheel: The Persols distilled the reflection from asphalt better than any other model we tested. The lenses are tough, too — a series of drops onto concrete and sand didn't leave a single mark on the optics. The frames however are a bit hefty and often slid off our tester's nose when his proboscis got sweaty. Still, when you look almost as cool as McQueen these are the most minor of quibbles.
WIRED Cooler than the surface of Neptune. Earned top marks in driving performance. Lenses resist damage like +2 armor.
TIRED Thick, heavy frames slide off face fairly easily (unless you have a Cyrano De Bergerac sized schnozzle). Collects dirt and grime faster than a hobo with poor hygiene.
$255, persol.com/usa
Oakley Polarized Frogskins
The Frogskins may look retro but they're the lightest and most comfortable of all the shades we tested. We took them rafting (class 3 rapids, what?!) and they stayed secure despite some nasty drops, hard bumps, and one unplanned trip over the side of the vessel. They're not bad at filtering out glare either with a subtle amber tint and very little color distortion. We really only have two slight gripes: 1) These frames are so lithe we often forgot we were wearing them in the first place. 2) The white Oakley logo that mars the side of each arm is hopelessly garish. Sorry guys, if we wanted to advertise that badly we'd go to work for Wieden+Kennedy.
WIRED Lenses and frames so light (1 ounce!), you swear they're filled with helium. Metal-free joints lend an uncomplicated, casual feel. Quite possibly the best-looking design Oakley carries. Barely a hint of color distortion.
TIRED Enormous Oakley logo is seriously gauche, despite '80s-era typeface. So little mass, some say they feel cheap.
$140, oakley.com
Zeal Optics Zyaa
Does looking like Bono from the Zooropa era sound like a smart look to go for? Then you might want to reach for a pair of the Zyaas. While the large, wrap-arounds actually did a fairly decent job of eliminating water-reflected glare; color filtration is not exactly stellar. Looking at the world through these glasses yielded a brownish-pink hue that is almost gut wrenching after long exposures. While extremely light (1.3 ounces) the Zyaas are also cheap in terms of construction and cost. But if you're looking to get polarized at a low price, there are a lot worse choices than these specs.
WIRED Supremely light and quite comfy. Stays securely fastened to face no matter what crazy-ass (white-water rafting, mountain biking) conditions you put them in. Can you argue with that price? No. No you can't.
TIRED A bit ridiculous looking on most people. Huge "Z" adorning each arm screams gelled hair and tribal tats. Color filtration is more warped than Lindsay Lohan's legal defense.
$100, zealoptics.com
Motorola's Droid X Is a Massive Dose of Madcap Multimedia
It's only been eight months since the original Droid hit like a wrecking ball. Now, the mother of all (Lucas-licensed) droids is upon us with the July 15 arrival of the feature-packed Droid X.*
At 5 x 2.6 x .04 inches, the X is unapologetically large and more Sticky Fingers than svelte when pocketed. Otherwise, Motorola wisely kept the handset remarkably thin and relatively streamlined. Paired with its spacious 4.3-inch, 854 x 480 LCD touchscreen, it's clear the Droid X was carefully crafted with a visually dense, touch-driven experience in mind.
In fact, it's this attention to presentation that allows the X to truly shine. Navigating the phone is a surprisingly immersive experience, due to an uncannily fast 1-GHz Texas Instruments processor and 512 MB of RAM. In reality, the X's hardware shaves just fractions of a second off the Droid/Eris/Nexus One response times, but it makes huge impact in the long run. When switching apps, you feel like the device is actively responding to commands rather than merely processing them.
Naturally, this sweetens the X's cache of capabilities. Watching movies from the Blockbuster app, playing games from the Android Market, and even streaming music from Pandora is fast, effortless and best of all, free of lag. With a few clicks through the menu, we converted the phone into a 3G hot spot for up to 5 devices — which is the welcome feature du jour thanks to the HTC EVO and Palm Pre.
