Luxury

If you had a Green Machine tricycle as a youngster in the 1970s, then you were automatically the coolest kid on the block.

You may be all grown up now, but you can still make your friends green with envy with the Lean Mean Green Machine for adults.

The $75,000 trike is 9 feet long and features a 45-inch diameter front wheel. Hammacher Schlemmer (who else would sell such a thing) claims it as the world's largest front motorcycle wheel. The back wheels look they came off of a race car.… Read more

For well-heeled fans of British hi-fi brand Meridian, the limited-edition 40th Anniversary System could be a dream. With a unique ruby-red finish, the company's latest hi-fi system consists of a tweaked 808.3 Signature Reference CD Player and a pair of DSP8000 Digital Active Loudspeakers.

Both the speakers and CD player are the company's flagship models. While there are analog purists who prefer a full-analog hi-fi setup, Meridian caters to fans of pure digital. This set keeps your music in the digital format right up to the moment it reaches the speaker drivers.… Read more

You have an iPhone--a wonder of sleek, compact, multifunction technology. You essentially have a powerful multimedia computer system that fits in the palm of your hand. You must be thinking, "All I'm lacking is a giant log I can stick it into to play loud music."

Scream "Jackpot!" because KMKG Studios has introduced the iTree, a $15,000 personalized sound system for the iPhone, the iPod and (with a little rigging) the iPad. According to KMKG's designers: "The iTree is a top-quality iPhone and iPod docking station made out of a simple tree trunk. This is hollowed out using a special technique and specialized tools, expertly proportioned to produce optimum sound quality."

Because no two trees are alike, every iTree is a personalized creation. Buyers select the size and kind of wood they'd like before their iTree is manufactured. KMKG reports spruce, cherry, or poplar are most popular. If home audio and potential splinter enthusiasts want to haul themselves to KMKG Studios HQ in Austria, they can go for a ride in nearby forests and pick their own tree. After iTree artisans kick the Keebler Elves out of their ancestral home, they'll make the in-house music system to specifications.

We have yet to give an iTree a listen, so we can't attest to the sound quality. But if the price is any indication, it should be impressive. The only potential drawback we see for the iTree is--unless you live in a ski lodge or a late 1800s cattle ranch--visitors might be prone to ask, "Why do you have a giant log in your living room, Grizzly Adams?" … Read more

You have a basic accounting decision to make. You can spend $380,000 and buy a Lamborghini Aventador or you can spend $4.8 million and buy a 1:8 scale model of the same car.

As you may have guessed, the model didn't come out of a box from Hobby Lobby. It's the creation of Robert Gülpen, a German engineer who specializes in making car models from precious materials. I didn't even know that was a career option.

The body, doors, and hood are made from carbon fiber with threads of solid gold. The … Read more

The arms race among shaving razor manufacturers has been a lengthy and dramatic affair. Two blades. Aloe strips. Three blades. Batteries. Four blades. Thinner edges. Five blades!

Will the madness ever end? Nope. Upstart manufacturer Zafirro's Titanium razor is making all of those other razors cower with inadequacy.

Yes, it is made with actual titanium alloy. This is not just any titanium. It's the Grade 38 good stuff, used in demanding military applications. You can rest easy knowing your razor could hold up to the harsh conditions of combat.… Read more

We solid-state drive lovers (it's quite easy to fall in love, by the way, if you have a computer that's equipped with one) should throw a party and hire Jimmy McMillan to represent us. Because, you guessed it, the price of this type of storage device for computers is still just too damn high! So how high is high?

Though priced significantly lower than it was a few years ago, the SSD is still possibly the most expensive component inside the handful of high-end laptops on the market. Unless there's a rare deal or big promotion, a 120GB SSD generally goes for around $200 to $250 these days, depending on the connection type (SATA 2 or SATA 3) and speed.

(It's worth noting that, for most computers, you'd need one that's 120GB or larger. This is because a 64GB SSD, though will get the job done, can hold just the OS, essential software applications, and not much else.)

The price gets progressively higher as capacities get larger. A 240GB--which is the "sweet spot" that enjoys the balance of relatively large storage space while remaining attainable for consumers--now goes for between $420 and $550. Starting at 512GB, SSDs can cost thousands of dollars, too expensive for most of us to afford or justify.… Read more

There's run-of-the-mill ridiculous and then there's redonkulous. The AeroDream One from Jarre Technologies is pure redonkulous. It's an iPod, iPhone, and iPad dock. Big deal, right?

It's an 11-foot-tall, chrome-slathered, 10,000-watt iPod dock that requires a ladder just to get your device up to the top. It weighs more than 870 pounds. It also costs a wallet-shattering $560,000. Redonkulous.

Each AeroDream One is custom made and takes six months for delivery. This behemoth comes from a company created by Jean Michel Jarre, a man best known for electronic music, over-the-top shows with laser displays, and luxurious flowing hair.… Read more

If you've already hoarded all the gold bars and Krugerrands you can carry against the current economic downturn, you might want to look into sunglasses. And not just to protect your eyes from the glare of your shiny bullion, as Bentley Eyewear offers sunglass frames made from 18 karat gold.

The sunglasses are specifically designed to complement the Bentley Mulsanne, a $285,000 sedan, and feature hand-crafted knurling along the ear pieces and an enameled Bentley B. Even the cases for these sunglasses use the same quality cowhide as the car's seats.

And, of course, the lenses give … Read more

Bentley's 2012 model year update to its Continental GTC convertible will feature a Google Earth-based navigation system, technology developed by sibling company Audi, along with a number of other improvements. Bentley will unveil the 2012 Continental GTC at the 2011 Frankfurt auto show.

Similar to its hard-top stablemate, the Continental GTC is powered by a twin turbocharged 6-liter W-12 engine, which generates 567 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque. That amount of power pushes the four seat convertible to 60 mph in just 4.5 seconds. The engine can also be fed E85 bio-fuel. … Read more