best

Top 5 routers under $80

If there's a thick layer of dust on your wireless router, then this Top 5 is for you.

CNET's running list of our highest-rated routers is a great place to keep up with the latest advancements in router technology. Unfortunately, it may also lead you to believe that it's necessary to drop over $150 on a router upgrade. Not true.

Our resident router expert Dong Ngo posted an excellent roundup of the best routers for shoppers on a budget. I took his list, worked with him on a ranking, and that's how we came up with … Read more

GPS buying guide

I get it. Portable navigation devices (PNDs) are a bit archaic at this point. In a world where every smartphone and tablet has some sort of GPS receiver built into it and most cars offer some sort of navigation option, buying a standalone GPS navigator seems both superfluous and archaic.

Yet, the PND market is far from dead. There are still a number of good reasons to choose a standalone GPS device. So if you're interested, here are our top picks.

Garmin Nuvi 3490 LMT

The Garmin Nuvi 3490 is the flagship of Garmin's line of GPS navigators, … Read more

MP3 player buying guide

There was a time not so long ago when MP3 players were a hot and essential technology and Apple's best-selling product was the iPod. Now with smartphones and tablets, though, there are many other devices that make great music players. But even if the MP3 player's best days are waning, there are still a number of great products available. Here are our top picks.

iPod Touch

Apple's iPod Touch has been CNET's top-rated MP3 player for five years running. With a base model that starts at $199, it is not an inexpensive product, but the breadth … Read more

Apple's vanishing iPad

The iPad we know and love seemed to vanish yesterday.

Call it the featherweight KO'ing the heavyweight. On the first day of sales, the 312-gram Mini knocked the 652-gram fourth-generation iPad into quick obscurity.

I knew there was a problem when I had to explain to people asking me about the iPad Mini that there was also this thing called the gen 4 (gen 3.5 may actually be more accurate) iPad.

And some stores weren't exactly aware of the new iPad either. A sales rep at a certain large U.S. retail store (which will go unnamed) … Read more

Hottest tech products (fall 2012)

I'm proud of you guys. Every year we roll out our fall list of the products getting the most attention from readers, and every year it ends up being a list dominated by phones.

But not this year. No, this time you guys are spicing things up with a surprising mix of products.

Of course, this would be a very different list if we didn't put some restrictions on it. We wanted to only look at very new products (added to our site in the past two months). So for example, the popular Samsung Galaxy S3 didn't … Read more

Best iPad Mini cases and covers

The iPad Mini isn't so new anymore, but new cases for it continue to arrive.

For now, anyway, a lot of case manufacturers have simply shrunken down the cases and covers they made for the standard-size iPad, which is now up to the fourth generation.

What's the best one? Very hard to say. The problem is that everybody has different tastes in cases. And, of course, some folks choose not to bother with them at all.

In doing this roundup I've tried to present a good selection of products, highlighting some of the top cases that have … Read more

Google challenges Apple's Siri

While CNET's New York office works to get power back after the storm, we're bringing you the Update show from our San Francisco office. Tuesday's top tech stories include:

- Superstorm Sandy has knocked out power, Internet and phone service across the east coast. Nearly 8 million people were without power as of Tuesday.

- Google introduced new gadgets: The Nexus 10 will go head-to-head with the iPad. It has a 10-inch screen with higher resolution than the iPad. (But these screens are so good, the difference may be imperceptible to most of us.) And Google released … Read more

HTC fires up daily deals for One X+, Windows Phone 8X and 8S

HTC is getting into the daily-deals business in Europe.

The company today announced a new service, called Best Deals, that aims at delivering "money-saving deals" to those who own HTC smartphones. According to HTC, the service is launching on the One X+, as well as the Windows Phone 8X and 8S, in November. Best Deals will also come to the HTC One X and One S in a future software update.

In order to get the service off the ground, HTC has partnered with a host of deals providers, including LivingSocial, which will deliver offers through Best Deals … Read more

Best Buy shares fall on earnings warning, management shake-up

Shares of Best Buy declined in after-hours trading after the electronics retailer announced a management shake-up and issued a warning about its upcoming third-quarter results.

Best Buy announced today that two executives, including its U.S. president, would be leaving the company as part of a restructuring effort. U.S. business President Mike Vitelli will retire at the end of the current fiscal year in February 2013, while Tim Sheehan, executive vice president of U.S. operations, will leave the company at the end of the month.

Best Buy also warned that its net income for the third quarter will … Read more

Nokia Lumia 920 no longer available through Best Buy

Best Buy's preorder offer on the Lumia 920 didn't last long.

On Sunday, the retail chain first listed the 920 on its Web site for customers who wanted to preorder the Windows Phone 8 handset. But now a search for the Lumia 920 on the Best Buy Web site fails to turn up any results.

A direct link to the 920's Best Buy page provided by WPCentral lists the phone as "Sold out online." The page shows a price of just $149.99 for the 32GB version with the standard two-year contract.

But why the … Read more