I recently had a chance to test out the StarTech InfoSafe External Slim USB 2.0 DVD+/- RW Dual-Layer Drive ($149.99). As its name implies, this device is fairly slim and portable. It weighs just over 12 ounces and measures 0.91 x 5.3 x 5.31 inches. The InfoSafe drive also has some handy features, such as dual USB ports (for power if you don't have an outlet handy) and support for DVD+/- as well as CDs. The drive is capable of up to 8X speeds.

The included software, Nero 7 Essentials, is a well-intentioned addition, but it's a bit bloated and unintuitive. In addition to the DVD-burning app, it also installs apps for audio, photos, data, video player, home networking utility, and a multimedia-file organizer called Scout. You could consider this a value compared with the simple drivers that most burn drives come with, but the whole suite is a 433MB install, so if you already have your favorite media apps, you may want to skip it.

I tested the InfoSafe drive by burning a 1-hour episode of the HBO show "Deadwood" in AVI format. To covert and burn the file using the Nero software took more than the running time of the episode. Needless to say, this drive is no speed demon. But if you want a portable dual-layer DVD drive, you could do a lot worse than the InfoSafe.

Sergeant First Class Kurt Torpey of the Army Reserve,a veteran, "saw [the] article today and wanted to cry", Torpey said after reading our story on YourDigitalElectronics.com and other suspect discount electronics stores. Although Torpey said he was convinced he was the only guy in America taken in, a simple search reveals that dozens have paid hundreds of dollars for products that never materialized. Call it the "Italian Job".

Torpey's story will end on a happier note, though.

Buffy fans, rejoice. For those that still mourn the loss of Firefly, there is reason to remove the sackcloth and ashes: Joss Whedon is returning to TV with Dollhouse, a new science fiction series starring a familiar geeky actress, Eliza Dushku.

According to the interview with E! Online with Dushku and Whedon, Dollhouse is the story of Echo, a programmable human plaything:

"Echo (Eliza Dushku) [is] a young woman who is literally everybody's fantasy. She is one of a group of men and women who can be imprinted with personality packages, including memories, skills, language--even muscle memory--for different assignments. The assignments can be romantic, adventurous, outlandish, uplifting, sexual and/or very illegal.

"When not imprinted with a personality package, Echo and the others are basically mind-wiped, living like children in a futuristic dorm/lab dubbed the Dollhouse, with no memory of their assignments--or of much else. The show revolves around the childlike Echo's burgeoning self-awareness, and her desire to know who she was before, a desire that begins to seep into her various imprinted personalities and puts her in danger both in the field and in the closely monitored confines of the Dollhouse."

Since I lived in the U.K. for two years, I'm seriously behind in keeping up with the Joneses. Incompatible electrical and video standards meant that I couldn't really invest in high-end A/V equipment. And when we moved back to where my wife worked in tony Scottsdale, AZ, suddenly we were surrounded by exotic sportscars, televisions measured in feet, and cosmetic surgeries that cost more than my annual salary.

So the 1,200 American Christmas lists compiled by the Solutions Research Group matched up pretty well with mine. Here's what I want ("afford"is another matter) for Christmas this year.

We've got a meaty show this week. First up is Michael J. Miller, former PC Mag editor-in-chief and now senior vice president for technology strategy at Ziff Brothers Investments. He tells us what he saw at DEMO this year, who the show targets, and why many of the businesses there won't make it. Next, we talk about our own electronics show, DigitalLife, which took place last week in NYC. What were the best products showcased? We reveal who we picked as best of show and more. And how could we not talk about Microsoft's second attempt at designing MP3 players?

On the second half, we introduce GoodCleanTech.com's Katherine Montgomery to tell us what the pope and carbon neutrality have in common, and if the Vatican will successfully become the world's first carbon-neutral state. Dan may not be afraid of Google, but we are, after he tells us that the giant search engine can keep a history of all your searches; that is, if you want it to. Later, we present a new segment: the Hot Five in Five, where Brian Heater wraps up the hottest five stories in—you guessed it—five minutes. Stay tuned for this week's weird gear; it's a mouthful.

Oh yeah. That's a pic of me, taken at DigitalLife.

Listen to the podcast here!

Hosts: Dan Costa and Jennifer DeLeo
Guests: Carol Mangis, Brian Heater, Michael Miller, and Katherine Montgomery
Audio Engineer: Scott Bernstein
Theme Music: Terry Sullivan

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A few drinks, a little food (um, too little--we'll order more next time), and good company all go a long way toward curing the tired feet, ringing ears, and general overstimulation a tech show brings on. That's exactly what we provided for a flock of bloggers and other press people last night (Heater, you made it happen!), in the upstairs press room at the Jacob Javits Convention Center. I think we'll need to make this an annual tradition.

In the above photo, left to right: Molly McLaughlin, Colleen Wickwire of CircleUp, Kyle Monson, Chloe Albanesius, Brian Heater, Corinne Iozzio

More photos after the jump--and all photos courtesy of BeeCee Photo. Thanks, Rob!

(Sorry I can't identify everyone. If you can fill in any of my question marks, please e-mail at gearlog@ziffdavis.com.)

Every year PC Magazine's editors scour the showroom floor at DigitalLife and compile a list of the dozen or so best products being showcased at Javits that year. The ceremonies have just wrapped up for 2007. Here's what we picked.

CinemaNow.com is capping off a summer of partnerships by inking a deal with streaming media provider Quartics to allow CinemaNow members to watch Internet selections on their TVs.

