Sony MPD-AP20U, $299
You can't part with your CDs (hey, those Billy Squier discs could be worth money someday), but you finally want to enter the MP3 era? Even seasoned Internet audiophiles will appreciate the MPD-AP20U. It looks -- and plays CDs -- like a Discman, but it also works as a CD burner. It can play hundreds of hours of MP3s stored on a removable memory stick. When you want a break from the tunes, hook it up to your computer and you've got a DVD player. Rock me tonight, indeed. (Sony, 800-352-7669, sony.com)
Olympus W-10, $100
Take this dictation: The slim, 2.25-ounce W-10 digital voice recorder is capable of capturing 0.3-megapixel digital pictures. Snap an image, then index it to a specific point in your narrative, and you've got a ready-made sales presentation or slide show that can be loaded onto a computer. Its 16 megs of memory will store up to three hours of audio and 250 pictures simultaneously. What's not to love about a three-hour sales presentation? (Olympus, 800-622-6372, olympusamerica.com)
Archos Jukebox Multimedia, $400
When you're tired of the same old 5,000 songs you've stored on the handheld Jukebox Multimedia player, you can record over them with up to 40 hours of VHS-quality video (and MP3 soundtrack) for playback on its LCD screen or a standard television. No bigger than most MP3 portables and weighing only 10 ounces, the Jukebox also works as a 20-gigabyte hard drive. Did someone say "business expense"? (Archos, 949-609-1400, archos.com)
Sanyo SCP-5300, $400
Because air time adds up and a picture's worth a thousand words, there's the SCP-5300 -- the first phone in North America with a built-in digital camera. With its own flash and a 16x zoom, it shoots photos, displays them on its vivid 2.1-inch LCD screen, and dispatches them via the Internet ("Dear Everyone: Here's the sunrise at Machu Picchu...."). There's also an electronic phone book that stores as many as 500 numbers -- in case you actually make a call. (Sanyo, 818-998-7322, sanyo.com)
Palm Tungsten W, $550
Holding one of those broad PDA-cell phones up to your ear is about as subtle as carrying a bullhorn. But Palm's first offering with built-in mobile phone capacity keeps things hands-free with a headset. Simpler still, there's a keyboard and a vivid color screen, and the 6.5-ounce Tungsten W connects to wireless networks on five continents -- so it's not just a glorified Filofax on overseas trips. (Palm, 800-881-7256, palm.com)
