Top-rated reviews of the week (photos)

Samsung SyncMaster T27A950

Editors' rating: 3.5 out of 5

The good: The Samsung SyncMaster T27A950D looks damn sexy with a smooth and sleek silver finish and a striking design. The OSD and Smart Hub options are plentiful and useful, movies look great on it, and it includes 3D support for movies and games. Also, the built-in speakers are powerful and clear.

The bad: 3D performance in games on the monitor is disappointing with no DVI dual link connection included. Also, its price is high for a TN display.

The bottom line: The Samsung SyncMaster T27A950D is an HDTV/monitor meant for movies and TV with tons of features and a beautiful design, but some will find its price too high.

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Starting at: $699.99 from 3 stores

Sony Tablet S (32GB)

Editors' rating: 3.5 out of 5

The good: The Sony Tablet S goes above and beyond the typical Honeycomb tablet experience by offering exclusive apps, ergonomic design, PlayStation certification for mobile gaming, DLNA video and music streaming, and an integrated IR universal remote control.

The bad: It's on the pricey side, the charging adapter is proprietary, and screen brightness isn't what it could be.

The bottom line:Sony took its time with Tablet S, and it shows. The industrial design is smart, and the software refinements are both practical and restrained.

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Starting at: $599.00 from 4 stores

Samsung SH100

Editors' rating: 3.5 out of 5

The good: The Samsung SH100 has features tailor-made for people wanting the functionality of their smartphone camera in a point-and-shoot camera.

The bad: The SH100's low-light photos are not good and its performance can be slow. Also, wireless uploads are limited to 2-megapixel photos and 30-second low-res movie clips.

The bottom line: If you like all the photo apps for your smartphone camera but miss having an optical zoom, the Samsung SH100 is the point-and-shoot for you.

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Starting at: $132.95 from 14 stores

Netgear WNDR4500 N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router

Editors' rating: 3.5 out of 5

The good: The Netgear WNDR4500 N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router supports the new 450Mbps standard on both bands, and offers great range and excellent data rates on the 5GHz band. The router comes with the robust and easy-to-use Netgear Genie management software and boasts lots of features.

The bad: The Netgear WNDR4500's 24.GHz wireless performance is subpar, and its USB storage performance could also use some improvement.

The bottom line: The Netgear WNDR4500 N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router makes a very good investment for those who want to get the most out of a wireless network, especially when they have clients that support the 5GHz band.

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Starting at: $179.99

Lenovo Essential B470 Intel Core i5-2410M

Editors' rating: 3.5 out of 5

The good: The Lenovo Essential B470 looks sharper than some of Lenovo's other budget laptops, and includes a basic Nvidia GPU.

The bad:While everyone else is shaving inches and pounds from midsize systems, this is still thick and heavy, especially for a laptop with a 14-inch screen.

The bottom line: The Lenovo Essential B470 is priced alongside Intel Core i5 laptops from other PC makers, but at least tosses in an entry-level GPU.

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Starting at: $669.00

LG BD690

Editors' rating: 3.5 out of 5

The good: TThe LG BD690 Blu-ray player has the unique capability of ripping music CDs directly to its built-in 250GB hard drive. It also has built-in Wi-Fi and an excellent suite of streaming-media services, including Netflix, Amazon Instant, Hulu Plus, Vudu, MOG, Napster, and vTuner. The user interface for its streaming-media service content portal is the best we've seen this year.

The bad: The BD690 is expensive, costing about $100 more than players without the CD-ripping feature. The CD-ripping feature is of little use to techies who ripped their CDs years ago, and while it's relatively easy to use, it's also unnecessarily slow and tedious.

The bottom line: The LG BD690 has a superb feature set and unique CD-ripping functionality, but it's expensive and a little more complicated to use than it needs to be.

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Starting at: $259.99 from 14 stores

WD My Passport Studio (1TB, Fall 2011)

Editors' rating: 3.5 out of 5

The good: The WD My Passport Studio features all-metal scratch-resistant housing and supports FireWire 800 and USB 2.0 connections. The drive offers very good performance.

The bad: The My Passport Studio is comparatively expensive and doesn't have USB 3.0.

The bottom line: Mac users who need a fast portable hard drive will find it in the new My Passport Studio. Windows users should look elsewhere for a better deal.

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Starting at: $179.99

Dell Precision M4600

Editors' rating: 3.5 out of 5

The good: The Dell Precision M4600 is a flexible and powerful mobile workstation thanks to an abundant component selection, plentiful ports and connections, and ample warranty, support, and security options.

The bad: Judging from our Dell M4600 review system, quality control is a little lacking.

The bottom line: If you've got the money--and a strong back--the Dell Precision M4600 is a very good mobile workstation.

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Starting at: $1,889.00

Belkin Keyboard Folio for iPad2

Editors' rating: 4 out of 5

The good: Despite being a keyboard case, the Belkin Keyboard Folio for iPad 2 can also be used in folio mode without the keyboard getting in the way much, plus the keyboard itself is excellent and responsive.

The bad: The slightly floppy, flappy design might not appeal to some; also, when the iPad 2 is in the case, it's much thicker than a regular case without a keyboard.

The bottom line: The Belkin Keyboard Folio for the iPad 2 is a strangely designed but surprisingly smart keyboard case with a strong keyboard and a flexible set of versatile transforming shapes for everyday use, although you might be annoyed by its thickness.

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Starting at: $99.99 from 1 store