Editor's Choice 2007: Digital Storage and Display

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Last year's P-4000 portable storage viewer was at the top of our Editor's Choice list, so we're happy that Epson has made a good thing better with this significantly upgraded model. The company describes the P-5000's dazzling four-inch screen as the world's first four-color LCD because it employs red, blue, emerald green, and yellow-green filters for better fidelity. Indeed, the 640x480-pixel display can now discriminate 16.7 million colors versus the P-4000's 262,000 -- reproducing 88 percent of the Adobe RGB color space.

The transfer speed of Epson's new viewer is 250 percent faster than the P-4000's, which means shorter downloads from memory cards (it has slots for CompactFlash and Secure Digital) and more transfers per battery charge. (The Li-ion cell can power three hours of slideshows or videos.) It also has a revamped user interface, an 80GB hard drive, USB 2.0 port, headphone jack, and PictBridge direct-to-printer output. (The companion Epson P-3000 has the same specs but with a 40GB hard drive that makes it less expensive.) Supported files include JPEG and RAW for most new cameras, plus a mindnumbing array of format acronyms that includes DivX, MPEG, WMV, MP3, AAC and WMA. About $700.

Best Buy: Iomega eGO

Encased in shocking red aluminum, this pocketable 160GB hard drive provides two different kinds of shock protection. It automatically pulls its read/write head off the spinning disk when it detects either too much gravitational acceleration (such as when you drop it) or an unexpected bump. That plus its sturdy housing and internal cushioning allow the eGO to survive a four-foot fall on a hard surface.

Shaped like a vest-pocket liquor flask, the snazzy eGO spins at 5400rpm, measures 5.25x3.5x0.75 inches, and weighs under half a pound, drawing power from camera or computer through its USB 2.0 Hi-Speed data port. It comes with a free download license for Secure EMC Retrospect HD backup software (Windows only). About $150.

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