OTHER TECH

Doghouse RoverTV video recorder/player $349 rovertv.com It's amazing how much pleasure you can pack into a gadget the size of a Pop-Tart. Doghouse Electronics' RoverTV plays video, music, photos, FM radio, and e-books on its own small screen, or you can connect it to a TV or computer. Besides letting you transfer content from a computer, it records video directly through an A/V jack or just audio through an embedded mike.

At 5.5 ounces, RoverTV is light to carry but a heavyweight to leave behind.

Bright 4-inch color 480 x 272-pixel widescreen LCD. (There's a 4:3 version for $299.)

The built-in timer lets you record, say, SpongeBob SquarePants unattended at 5 p.m. as long as your source has been left tuned to Nickelodeon.

The included 2-GB SD card holds up to 4 hours of video recorded at "high" quality. (Low- and mid-quality settings increase recording time.)

RoverTV doesn't have an internal hard drive, but because SD cards can be swapped out, you can carry an unlimited number of shows, movies, songs, photos, and blank cards with you.

The FM tuner scans for stations and installs 20 presets in seconds.

RoverTV plays MP3 and unprotected WMA and AAC music files. - Michael Antonoff

Shure E500 PTH sound-isolating earphones $499 shure.com When an audiophile gets an iPod, he invariably - and wisely - throws away the supplied earbuds for a more musical pair of transducers. Those who've shown their good taste in the past by opting for a set of Shure earphones will find that the new E500 PTH continues the company's tradition of first-rate sound.

Each earphone has a tweeter and two woofers, leading to nicely balanced sound - none of those chainsaw highs that set your teeth on edge or that gaseous, turgid bass that makes you feel like you're trapped in a laundromat on a Saturday afternoon. The sound is neutral without ever being sterile - all you could ask for from a pair of Lilliputian speakers.

If you're all-too-familiar with the ritual of yanking your 'buds from your ears whenever somebody asks a question, you'll love the E500 PTH's "Push to Hear" (that's where the "PTH" comes from) feature. Pressing a button on the doodad dangling from the earphone cable mutes the music and activates a small microphone, letting you engage in a brief conversation without having to remove your oh-so-carefully-positioned 'buds.

As for the art of positioning: You'll find an abundance of sleeves, able to accommodate just about any imaginable pair of ears, in the super-slick oval carrying case. - Michael Gaughn