Motorola managed to cram three microphones into this beast: Two for noise-canceling purposes and one for regular squawking. This arrangement produced a surprising degree of call clarity while navigating San Francisco's urban jungle of perpetual construction sites, gusts of wind and horn-happy motorists. An increased degree of warmth in the audio could've pushed the X into all-star status, but the pragmatism of good old-fashioned clarity was more than enough to get by.
Speaking of just getting by, the handset's 8-megapixel camera is underwhelming for still pictures. What's worse is the process of snapping pics woefully relies on a hard press of a physical button, which screwed with image clarity. However, the X's pairing of solid video chops (720p video at 24 fps!) with high-def output (mini-HDMI!) makes for the quite the saving grace.
All this power, acumen and flair isn't for everyone, though. At its core, the X is designed for a large, splashy, multimedia-heavy experience. Its size disqualifies it from any smartphone quick-draw contests (we permanently left it out-of-pocket for sanity's sake), and its occasionally power-hungry features make it a bad idea to stray far from an electric outlet. That said, even this phone's most plain vanilla features (e.g., phone calls) are simple, lightning quick, and well implemented. If you can handle the phone's immense size, you'll be treated to one of the finest Android devices available anywhere.
WIRED Incredibly capable and dapper take on the multimedia phone. Standard battery endures a full day of regular web/video/phone use. Dual camera LEDs make for an awesome flashlight. Sports more connections than Ari Gold: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 3G, GPS and FM. Storage aplenty with 8 GB of on-board memory and included 16-GB card. Charges off mini-USB. DLNA ready for sharing pics, audio and video between compatible devices.
TIRED Call quality aside, it still feels like a TrapperKeeper against your face. No status light while charging. Movie downloads from Blockbuster are slooow and not viewable on the big screen in HDMI. Flimsy camera button and volume rocker. That mini-HMDI cord will cost you extra. Can't realistically run a 3G hot spot unless you have POW-AH.
*Mother of all Droids ... for now. The Droid 2 is due out later this year with more to follow.Double Your Pleasure: 2-Person Tents Tested
Three may be company, but we're more than happy to just double up — especially when it comes to camping. These two-person tents are perfect for sheltering you and a pal anywhere from the valley floor of Yosemite to the untamed wilderness of your own backyard.
MSR Carbon Reflex 2
The Carbon Reflex 2 is the Winnie Cooper of two-person backpacking tents — sweet, sensible and not without its charms. Its two-pole frame is quick and easy to set up. It's also possible, if somewhat awkward, to set up the fly without the tent, which is a nice option: You can erect the tent under the fly to avoid getting the interior soaked under heavy rain, or you can set up the fly by itself for a quick bivy. Mesh sidewalls make the Reflex 2 incredibly breathable, even when the fly is on. And for such a light weight — less than 4 pounds with the ground sheet — the tent's interior feels luxuriously spacious with 40 inches of headroom. A minor point: Brick red and canary yellow is a color combination that brings to mind carrot-flavored baby barf. But like Winnie's turtleneck sweaters, it's at most a cosmetic defect. And one we're willing to overlook.
WIRED Aluminum needle stakes are lightweight, easy to use and attractive. Fly can be erected separately. Quick setup.
TIRED Gaudier than Liberace's entire wardrobe. Drafty in inclement weather.
$400, msrcorp.com
Big Agnes Fly Creek UL2
The Fly Creek is a tent aimed at beginning backpackers, which is to say — light, small, and not the most comfortable night's sleep in the world. The tent's dimensions were by far the most cramped of all the ones we tested. While the specs state that the UL2 offers 38 inches of headroom, those inches are towards the back of the structure instead of front where your head is. This makes putting on your pants a grueling, horizontal task if it's cold or raining outside. Moreover, the Fly Creek must be thoroughly staked out to produce those dimensions, including two crucial stakes on each of the tent's sidewalls. Rocky campsites cause the tent to collapse on itself, shrinking from 28 square feet of floorspace to what feels like about 5. Missing any stakes lets the UL2 flap noisily in the wind, while the miniature vestibule leaves packs and boots exposed to the elements. On the other hand, the ultralight silicone of the tent and fly felt like silk, packed up small, and kept out the fiercest cliffside breezes and rain. The Fly Creek is ideal for Daniel Boones who like to go fast and travel alone.
