Samsung's HT-BD7200: A CES fave in 2009, how does this Blu-ray home theater system look with the benefit of a year of hindsight?

(Credit: Samsung)

At the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas (January 5-9), CNET editors will be choosing the Best of Show finalists and winners that will set the trends for the new year. But that begs the question: How well did we do last year?

It's a perfect excuse to look back at the picks from the most recent show, January 2009. We've gone to the archives and highlighted the winners in 10 categories--including our overall Best of Show. See which picks were right on the money, which were soon eclipsed by newer and better products later in the year, and which products were never even released. (Click on the images directly below.)

CES 2009: A look back

The new preamplifier looks amazing.

(Credit: Einstein Audio Components)

We're not talking about Albert Einstein, the legendary theoretical physicist; we're talking about Einstein Audio Components, a Germany-based high-end audio manufacturer.

Its advanced audio equipment designs use vacuum tubes. Its latest stereo preamplifier, The Tube MKII, uses a total of (gulp) 19 tubes. That's a lot of tubes! Most tube preamps only use four, five, or six tubes. However, here's the cool part about the new Einstein preamp: only 10 of the 19 tubes operate at any given time. Eight are used all the time, and two are selected for whichever audio source happens to be playing.

The rear panel of The Tube MKII.

(Credit: Einstein Audio Components)

This feature makes The Tube MKII the only preamp in the world that lets users tailor the sound from each audio source by selecting the specific "flavor" of tube dedicated to each source. Some owners might opt for "warm" sounding tubes for the CD input, and superdetailed tubes for the phono input. Tweaky? You ... Read more

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

Dateline: November 9, Manhattan. I'm inside B&H Photo, carrying a Nikon D70 SLR camera my dad was kind enough to pass down to me. It doesn't have a lens, or a memory card, or a case. Those are my responsibilities. This is why I'm spending close to an hour staring at various lenses ranging from 18-55 all the way up to 18-200mm, all the while knowing nearly nothing about SLR technology.

November 10: 11 a.m. After a long shower this morning and a fretful commute to work, I'm carrying my D70 with the Tamron 18-200mm lens I bought, and wondering, did I do the right thing? Did I make the right purchase?

I'm an editor at CNET, but I review laptops, not cameras. And still, post-purchase, I'm racked with regret. Consumer second-guessing--should I have gotten a cheaper Nikon kits lens?--is combined with frantic forum-reading, friend-calling, colleague-consulting. I'm told on four separate occasions that, yes, I made a good purchase. Moreover, the ... Read more

Doro PhoneEasy 410 and Doro PhoneEasy 345

(Credit: Consumer Cellular)

Consumer Cellular, the exclusive wireless provider for the AARP, has announced two new senior-friendly phones, the Doro PhoneEasy 345 and the Doro PhoneEasy 410. Both have large displays and easy-to-use buttons, much like the well-known Jitterbug handsets. The Doro PhoneEasy 410 has a flip phone form factor, while the Doro PhoneEasy 345 has a candybar design. Both phones offer a loud ringtone, soft grippy surfaces, a speakerphone, Bluetooth, text messaging, an alarm clock, an FM radio, a calculator, a flashlight, and even simple games. Doro, a Swedish company, claims these phones are popular with Europe's senior population, so they're hoping they will have the same success here.

The Doro phones also seem to be cheaper than the Jitterbug models. The Doro PhoneEasy 345 is $40, while the Doro PhoneEasy 410 is $50. There is a $35 activation fee upon enrollment. Consumer Cellular is nationwide and is an MVNO on AT&T's network. Rates start as low as $10 and there are no ... Read more

(Credit: Erica Ogg/CNET)

In Japan, for one week a year the spotlight of this gadget-obsessed country is shifted from the urban neon oasis of Tokyo's Akihabara neighborhood and trained on an expansive convention hall an hour's commute outside of the city.

On Tuesday the purveyors of TVs thinner than a credit card, cell phones pressed with 3D screens, humanoid robots, and the latest in electric car technology descend, along with media, analysts, retail buyers, and industry executives for the opening of the Combined Exhibition of Advanced Technologies, known by the acronym Ceatec.

Photos: Early peek inside Ceatec show in Tokyo

It's the Japanese equivalent of Las Vegas' CES and Berlin's IFA, and like those two shows earlier this year, attendance is expected to be good, if slightly contracted as companies have cut back on expenses in light of the current economy.

At Ceatec 2008, 804 exhibitors and 196,630 attendees flooded the floor of the Makuhari Messe, a dip from the 895 exhibitors and 206,000 attendees in 2007. The tenor of this year's show should be a bit less gloomy than last year's--which took place the same week banks were failing right and left and Wall Street seemed on the brink of collapse. We'll keep our fingers crossed for less economic drama during this year's show.

Murata Girl shows off her unicycling talents at Ceatec 2008.

(Credit: Erica Ogg/CNET)

Things we are hoping for: more cute robots! Ceatec is unlikely to disappoint in this respect. Last year's expo saw the debut of automatons that did everything from perform front-office reception tasks to helping the elderly. But based on the crowds she drew, the star was undoubtedly Murata Girl, a unicycle-riding robot. This year, we hear she'll be back with even more tricks up her sleeve.

