Tech tidbits

Published: April 2, 2007

Amazon.com.

This portable DVD player keeps the children entertained and the video iPod charged on long trips. It features a crisp, 8.5-inch LCD screen that swivels, perfect for enjoying movies stored on DVD, an iPod or memory cards. The DVD drive also can handle purchased or home-burned discs, while DivX and MPEG4 movie files can be played from a video iPod or SD memory cards. The internal battery lets the show go on for up to 2-plus hours and can be recharged with the included car AC adapter. Unlike similar products, the remote can be used to control the DVD player and the iPod.

Newegg.com.

Is your computer's hard drive chock-full of music and movies? Instead of cracking open the case to add a new drive, this device, which retails for about $250, can save files for any computer on a home network. The 7,200-rpm disc is fairly fast, and it's large enough to store 50,000 or so compressed music files. A standard Ethernet port connects the network drive to your router. It includes two USB 2.0 ports for printers and additional USB external drives, which can be automatically backed up in real time using RAID 1 mirroring.

Cox News Service