The Gal Hits Vegas for CES 2004
Check out all the comsumer electronic goodness we found!

It’s hard to imagine a more guy-centric event than E3, the annual video game trade show in Los Angeles. Well, we found it! CES, the Consumer Electronics Show, held each year in Las Vegas, is a mix of guys in short-sleeved shirts and sneakers, plus more gadgets than Q's laboratory. In short, a couch potato's wet dream.

Fortunate for the ladies, we’re exaggerating a little. CES featured loads of companies displaying all sorts of electronic goodies, from giant TVs to video game controllers to even more giant TVs. Here’s a quick roundup of some of the more interesting things we saw.

Sony DSC-T1 Cyber-shot If technology is a girl's best friend, then we hope our BFF comes in the form of Sony's credit-card sized, 5.1 mpx digi-cam, complete with a 2.5-inch LCD screen on back. How frickin' cool is that. Available: Around Valentine's Day 2004 Cost: $550
Giant Plasma TVs from LG and Sharp These puppies are hitting the 75”-80” mark, if you can pony up that kind of bread. But everyone and their cousin seem to have a basic 42” model for under three grand. Available: Now, and throughout 2004 Cost: $2,500-$15,000
Tapwave Zodiac Tapwave takes a stab at handheld gaming... and then some. This six-ounce powerhouse performs standard Palm OS functions, plays movies, MP3s, stores photos and ebooks. There's no wireless phone inside, but in the age of N-Gage, 'tis a welcome omission. Available: Online Now, and retail later in 2004 Cost: $299-$399
DVD X Vault from 321 Studios Like their DVD X Copy and Games X Copy products, this program lets you back up your disc-based content to your PC. We love the idea of ripping all our DVDs to a giant hard drive and watching them whenever we want. Available: Q1 2004 Cost: TBA, probably around $99
Nyko iType2 This new PS2 controller is from the folks who brought you the Air Flo line of hand-cooling gamepads. This new one features a full mini-keyboard, allowing you to type without tears in games like Everquest Online Adventures and Final Fantasy XI. It's small-hand friendly, too. Available: Now Cost: $39.99
Archos AV 320 Media Player One of the coolest trends at CES was the mini media player. More than just and MP3 box, these new handhelds can play movie files as well. Weighing in at 10.3 ounces, it sports a 3.8” screen and 20-80 GB of hard drive space. Available: Q2 2004 Cost: $449
Canon PowerShot SD10 Bronze Just when you thought you had the coolest camera on the block, Canon introduces a 4 mpx shooter in four hip colors; our fave--bronze. These babies look so good, designer Patricia Field included them in one of her runway shows. Now that's what we call high-tech fashion. Available: Now Cost: $450
Nomad Zen Portable Media Center Another cool mini video player, the Creative version ties in tightly with Windows Media Player content and was even plugged by Bill Gates at his CES keynote speech. Available: Q3-4 2004 Cost: $500-600