WIRED Unbelievably light (a shade over 2 pounds with groundsheet). Fly and tent pack smaller than a grapefruit. Single-hub pole setup is fast and easy. Interior gear loft. Well-ventilated, even under the fly.
TIRED Suitable for only diminutive hikers. Small vestibule leaves boots and bags soaking wet.
$350, bigagnes.com
Nemo Morpho 2P
Inflatable supports are a nifty idea in theory, but in reality the Morpho 2P suffers from several fatal flaws. Two thick, sturdy air booms support the Morpho in the front and back but not in between, which makes the tent difficult to pick up and shake out when damp or dirty. Moreover, the air booms save neither time nor weight. Each took about 30 seconds to inflate with the minuscule foot pump — which isn't bad for a balloon-animal party, but a lot longer than the time it takes to assemble aluminum tent poles. And the tent itself was more than a pound heavier than any other tent tested. The integrated fly makes it impossible to separate the pieces to dry them or cut weight. And finally, for a three-season tent, it's stuffy. The back vent is too small to allow much in-and-out air flow. Multiple interior pockets are a nice touch, but not enough to compensate for the tent's deficiencies.
WIRED Booms stayed sturdy and inflated throughout rain and wind gusts. Inner vestibule keeps backpacks and boots dry. Convenient interior pockets. Cozy, cave-like interior.
TIRED Confusing setup. Heavy: 6 pounds with footprint. Gets hotter than a volcano stuffed with Victoria's Secret catalogs.
$430, nemoequipment.com
Marmot Haven 2P
The Haven 2P is the ideal tent for a Saturday beach trip with friends. Leave the optional floor at home to cut weight, and stake all eight corners in warm, soft sand. Then clip the single support pole into place and unzip the tent's top vents with the convenient stiff handles. The 10-second setup complete, your whole family can then stretch out in the unbelievable 56 square feet of space in the Haven's well-ventilated interior. Yes, the Haven would be perfect there ... and nowhere else. It's impossible to use in places with limited space or on rocky ground, as all eight corners need to be staked for the tent to be secure. Moreover, the Haven leaves a few inches of open space above the floor, giving vermin, wind and rain free access to your vulnerable, sleeping head. A three-season tent? It's barely a weekend tent.
WIRED Light in proportion to the tent's size. Removable floor lets warm-weather campers cut weight. Excellent ventilation. Plenty of room for bags, boots and people.
TIRED Freezing in temperatures below 55 degrees. Gap between tent and floor lets dogs wriggle out and mosquitoes buzz in.
$200, marmot.com
Rapid Transit: River Shoes Tested + Rated
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Cold water. Hot sun. Sharp rocks. Slick docks. These obstacles mean nothing when traversing bodies of water with a good set of river shoes. The best ones will offer protection up top, and security below to keep you stepping, wet or dry.
New Balance SM921
If you want to make fast tracks across wet terrain, this lightweight low-impact river runner will add some serious twinkle to your toes. These kicks clocks in at a mere 11.3 ounces, and features a stable, running shoe-style sole with solid yet lightweight lugs that provide ample traction without stacking on grams. A quick-pull lacing system lets you enter and exit easily, and keeps the shoe secure on the foot so it won't rub and cause blisters when wet. The mesh upper is flexible and light, and moves like a second layer of skin. We loved this shoe on a 5K run along the beach for crashing in and out of surf, and it was also our favorite for trail running.
