CyberPower
1030HT Surge Protector: $79
www.cyberpowersystems.com

Now that Intel's Viiv initiative is offical, it's time to formulate a game plan. After all, you shouldn't be selling Viiv boxes by themselves. Getting the whole media center experience means much more than just using a computer connected to your television. Customers will want to synchronize their personal media players, stream content around the house, and organize their digital media. The upsell opportunities here should be pretty obvious.

But what about the less blatant puzzle pieces? Think cabling, input devices, and power protection for all of your customer's audio/video equipment. CyberPower Systems makes a nifty little surge protector called the 1030HT specifically designed to function well in a home theater environment. It sports 10 outlets, a 6,000-joule rating, and a maximum surge protection current of up to 275,000 amps. Coaxial lines are protected, as are telephone and network lines. Armed with a lifetime warranty, the 1030HT guarantees equipment up to $400,000.

In addition to its suppression duties, the 1030HT also filters interference from connected audio and video components, which manifests itself as static on a display or crackling sound.

And therein lies your value play. Customers investing in a home theater PC setup might not be willing to spend as much money on overpriced power equipment. However, CyberPower's offering is more palatable and still ensures ample protection. You get the upsell, and they get needed protection for expensive components.

Targus
TSB312 16" Sport Deluxe Notebook Backpack: $79
www.targus.com

Sometimes a good laptop case just isn't good enough for the true road warrior. Customers who need to keep both hands free may instead be interested in a backpack optimized for mobile electronics. Targus, with its history of designing protective accessories, is just the vendor to offer such a product.

The company's 16" Sport Deluxe Backpack is made of nylon and features a limited lifetime warranty, if that gives you any idea of how durable it is. At less than four pounds, it's hardly a burden. Additionally, device compatibility extended to 16" screens ensures that all but the largest laptops will fit.

Logitech
G15 Gaming Keyboard: $79
www.logitech.com

Much "gaming hardware" is really pretty gimmicky. If you expect to sell a gamer-oriented piece of hardware, it has to offer real value to a customer who's probably very knowledgeable in what works well and what doesn't. Fortunately, Logitech has real insight on the features that drive gamers. The company applied those attributes to the wildly sexy diNovo desktop, and it did the same with the G7 cordless laser mouse.

Now Logitech is taking the gaming keyboard to a new level. It used to be that the best you'd offer was a backlit pad for easy visibility in a dark room. Logitech's G15 improves on that concept, though. Sure, it does feature a soft backlight that can be turned on and off. But it also comes with an LCD display capable of relaying game information or system utilization stats while the customer plays. It folds down against the keyboard for storage.

The G15 is larger than most keyboards in part because of the programmable keys flanking its typing surface. Enthusiasts know that macros are an important part of many massively multiplayer role-playing games. So too do they help in squad-play games. There are 18 buttons and three function keys. So a customer can have up to 54 macros for each game. Software included with the keyboard enables a handful of pre-programmed combinations for a few popular games. Moreover, you can use it to record customized macros with or without time delays between keystrokes.

Subtle extras give the G15 just enough street cred to stand further apart from other so-called gaming keyboards. Three backlight brightness settings allow subtle tuning. Also, an onboard switch lets your customers disable the Windows menu button found on most 104-key boards so they aren't booted to the desktop accidentally. And at $79, the G15 is actually affordable.

Panasonic
BB-HCM381A Network Camera: $1,100
www.panasonic.com

Big brother seems like a nasty concept, right up until you suspect money has gone missing or someone is poking around in the data backups. Security has big earnings power in today's small business environment. And while your SMB customers may hesitate to spend extra IT dollars, most understand the value of what they're trying to protect.

Panasonic's BB-HGM381A makes for a perfect network watchdog, whether you're onsite or remote. It can be controlled through a Web browser or compatible cell phone. The communications software and email client are already built into the camera. So what exactly can you control? Try a 350-degree pan and 220-degree tilt, along with up to 21X optical zoom. Should you decide to deploy audio alongside, a simple microphone and powered speaker enable two-way voice communication.

If you aren't going to be available for 24/7 monitoring, record captured images to an onboard SD memory slot. When someone enters the room, Panasonic's Network Camera can be programmed to move to a preset position, detect heat, and even send emails. Though somewhat pricey at $1,000+, the camera may very well save money thanks to its great coverage capabilities. And if it prevents a theft, then it may very well preserve an entire business.