CORSAIR XMS2 Dominator
TWIN2X 2048-8500C5D: $399
www.corsair.com

DIFFERENTIATION IS TOUGH WHEN IT COMES TO SELLING memory. However, Corsair consistently releases products featuring innovative designs and optimal performance. The company's Dominator Series represents the latest in high frequencies, low latency, and attractive packaging. Its TWIN2X2048-8500C5D kit, in particular, blends the right combination of all three.

The DDR2 kit is rated at 1066 MHz, which is right where NVIDIA's fastest desktop chipsets top out. It's also one of the first 1066 MHz kits that is officially SLI-Ready, meaning it supports Enhanced Performance Profiles. When you use the modules on a compatible motherboard, such as ASUS' nForce 680i-based Extreme Striker, you'll see a special list of advanced settings not available elsewhere.

In order to achieve those high-performance settings, the Dominator modules must be set well above the standard 1.8V setting used on most other memory sticks. As a result, the kit gets plenty warm. Corsair combats heat buildup by covering onboard memory chips with extra-large heat sinks that pull heat upwards to a series of protruding fins. A bundled fan blows across the fins, dissipating heat more quickly than mainstream modules and without the extra setup required by water cooled memory modules.

Altec Lansing
M604 Powered Audio System: $199
www.alteclansing.com

YOU WON'T MAKE MUCH MONEY reselling Microsoft's Zune media player. There is, however, plenty of margin in the accessories that expand the handheld's reach. Take Altec Lansing's new M604 audio system. The stylish little speaker system plays host to two 3" full-range drivers and a pair of 1" silkdome tweeters rated for 60W RMS of continuous power. An included wireless remote gives your customers the freedom to walk around while controlling the M604's output, and an analog composite jack facilitates video playback if they install the speaker system close to a TV. By offering the M604, along with a handful of car kits, cables, and quality headphones, you can improve the Zune's margin opportunity immensely.

XFX
PVT80GTHF9 GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB: $449
www.xfxforce.com

MICROSOFT'S VISTA IS A BIG REMINDER THAT, IN THE WORLD of PC hardware, you have to pay to play. After pulling the operating system from its flashy plastic box and installing it on my quad-monitor workstation, I quickly discovered that my once-powerful machine ranked a paltry 3.3 on Vista's "you're not worthy" meter. In other words, the much-hyped Aero Glass user interface would be disabled until I sprang for a more modern graphics card.

As your customers start evaluating a transition to Vista, be mindful of the software's requirements and what it'll take to get access to all of its features. On the graphics side, that means owning a DirectX 9-capable card with at least 128MB of memory. It should go without saying that merely meeting Microsoft's minimum spec might not be sufficient for an optimal experience. In fact, your best bet is to go with DirectX 10-class hardware—the stuff designed with Vista in mind.

Of the few DX10 processors currently available, NVIDIA's GeForce 8800 GTS offers the best value. Instead of leveraging independent pixel and vertex shaders, the GTS uses a unified shader architecture comprised of 96 stream processors to more efficiently work through sophisticated graphics effects. No less than 640MB of GDDR3 memory feed the chip's shader processors, which output to two dual-link DVI ports. And, naturally, both display outputs are HDCP-compliant, meaning they support Vista's high-definition content protection scheme. Very few cards support HDCP yet, so that's a critical differentiator in any Vista platform sale.

As with all of NVIDIA's enthusiast-oriented boards, the GeForce 8800 GTS supports dual-card SLI configurations, along with a number of quality-enhancing features. Unlike the GeForce 8800 GTX, which requires two 6-pin power adapters and a beefy power supply, the GTS needs only one connector from a 400W supply.

Kensington
Vo200 Bluetooth Internet Phone: $89
www.kensington.com

AS A BUSINESS' SOLE telephone technology, VoIP might still raise some eyebrows. After all, it's subject to Internet connectivity uptime and provisions for QoS. To the organization used to uninterruptible phone service, even one loss of connectivity can overshadow the appeal of VoIP. But there's no denying that VoIP has a place with any business paying long distance charges.

Kensington's Vo200 Bluetooth Internet Phone demonstrates the utility of VoIP on the road. Sized to fit perfectly into a PC Card slot, the Vo200 charges continuously while not in use. Out and up to your ear, it delivers up to three hours of talk time and 30 hours of standby. A blinking light warns when the battery runs under 10 percent.

The Vo200 is designed for clear conversations using any number of already-popular VoIP services, including Skype, MSN, Yahoo, and Google. The phone's mic flips out, similar to Motorola's old-school Startac, for better voice reception. Additionally, Kensington integrates its own echo cancellation technologies, usable in the phone's hands-free or handset modes. The only real requirement for this unit is that the host laptop be Bluetooth-enabled. Priced at $89, it won't take long to recoup the phone's cost through cheaper long distance calling.