But while it makes a great runner, its true calling is the life aquatic. Eight large holes along the sole evacuate water just about as quickly as it comes in. Likewise, a perforated rubber insole moves water through quickly without absorbing it along the way. Even better, not only does it let water escape, but sand and fine particulate matter also passes out of the shoe, rather than piling up in the toe or heel. When scrambling over wet rocks and wood, we kept a steady footing and were never in jeopardy of slipping. We were also pleasantly surprised to find that the mesh upper does a fantastic job keeping dry sand out, another reason we loved this shoe for athletic adventures around the water's edge. Finally, the shoe dried extremely quickly in all circumstances, both in direct sun, and at home in a dark closet.
However, the SM921 did strike a couple of sour notes. While the quick-pull lacing system meant the shoes went on easily, it also meant the shoe sometimes slipped off the foot occasionally. When we tried trudging our way through deep mud, for example, we had to work to keep the shoe on our foot, and our heel came fully out multiple times. For the same reasons, small pebbles and other debris can come in around the ankle. And while the lightweight construction is great for fleet-footed excursions, it also means that the shoe doesn't offer much stability against turning an ankle, or smashing your toes against the rocks. You'll also feel sharp edges underfoot.
These are minor quibbles though. Overall, this shoe is an excellent choice for those who will be frequently moving back and forth from wet to dry and want something that provides freedom of movement, top of the foot protection, and underfoot traction.
WIRED Evacuates mud and sand like the Nile River. Dries exceptionally fast. Extremely lightweight and low impact, almost feels like being barefoot. Best beach runner we've ever sprinted across the sands in.
TIRED Comes off of foot waaay too easily. Pebbles and other debris get a free pass into shoe.
$90, newbalance.com
Keen Cimarron II
When it comes to all-around wet-and-dry performance, we were blown away by the versatile Cimarron II. The 12.1-ounce shoe is lightweight, and secures nicely via quick-pull laces. Loops on the tongue and heel help you get the shoe on and off quickly. Thick multidirectional lugs provide nice traction. And the webbed mesh upper provided both protection, and a degree of warmth in cold water. It all stacked up to a shoe that did just about everything well.
As a hiker, the Keen's sturdy sole with protection for toes and heel proved stable and secure; we navigated rocky off-trail sections with peace of mind and without having to focus on our feet. It even made a passable trail runner that we logged a beach-side 5K in without any discomfort. In the water, it handled slick surfaces exceptionally well, and was also solid on sharp rocks thanks to a very rigid sole. We were also pleased with its performance in the mud, where it stayed on our feet even after sinking completely below the surface into the muck. While our heel did come up in the back end of the shoe, it never came out.
Yet we did have a few nits to pick out of these kicks. It did a fine job keeping out small pebbles and debris, but it did allow quite a bit of sand and smaller particulate matter in. And because silt is not easily flushed out, it tended to collect in the toebox, which was uncomfortable. Also, if you do manage to get a small pebble in there, you'll have to take your shoes off to get it out again. Finally, while it does shed excess water, it doesn't dry quickly. It was much slower to dry — both indoors and out — than the other two shoes we tested along side it. The wet upper combined with the collected sand rubbed our skin, but not in a good way. The bottom line is that the Cimarron II is a very solid well-rounded performer. It wasn't the best at anything, but it was pretty great at just about everything we threw at it. For a combination rafting and hiking shoe, it was aces.
WIRED Stuck to slippery rocks like a starfish. Heavy-duty toe and heel will keep your feet from getting stubbed out. First rate trail shoe; handled hiking and scrambling across rocks as well as it did water.
TIRED Tends to collect silt and sand. Very slow to dry, our feet stayed soggy in these suckers all day.
$100, keenfootwear.com
Teva Avator SR
While most river shoes are simply wetware versions of athletic shoes, the Teva Avator resemble work boots. The neoprene upper extends above the ankle, and it secures by means of a Velcro closure, plus two adjustable straps. Thick padding at the ankle and a stiff rubberized cup in the rear behind the heel offer some protection to keep your ankle from turning. Likewise, a stiff toe cup will keep you from totaling your toes on underwater rocks or other jagged edges. The hard sole was ace for stepping on sharp rocks and uncertain terrain, providing a secure platform that even stood up to a light stabbing from a Swiss Army knife.
