Other Tech

There's no shortage of camcorders or portable navigation devices out there, but here are a few that offer the basics plus a few unique perks. Available in surf-inspired colors like yellow, white, and a turquoise-blue, SANYO's Xacti E1 camcorder (right, $500; us.sanyo.com) is truly waterproof - and minus any bulky casing.

Lately it seems as though every component in a fully tricked-out home theater system wants to dink with the video - the DVD player, the receiver, the TV. Usually whatever is being done is described as some sort of upconversion. What does that mean, though? And perhaps more important, is it always a good thing?

Q. My home theater employs small tower speakers with a matching center speaker below my rear projector, dipole surrounds, and a 12-inch powered subwoofer. I'm building a new family room and would like to move to a flat-panel TV with in-wall or ceiling home theater speakers.