THG's Xmas 2002 Holiday Buyer's Guide

Creative Labs MuVo

Creative Labs MuVo: The Singing Diskette
$149 US

The MuVo from Creative provides an innovative form factor and a cool design. Of course it does not have all of the bells and whistles of the iPod, but it perhaps one of the smallest and lightest designs available.

The Creative MuVo brings a new design to the table. Although it does not include all of the bells and whistles that the iPod has, it offers one of the smallest and lightest form factors around. At the time it was reviewed, our own Stéphane Kauffman pointed out that his major objection to the MuVo was the price. However, the price of this product has continued to fall and is available for around $100 at various websites on the Internet. The idea of having a miniature, fast super-diskette that can be used as a portable hard drive for transporting data during the week, and, at the same time, serves as a miniature MP3 reader for the weekend, is an intelligent combination of uses. Of course, it may not have a high-fidelity, top-of-the-range sound of the iPod, but in view of the versatility and the cost, that's a price well worth paying.

Tivo - Various Manufacturers & Designs

Getting The Most Out Of Your TiVo
$199+ US

The TiVo Series 2 starts at as little as $199 and can be upgraded as well. Our how to article only covers the original Philips series 1 Tivo, but their other other resources that can help get your Series 2 upgraded as well.

Since Shawn Watters reviewed the original TiVo, the new Series 2 TiVo(s) have appeared on the scene. The Tivo is a hard drive based personal video recorder. In Shawn's article we showed you how to add additional storage to your first generation TiVo and expand the amount of programming that can be recorded. There are resources on the Internet that let you add extra storage to the Series 2 TiVo. The price for the TiVo is all over the place depending on the size of the unit and the manufacturer. In addition, if you are a DirecTV subscriber, you have the option of considering the DirecTiVo which combines the satellite receiver and the TiVo into one nice package.