And yet this work boot is very much a submersible shoe. Vents by the toe and heel allow water to escape, while the neoprene not only dries quickly, but it also keeps your feet relatively warm in cold river or ocean water. The adjustable straps stay closed no matter how turbulent the water, or what you wedge your foot in below its surface. Even when we plunged this shoe calf-deep in the mud, it never budged. Seriously, you're more likely to have a beaver gnaw your foot off than you are to lose it in the water. Likewise, the ankle-high closure keeps out not only H2O but also dirt, grime and even fine sand. We were also surprised at how quickly the shoe dried. Although it has much more material than the New Balance 921 or Keen Cimarron II that we tested simultaneously, it was the first to dry in cool indoor conditions. It is, however, slow to drain, and in the sun it retained water longer than the others.
While we're mostly positive on this kicker, but the shoe isn't much of an athletic performer. The rigid ankle makes running and scrambling in it awkward, while the largely flat sole tends to become caked in sand and mud, and slips repeatedly on slick rocks and wet wood. It was also quite hot. While the neoprene upper is great for those moments when your dogs are sunk in chilly river water, in the sun they can get quite hot (and more than a little slimy).
Overall, we were impressed with the Avator, but it seems best suited to occasional splashes and is more of a workhorse than a thoroughbred.
WIRED More secure than a 64-character password; this shoe will not accidentally come off your foot. Exceptionally stable, great for walking through water where one can't see below the surface. Neoprene upper kept our toes toasty. Dries quickly.
TIRED Banana peel-slick soles slid off algae-covered rocks like a fried egg off oiled Teflon. Slow to drain.
$90, teva.com
<cite>Wired</cite> Wanted the Right Rescue Kit, So It Made One Itself
We searched high and low for an ultralight, super-basic first aid kit that we could take anywhere. It didn't exist, so we designed our own.
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The Wired Rickshaw Rescue Kit
Together with Rickshaw Bagworks, we created this water-resistant survival satchel to carry a pared-down collection of remedies that will get you back on the trail—or as far as the ER.
Ace Instant Cold Compress
Smash this packet to bring frosty relief to pain and inflammation.
Adhesive bandages
You know, Band-Aids. You also know when to use them.
Adsafe Plus CPR Face Shield with airway valve
Lets you give or get mouth-to-mouth without locking lips.
Advil (ibuprofen)
Fights inflammation. Pop two at bedtime to get your achy limbs ready to move the next day.
Alcohol prep pads
Use these to clean your cuts—and the Leatherman you're about to use to remove that splinter.
Aspirin
Can help keep your ticker tocking if taken at the first sign of a heart attack.
Benadryl
Halts the sneezing, itching, and swelling associated with allergic reactions.
Burn Jel
This lidocaine ointment takes the burn out of your, um, burns.
Cipro
The broad-spectrum antibiotic in Cipro knocks out bacteria like Manny Pacquiao.
Dr. Scholl's Moleskin
Still the best way to prevent blisters from bubbling into infected sores.
Imodium
Diarrhea can cause life-threatening dehydration. Imodium will stop the flow and help you get out of the john and back on the trail.
NexTemp Disposable Thermometer
Uncrushable, paper-thin, accurate to two-tenths of a degree.
Nuun Portable Electrolyte Hydration
Dissolvable tablets stave off dehydration by adding ions to your H20.
OxyContin
Highly addictive, but Tylenol won't cut it if you snap your tibia.
QuikClot Sport Advanced Clotting Sponge
Slap this on a badly bleeding wound to halt hemorrhaging.
Steri-Strip Wound Closure Strips
Seal nasty gashes until you can make it someplace that has sutures, antiseptic, and anesthetic—or at least a needle and thread and whiskey.
Tegaderm Transparent Film
Leave that gauze at home with your leeches and hacksaws; this sticky, breathable dressing provides sterile protection for any body part.
Triple antibiotic ointment
Keeps nasty bacteria from turning a minor scrape into a serious infection.
