Tuesday's Techie Gadgets

As summer vacation and fun times approach, Consumer Reporter and Senior Editor of behindthebuy.com David Gregg is here with some of the season's best new hot tech ideas for every budget.

VERIZON WIRELESS SAMSUNG GLYDE
The Samsung Glyde from Verizon Wireless is the Swiss Amy Knife of multi –media cell phones. Features include a 2.8-inch touch screen for easy navigation and a slide out full QUERTY keyboard that allows you to text and send messages with ease. The Glyde also comes equipped with instant access to over 3 million VCAST song titles and videos, instant GPS turn by turn directions and web access over the super fast EV-DO data network. Add to that a 2 mega pixel camera Bluetooth capabilities, a full featured personal organizer that holds up to 500 contacts plus a Micro card slot that can expand up to 8GB memory and you can consolidate all your devices in one cool form factor.
$249.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate with a new two-year customer agreement) visit www.verizonwireless.com.

MORE GADGETS AFTER THE JUMP...

Great Value Phone: Samsung SCH-u550
For under $50, the SCH-u550 features a 1.3 megapixel camera with Night Shot to enhance the camera's capabilities in dark environments and digital zoom, a camcorder, and Bluetooth wireless capabilities for headsets, hands-free, serial port. Verizon Wireless customers can also access V CAST Video, Verizon Wireless' multimedia service with news, sports and entertainment video clips, 3D games, and more; and V CAST Music, which offers access to more than 3 million full-length songs from well-known and independent artists that can be purchased and downloaded over-the-air. ($49,99; www.verizon.com)

KODAK EASYSHARE Pre-loaded Digital Picture Frame
The KODAK EASYSHARE Digital Picture Frame family makes it easy to capture favorite vacation memories in one place. Simply order the frame pre-loaded at kodakgallery.com, select your pictures and KODAK Gallery will load the pictures on the frame and ship the package directly.

Preloaded with up to 100 of your favorite Gallery photos, KODAK Picture Cards make it easy to have your latest and greatest memories on display. . Frames are available in a variety of sizes and prices including 7-inch, 8-inch, 10-inch and 10-in Wi-Fi enabled. Available at kodakgallery.com You can refresh your KODAK Digital Picture Frame throughout the year with KODAK Gallery’s preloaded Picture Cards.

Prices range from $119 to $249. KODAK Picture Cards are also available at kodakgallery.com for $19.95.

MAXTOR ONE TOUCH PLUS DRIVES BY SEAGATE
It may not be the sexiest new item of the season but it’s easily the most important product for any one with a computer. Storage is becoming increasingly more important in this digital age. Nearly all of what we hold dear has become digital making it easier to share and store, but there are also draw backs to this flexibility. It also means that it is subject to being lost in a moment. Maxtor drives by Seagate provide a safe haven for your entire working environment whether its digital photos, music or your important data. A system crash or virus infection of the computer could result in the lost of a library of music and years of memories captured in digital pictures.
The Maxtor OneTouch 4 Plus by Seagate with an incredible one Terabyte of storage sells for and $299 and the portable OneTouch 4 Mini with 250GB of storage sells for only $130.http://www.maxstore.com

TomTom One 130
The new, TomTom One 130 GPS System combines ease-of-use with quality navigation at an unbelievable price point. Selling for around $199 you get a full function GPS with features like TomTom's Map Share which allows you to instantly modify street names, street direction and interest points on your own device, and exclusive 'HELP ME!' features which provide additional safety so you can easily access local emergency providers all in lightweight device that can fit in your pocket. ($199; www.tomtom.com)

Panasonic Viera LCD TVS
Panasonic, known for its award winning Plasmas, also delivers quality LCD Hi Definition Televisions form 16-inch on up. Its Viera HD LCDTVs start in price well under $1000 and feature super bright screens, true hi def pictures, high tech HDMI connections and some of the best blacks ( an issue with some LCDs) in the business for sharp clear images. You can also connect a PC or pop in SD memory cards in its included slot to display family photos on its screen.

Prices start at under $1000 for Panasonic’s Viera 26-inch LCD and its 32-inch sells for only $1199. www.panasonic.com

For more information go to www.behindthebuy.com