Productopia

Growing up in the Midwest, it was a tradition to fire up the grill and cook outside once the weather got warm. Much as I'd love to own a grill today, there's just no room for one in my cramped New York City apartment. But thanks to my Sanyo Smokeless Indoor Electric Grill HPS-SG3, a ConsumerSearch Best Reviewed pick, I can cooks meats, fish and vegetables indoors and (almost) replicate perfectly my childhood memories of backyard grilling.

Like a traditional grill, I've found the Sanyo needs a good coat of nonstick cooking spray to ensure that what I'm cooking won't stick to the grill itself. Even though it's coated with a nonstick surface, my earliest attempts to cook steak and poultry ended with bits of the meat stuck to the metal, making for a laborious clean-up.

But what cooking spray to use? I thought that a basic cooking spray (in my case, Trader Joe's Canola Oil Spray) would suffice, but after a couple uses I discovered that it left a nasty black residue on the grill surface. So, like any good consumer, I turned to the Internet to see if I could find some information on the best cooking spray for an electric grill. Unfortunately, there's not a lot out there. Read more

Is there a difference between bandages?

Sheer strips, clear strips, fabric, antibiotic, waterproof, foam. Dozens upon dozens of shapes, sizes and styles. Name brands. Store brands. How to choose?

As commonplace as the adhesive bandage is, there's precious little info online that will help you choose the right bandage. Type "choosing the best adhesive bandage" or "best Band-Aid" into Google and you will get a lot of links to message boards, but not much in the way of professional advice. I did find few somewhat useful links, including a wound-care tutorial on PlanetRX.com, which offers pros and cons on different bandage types without recommending one or another; a not-too-scientific comparison of bandages by a doctor on Detroit TV station WDIV, who found that a waterproof Band-Aid bandage promoted healing best; and an entertaining video at 5min.com that recommends waterproof bandages for most cuts and liquid bandages for joints and digits. Read more

Call it the mobile, mobile office.

At a recent event in New York City, Ford demoed its in-dash computer, a mobile solution for contract workers whose office is their truck. The in-dash computer, part of Ford Work Solutions, enables owners to view and print documents, access their home computer and even surf the web and check email, without ever leaving the job site. (Literally - these features cannot be used while driving.) The in-dash PC is available optionally in Ford's 2009 F-150, F-Series Super Duty trucks and E-Series vans.

The in-dash PC, which runs the Windows CE 6.0 Operating System, has a 6.5-inch touch screen, 4 GB of onboard memory, an SD slot for added memory and a USB port. Bluetooth capable, the PC can be paired with the included wireless keyboard/mouse, an optional wireless printer and mobile phones for hands-free calls. High-speed internet access is provided by Sprint Mobile Broadband using the Opera Mobile browser. Its email program can sync web-based e-mail accounts.These features all come at a cost, outlined at the bottom of this post.

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Is 3D the "next big thing" in home theater, and will it make all those shiny LCD and plasma sets on retailers shelves obsolete?

That's what some pundits, such as DVICE's Stewart Wolpin are speculating, though I'm not so sure.

Without a doubt, several manufacturers, most notably Panasonic, are taking 3D seriously The company recently announced a promotional partnership with movie maker James Cameron (of "Titanic" fame) for "AVATAR," a sci-fi film shot completely in 3D (using Panasonic equipment in part) and set to debut this December. In Panasonic's announcement, Cameron said "I believe 3D is how we will experience movies, gaming, and computing in the near future."

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