Tylenol (acetaminophen)
Cools fevers like nothing else—and for some diseases, like dengue, it's the only safe treatment.
Little Grills With Big Geek Cred
Summer and cookouts go together like Baby Ruths and swimming pools. Compact grills let you BBQ anywhere at a moment's notice.
1. Big Green Egg (small)
The Egg lived up to its lofty rep: Our food came out flavorful and juicy—even veggie burgers! Unfortunately, at 65 pounds this charcoal burner weighs nearly as much as the other three grills combined. And the Egg's brittle ceramic shell made us apprehensive about carrying it down steps, much less tossing it in the trunk. When we did take it on the road, we had to wait hours for the thing to cool down before lugging it home.
WIRED Can be configured for grilling, baking, smoking, or convection heating. Equally capable above 750° F or south of 250°.
TIRED Switching setups was tough to do while the coals were lit. 13-inch-diameter cooking area is the smallest of this batch.
$500, biggreenegg.com
2. Solaire Everywhere
Equipped with its own shoulder bag and weighing in at just 15 pounds, the Solaire is as portable as a briefcase, and its infrared burner and stainless steel housing positively drip with geek cred. The grill was ready to cook in five minutes, and a maximum measured temperature of just over 700° F meant we were able to produce tempting grill marks and juicy insides. With such spunky burners and a lid that isn't designed for flame-on use, though, slow cooking is sadly not an option.
WIRED Quick cleanup and cooling make it easy to head home.
TIRED Hard to throttle down the heat. Buy a few extra bottles of propane—this baby is thirsty. 155-inch cooking area is second-smallest in our test.
$289, rasmussen.biz
3. Weber Q140
After we got over our prejudice against its electric heating element, we realized that the Q140 was a pretty effective cooker. Its heat-reflecting lining and oval shape direct BTUs at your grillables, and closed-lid cooking provided excellent results on fish and veggies. Keep the cover down, though: Even though you plug this 1,560-watter into a 120-volt outlet, it still struggles to reach 500° F. Serious searers should look elsewhere.
WIRED Never runs out of fuel (as long as you pay the electric bill). Optional fold-up stand leaves table space for food and eating.
TIRED Low top heat. No temperature gauge. Portability is limited to the length of your extension cord.
$280, weber.com
4. Char-Broil CB500X
The CB500X looks like a tough man's treasure chest, with black metal construction, preseasoned cast-iron grate, and a front-side fire-pit door. But we struggled to achieve precision grilling: The charcoal burned too hot and fast, and the vents were too small to let us control the temperature effectively. On the plus side, it offered the largest cooking area in our roundup (24 x 10 inches) while still fitting nicely into the back of our Honda Civic.
WIRED Removable bottom for easy cleanup. Adjustable fire rack.
TIRED At 37 pounds, it approaches don't-lift-with-your-back territory. Hot metal vent knobs inflicted the only burn of the test, and back flash singed arm hairs.
$150, charbroil.com
Fetish: B&O's BeoLab 11 Subwoofer Is a Boom in Bloom
Sure, summer's here, but maybe you don't like the outdoors. Maybe you burn easily. Still, you can bring a little of the outside in with a "flower" that drops more bass than a lowrider on La Brea &mdash Bang & Olufsen's BeoLab 11 subwoofer. Nicknamed the Tulip, its distinct design is optimized for both a fresh look and stunning performance. Audio designers typically add ballast to their room shakers to kill sound-spoiling vibrations. Instead of piling on pounds, B&O set two 6.5-inch drivers across from one another. The sound waves they create push in opposite directions, preventing vibrations from propagating. At just 18 pounds, the 200-watt powered sub is light enough to mount on a wall. It's also eerily still: Set a cocktail on top and the booze won't even ripple. But don't make a habit of it &mdash this flower doesn't like to be watered.
Icon Motors Re-engineers the King of the Trail
Back when records were state of the art, the pre-Jeep Willys CJ3B was king of the jungle trail. Unfortunately, its skills haven't held up as well as its looks. Loving its style but not its capabilities, Icon Motors produced an aesthetically faithful update.