Like those robots, there's also an amazing array of stuff shown at Ceatec we'll never see in stores on this side of the Pacific--see our gallery of cool concept cell phones. But while Ceatec offers a glimpse into the future of gadgetry, the convention hall is also packed to the skylights with practical products.

Last year was the first time Ceatec established a separate pavilion for green technology, and it's back this year. Nissan, which takes its electric cars very seriously, will be there, as will Toshiba. Though not thought of traditionally as a car company, it believes its Supercharge ion battery (SCiB) is perfectly suited for electric cars and scooters. Besides green car technology, we'll also see electronic parts that make ordinary gadgets like TVs and digital signs greener.

The free Ecofont typeface promises to consume up to 20 percent less ink.

(Credit: Ecofont)

There are lots of ways to save money on pricey printer consumables.

You can configure your print driver to output two pages on a single sheet of paper. You can enable "draft" mode to use less ink. And, of course, you can bypass printing altogether and generate PDFs.

Then there's Ecofont, a free typeface that promises to consume up to 20 percent less ink.

Available for Windows, Mac, and Linux systems, Ecofont closely resembles your basic Arial, but with one key difference: holes. Each letter has loads of little holes punched out of it, meaning it requires less ink to print.

But as you can see in the example, Ecofont is still plenty readable. So why not use it for all your everyday print jobs?

I know, I know, there are lots of outline-style fonts that would accomplish more or less the same thing. But not many of them look just like Arial--or have the environmentally conscious "Eco" prefix. ... Read more

Flat-screen televisions are a major upgrade from existing cathode-ray tube TVs, making new high-definition sets one of the hottest-selling items in consumer electronics. But that dazzling picture and bigger screen come with a price: higher energy use.

To individual consumers, a bigger flat-screen TV might mean a noticeable bump in monthly electric bills. But at a national level, the onrush of these new energy-hungry TVs is a growing concern.

On Friday, the California Energy Commission finalized a proposal to regulate energy consumption in TVs sold in California sold after 2011.

The move is significant because California's stringent efficiency standards in appliances have impacted codes across the country in the past. California's efficiency measures in big appliances, such as refrigerators, have been credited with keeping the per capita electricity consumption in the state steady since the 1970s.

But not everyone is happy with the California measure, which is expected to pass in November. Industry association the Consumer Electronics Association opposes the proposal, arguing that any efficiency improvements should come from consumer demand rather than regulation.

To unwind some of the issues around energy efficiency and TVs, we offer this FAQ, which draws on the analysis of CNET Reviews' senior editor David Katzmaier, who has been measuring power consumption in TVs for the past three years. You can see the latest data at CNET's Energy Efficiency Guide and power ratings of 150 HDTVs.

If I buy a new flat-screen TV, will I be slapped with a huge energy bill?
Not necessarily. The primary reason flat-screen TVs consume more power is because they are bigger. The California Energy Commission estimates that per square inch, LCDs consume a bit more than CRTs, but most people are also upgrading in size, which means significantly more electricity use. That's one reason why TV product ratings from the likes of CNET and Consumer Reports now include yearly energy consumption estimates.

Despite in the company as a whole, Sony's electronics division is looking on the bright side when it comes to the all-important winter retail season.

Looking ahead to the holidays, Sony Electronics' Executive Vice President Mike Fasulo said Tuesday at a small media gathering in San Francisco that the gadget maker is hopeful about better sales this year than last.

Sony has high hopes for its touch-screen Walkman.

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET)

"I'm cautiously optimistic about (holiday retail sales). Though I'm cautious about saying I'm cautiously optimistic," he said. Among retailers that sell Sony products, there's also "some notion this will be a better holiday than the previous year."

Sales of consumer electronics in the 2008 holiday season, according to one survey.

Fasulo's remarks came on a day filled with announcements from Sony, both on the electronics side, and the video game division, Sony Computer Entertainment America. Although it's only August, the company, like many in its industry, is already gearing up to introduce the products it hopes shoppers will snap up before they head back to school, as well as for holiday gifts.

Sony Electronics introduced a new line of home audio equipment Tuesday, called , that it developed in partnership with Best Buy, though other retailers will eventually offer it too. are aimed at a less tech-savvy audience, with minimal setup required.

While you, dear reader, are likely a tech-savvy person, you undoubtedly know people that aren't. The fast-approaching holiday season can be a particularly unsafe time for those with electronics knowledge, as you will inevitably get recruited to do everything from installing software to hooking up a Blu-ray player to transferring music to an MP3 player. That's when you should direct these people and their headache-inducing questions to Zip Express Installation.

The company offers installation services starting at $129.95 for home theater, TV, and computer setup, and includes a one-year warranty on its services. Along with scheduling next-day installation appointments at a specific hour through the Zip Express Web site, its services can now be purchased at checkout when you buy something from TigerDirect.com and CompUSA.com.

I've never used Zip Express Installation and I'm not endorsing it, but it seems like it would be a valuable add-on for relieving any stress that accompanies introducing a new piece of consumer electronics to a household--be it yours or someone else's. ... Read more