Dell calls its new Inspiron Mini 9 laptop "your new best friend." The petite laptop is an ideal travel companion if you want to blog, keep a journal, surf the Web, send email, and listen to music while on vacation. The Mini 9 has a 9" display and 4 hours of battery life, and weighs all of 2.3 pounds. Under the hood, the $349 base configuration will get you an Ubuntu Linux OS, 512MB of RAM, and a 4GB hard drive, but of course you can spend a little more if you want additional upgrades (Bluetooth, Windows XP, more memory, webcam, larger hard drive). It's not something we'd want to spend 8 hours a day with, but for vacations it sounds like it has everything we need.

"Michael, where would you like to go today?" That's how K.I.T.T. greeted David Hasslehoff in "Knight Rider," and that's how the Mio Knight Rider GPS greets you when you turn it on. In the exact same voice, thanks to Mio's partnership with Universal Studios. (You can then change it to one of 300+ other names.) K.I.T.T. (William Daniels) will give you voice guidance and turn-by-turn directions (accompanied by LED synthesizer lights), and make you feel like a 1980s TV star. The GPS device doesn't ship for a few weeks but you can preorder it from Radio Shack. Shiny jacket and curly wig not included.

According to the Circulon website, it takes almost 10 minutes to boil 2 quarts of water on an electric coil stove, but less than 5 minutes if you use an induction cooktop, because with induction cooking, 90% of the energy generated goes directly to the pot or pan. So dinner gets cooked faster and energy bills are lower. Unfortunately, induction stoves are still really expensive. But you can get this portable Circulon induction cooktop for less than $300. It has adjustable power levels with 7 preset cooking temperatures (from 150 to 430 degrees), a timer (for slow cooking), cooks safely (no open heat source), and cleans up easily with a damp sponge.

Look, another pocket video camera! Except this one records in HD. The Kodak Zi6 can record 720p at 60 frames per second, a step above the 640x480-pixel VGA resolution you get with other pocket camcorders. Available in black (pink is coming soon), the Zi6 has a 2.4" LCD and an expandable SD/SDHC card slot that holds cards up to 32 GB (you'll need a memory card because the camcorder doesn't come with much built-in memory). You can upload your videos directly to YouTube quickly and easily, thanks to the built-in USB connection. But if you want to clean them up first, the Zi6 comes with editing software. More budget camcorders.

Remember those Kohler WaterTiles from a couple years ago? They're panels for the sides of your shower, so water sprays at you from all directions like a human car wash. Kohler has taken showering to the next level with SoundTiles, matching speakers that stream your favorite music and Internet radio right into your shower. Kohler worked with Polk Audio to create these waterproof, coaxial, 4" x 4" speakers, which are controlled by the Kohler DTV II or any stand-alone home audio system. We hope for your spouse's/roommate's sake you have a good singing voice.