OK, update may be understating it. Severely.
Icon acquired a few old CJs and laser-scanned all of their surfaces, generating a 3-D model of the 70-year-old vehicle. Then, they pressed new body panels out of modern steel (the old Willys was made of wartime metals that aren't as tough as modern stuff) and coated it all in a Teflon-polyurethane powdercoat that we couldn't scratch despite hurling the truck at trees instead of around them.
While the outside looks just like an old Willys, a 1940s mechanic would never recognize the undercarriage. The new, mandrel-bent frame is designed to accommodate a fully independent suspension, instead of the old leaf springs. The Chevy-sourced 4-cylinder engine makes 205 horsepower, but gets 23 mpg.
The 4WD system is adapted from a 2010 model-year Jeep: It's more advanced, and, as an added bonus, owners won't have to scour eBay for antique replacement parts when they get overambitious in the off-road park.
And while a 1950s 3B tops out at around 50 mph on the highway, we throttled the Icon down L.A. freeways upwards of 80. Then, when we hit the Miller Jeep Trail, we switched into 4WD low and went way beyond our comfort zone without seeing the Icon balk. With 24 inches of wheel travel, it can scurry over boulders, romp rutted trails, and negotiate inclines that would make a Hummer run screaming for a pedicure.
WIRED Every light is LED—from the dashboard to the headlamps. At just 64 inches wide, it's narrow and capable enough to tackle trails that Jeeps aren't technically allowed on. Just try to scratch the paint: We drove through a big-ass thorn bush and wiped away the evidence with a rag. Attracts more thumbs-ups than the Colosseum. Only 83 grand.
TIRED Only 83 grand?! Just like the old CJs, high-beam switch is next to the clutch. (They moved that for a reason.) Shifter feels sloppy, er, retro. Seat belts were a little janky, prone to locking up even in the rare moments when we had the Icon sitting level.
Gear Up for Veering Off, Off the Beaten Path
Route 66 has the world's largest ketchup bottle. Yay. Here's a better road trip idea: Leave the asphalt behind and visit someplace that's not already on a postcard.
1. Outdoor Research DryComp Ridge Sack
WIRED Super-lightweight and surprisingly strong. Shrugged off mud, water, rocks and scraping branches. This day pack even survived the ultimate test — being checked as airline baggage. Comfy straps.
TIRED Hip belt could use some padding. Still smells like our campfire, even after washing.
$120, outdoorresearch.com
2. ARB Fridge Freezer
WIRED It may be the size of your old Igloo, but this is no mere cooler; it's a full-on fridge, complete with electronic thermostat. Runs off a 12-volt socket yet works as well as your kitchen model.
TIRED Costs almost as much as your kitchen model. Exposed cooling fins are easy to damage. Heavy.
$850, arbusa.com
3. Cobra CJIC 350 Power Pack
WIRED We brought it along for its air compressor — handy for tailoring tire firmness to terrain — but it does so much more. It'll jump-start a V-8, power a flatscreen or charge your iPod.
TIRED Jumper cables too short. Wimpy compressor takes forever. Three separate power switches?
$100, cobra.com
4. Garmin Oregon 550t Navigator
WIRED Because "Elvis Rock" (a) isn't on any map, and (b) might not look like Elvis when you're sober, the 550t lets you take a geotagged photo that you can click on later to find your way back. 16 hours of battery life! Water- and shock-resistant.
TIRED Better off-road than on: Street maps cost $100, screen is too small, and instead of "turn here," it just says "beep."
$600, garmin.com
5. Black Diamond Sprinter Headlamp
WIRED Small, bright and rugged. Flashing red "follow me" light on back. Comes with a jillion different plugs for overseas charging.
TIRED No plug will help if you run out of juice in the middle of nowhere. Wiring-lined head strap chafes a sunburned brow.
$100, blackdiamondequipment.com
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