Quartics' PC2TV solution provides wireless streaming of high-definition 1080 x 720p content from a PC to a TV without buffering. CinemaNow currently boasts an online library of 10,000 movies, TV shows and music videos. You can buy content to own, rent and watch within a 24-hour period or burn to DVD. For those who'd rather watch their selections on TV than a laptop, enter Quartics.

This is not the first TV solution for CinemaNow.com, however. HP's upcoming MediaSmart TVs will also have access to CinemaNow's movie database.

In July, CinemaNow signed an agreement with Sony BMG, EMI and Sanctuary Records that will allow for the sale and rental of content from those labels on CinemaNow and its partner site, WatchMusicHere.com.

When you first encounter the DigitalLife showroom floor, one of the first things to catch your eye will be the big Dance Dance Revolution booth, run by a Ryan Seacrest knockoff who's handing out prizes--Chip Ahoy cookies--to some of the more...creative contestants. As it has in all previous incarnations, gaming is playing a large role in the fourth year of DigitalLife.

Can't make it to NYC for the DigitalLife show? PCMag.com's photoblog is the next best thing! We're shooting everything we see and posting the pics online, along with sometimes-snarky-but-always-informative captions, and we'll be regularly updating it through Sunday. So far, we've got pics and specs of Dell's gorgeous new HD Media Server, a fanless, liquidless PC-cooling technology, bizarre USB-powered office supplies, and maybe there's a booth lady or three. Dressed up like elves. Or holding guns. Not that you'd be interested in such things...(but if you are, here's that link again).

If you're a blogger attending this year's DigitalLife show in New York, we'd like to invite you to PC Mag Networks' Bloghaus meetup. Stick around after the show on Friday night and join us to mingle with fellow bloggers and partake in free Wi-Fi, beverages, music, and gaming. Things will get started at 6 P.M. on September 28th, upstairs at the Javitz Center in the DigitalLife Press Room.

Send all RSVPs to gearlog@ziffdavis.com, and we'll put you on the list.

PC Mag Networks Bloghaus
Friday September, 28th
6-9 PM
DigitalLife Press Room - Terrace 4A-B
Upstairs at the Javitz Center

See you there.

Saturday is customarily celebrity day here at DigitalLife. Past years have yielded such notables as Jessica Alba, Method Man, and of course, Saved By the Bell star Dustin Diamond. On occasion, however, if you're sharp-eyed and lucky, you can spot some famous folks on the showroom floor on a Thursday or Friday. Their presence almost inevitably makes for some blogworthy moments.

Take, for example, the above picture of Pac-Man being interviewed on camera--slightly odd, perhaps; long a man of actions over words, Mr. Man has never been noted for public speaking. The money shot, however, was the moment that Popeye attempted to grab some screen time but was warded off by a strong-armed camera man. Damn my slow shutter speed!

Fortunately, moments like that are par for the course at the Namco booth, which is staffed by about twenty folks wearing yellow hats in the shape of Pac-Man.

Another star-struck moment after the jump!

Remember the Headplay Personal Cinema System that Jen wrote about in her Top Ten Geeky Eyewear roundup? Well, the company is showcasing the headset this year at DigitalLife, and we had a chance to take it for a spin, along with a few thousand of our closest friends.

My initial feedback is pretty positive. It took a bit of adjusting to get the thing to fit right--this likely had to do with the fact that each set was probably handled several hundred times before I had a chance to actually try it out. The knobs were jammed, and it wasn't until I was handed a second unit that I was actually able to get the thing to fit right. Still, the adjustability seems a key feature. The fact that prior 3D optical systems have lacked such customization may be why these things are notorious for making people feel queasy.

My major complaint is that the light in the room affected the performance of the glasses somewhat--the effect wasn't quite as isolating as one might have hoped.

Otherwise, the 3D effect was quite cool--perhaps not quite $549 worth of cool, but hey, that's the high price you pay for geeky eyewear.

Polk Audio previewed its upcoming I-Sonic ES-2 HD table radio at Digital Life Thursday. The entertainment system includes a docking station for all iPod models and is the first radio to include the iTunes tagging function, according to Dan Hodgson, senior vice president of marketing at Polk.

Tagging lets those with HD Radio receivers hit a special button to "tag" songs they hear on the FM dial, transfer those selections to their iPod and opt to purchase them when the device is synced with iTunes.

I travel a lot so the concept of a sub $500 telepresence robot that lets me talk to and see my wife and kids from virtually wherever I am has some appeal. Others may find iRobot's first foray into this nascent robot market a bit unsettling. The new ConnectR, which looks like a souped up Roomba, but is actually built on the company's Create robot kit platform, can via remote control, roll off its charging base, navigate the home, find family members and let you engage in face-to-foot (well, you can point the camera up to the face) conversation. The robot was announced here at Digital Life along with iRobot's new Looj gutter-cleaning robot.

Having it roll around underfoot may not be everyone's idea of how to remain connected, but like other iRobot creations, ConnectR does include edge detection, so you can place it closer to eye-level on a table and, well, interact.

Looks wise, the ConnectR is one slick, round puppy. The top offers smooth, shiny red top with a rotating camera eye, speaker and microphone, small LED display and keypad. There's also the familiar Roomba-style-bumper on the front to help ConnectR navigate around obstacles. Unlike iRobot's other robots, ConectR is remote-controlled via a Web based app that you can download from the iRobot Web site and use it to control the bot from any Web-connected PC.

Don't write that $500 check just yet. ConnectR is a good six months away from commercial availability. Today, however, you can sign up to be among a chosen few to get beta versions for just $199. The catch? You have to report back all your findings to iRobot.