Product: Self-Helpers

Manufacturer: Roundup:

Wired Rating: 0

A mirror will tell you how you look, but it won’t tell you what’s going on under your skin. These gadgets will help you monitor your inner health, so the contents match the wrapper.

1. Garmin Forerunner 110

The newest Forerunner is small enough to fit under the cuff of a dress shirt and yet it still talks to satellites. It’s also a great example of a company listening to its customers: Garmin users have been clamoring for a less expensive watch that records where they go and how fast they get there. The 110 does just that.

WIRED Small, affordable, accurate. Lets you use Garmin’s Connect Web site, where you can save and track all your workouts.

TIRED Clip-on USB adapter can be flaky. Getting a lock on the satellites can take a minute or two, so leave time to do some quality stretching before you take off.

$250, garmin.com

2. Zeo Personal Sleep Coach

Strap on the headband before you nod off and in the morning you’ll have a quantified picture of your night’s sleep. Zeo takes an EEG of your nappytime brain waves, so it knows how you doze. And it goes deeper too: By identifying “sleep stealers,” the device helps you find out how, for example, the light from your TV increases the time it takes to fall asleep.

WIRED Opt for detailed information or a single number—your “ZQ”—that measures quality of slumber. Can use your brain signals to determine the best time to wake you up.

TIRED You might sleep better without a transmitter strapped to your head. No wireless uploading.

$249, myzeo.com

3. Tanita BC-350

Your scale only measures your weight? Please. The BC-350 not only tracks your pounds but measures body fat, bone mass, metabolic age, and hydration level. Using a mild electric current (too small to feel), the scale measures the impedance of your body to analyze the nitty-gritty details.

WIRED If you can read standing up, you can use this thing. Allows multiple profiles, so you can see how you stack up against friends and family (eek).

TIRED No way to store data, so get comfy with Excel if you want to track your stats. Don’t expect any advice, either: Though it serves up lots of info, the scale offers no action plan or system for setting goals.

$270, tanita.com

4. GoWear Fit

Who knew so many sensors could fit into a single armband? The GoWearFit packs an accelerometer, a temperature monitor, and a galvanic skin detector. These three electronic superheroes join forces to provide an insanely accurate accounting of how many calories you burn in a given day.

WIRED Fits unobtrusively under clothes. Data uploads to an easy-to-navigate Web site.

TIRED Not waterproof, so it can’t crunch how many calories you burn in the pool (or the shower). Elastic armband gets a little ripe, snuggled up next to your armpit and all. Ugly display sold separately. The Web site has only basic goal setting, like “I want to get more active.”

$190, bodymedia.com

5. Philips DirectLife

Toss the DirectLife in your pocket or dangle it around your neck and its accelerometers keep tabs on how much you move. USB-sync it with a Web site account to track activity levels, identify trends, and set fitness goals. Wow, that was easy.

WIRED Online training coaches are just an email away; their periodic friendly reminders help you stay focused.

TIRED Do you really burn the same number of calories lifting weights as you do sitting on the sofa? (No.) There’s no display except some LED dots that show how much of your daily goal you’ve accomplished. No wireless data transfer. $12.50 monthly fee. Boo.

$99, philips.com

Product: L’il Grills

Manufacturer: Roundup:

Wired Rating: 0

Summer and cookouts go together like Baby Ruths and swimming pools. Compact grills let you BBQ anywhere at a moment’s notice.

1. Big Green Egg (small)
The Egg lived up to its lofty rep: Our food came out flavorful and juicy—even veggie burgers! Unfortunately, at 65 pounds this charcoal burner weighs nearly as much as the other three grills combined. And the Egg’s brittle ceramic shell made us apprehensive about carrying it down steps, much less tossing it in the trunk. When we did take it on the road, we had to wait hours for the thing to cool down before lugging it home.

WIRED Can be configured for grilling, baking, smoking, or convection heating. Equally capable above 750° F or south of 250°.

TIRED Switching setups was tough to do while the coals were lit. 13-inch-diameter cooking area is the smallest of this batch.

$500, biggreenegg.com

2. Solaire Everywhere
Equipped with its own shoulder bag and weighing in at just 15 pounds, the Solaire is as portable as a briefcase, and its infrared burner and stainless steel housing positively drip with geek cred. The grill was ready to cook in five minutes, and a maximum measured temperature of just over 700° F meant we were able to produce tempting grill marks and juicy insides. With such spunky burners and a lid that isn’t designed for flame-on use, though, slow cooking is sadly not an option.

WIRED Quick cleanup and cooling make it easy to head home.

TIRED Hard to throttle down the heat. Buy a few extra bottles of propane—this baby is thirsty. 155-inch cooking area is second-smallest in our test.

$289, rasmussen.biz

3. Weber Q140
After we got over our prejudice against its electric heating element, we realized that the Q140 was a pretty effective cooker. Its heat-reflecting lining and oval shape direct BTUs at your grillables, and closed-lid cooking provided excellent results on fish and veggies. Keep the cover down, though: Even though you plug this 1,560-watter into a 120-volt outlet, it still struggles to reach 500° F. Serious searers should look elsewhere.

WIRED Never runs out of fuel (as long as you pay the electric bill). Optional fold-up stand leaves table space for food and eating.

TIRED Low top heat. No temperature gauge. Portability is limited to the length of your extension cord.

$280, weber.com

4. Char-Broil CB500X
The CB500X looks like a tough man’s treasure chest, with black metal construction, preseasoned cast-iron grate, and a front-side fire-pit door. But we struggled to achieve precision grilling: The charcoal burned too hot and fast, and the vents were too small to let us control the temperature effectively. On the plus side, it offered the largest cooking area in our roundup (24 x 10 inches) while still fitting nicely into the back of our Honda Civic.

WIRED Removable bottom for easy cleanup. Adjustable fire rack.

TIRED At 37 pounds, it approaches don’t-lift-with-your-back territory. Hot metal vent knobs inflicted the only burn of the test, and back flash singed arm hairs.

$150, charbroil.com

Product: BeoLab 11 Subwoofer

Manufacturer: Bang&Olufsen

Wired Rating: 0

Sure, summer’s here, but maybe you don’t like the outdoors. Maybe you burn easily. Still, you can bring a little of the outside in with a “flower” that drops more bass than a lowrider on La Brea &mdash Bang & Olufsen’s BeoLab 11 subwoofer. Nicknamed the Tulip, its distinct design is optimized for both a fresh look and stunning performance. Audio designers typically add ballast to their room shakers to kill sound-spoiling vibrations. Instead of piling on pounds, B&O set two 6.5-inch drivers across from one another. The sound waves they create push in opposite directions, preventing vibrations from propagating. At just 18 pounds, the 200-watt powered sub is light enough to mount on a wall. It’s also eerily still: Set a cocktail on top and the booze won’t even ripple. But don’t make a habit of it &mdash this flower doesn’t like to be watered.

Product: Master Blasters

Manufacturer: Roundup:

Wired Rating: 0

Share your playlist. Loudly. A new era of boom boxes is upon us, and they’ll have you jamming like it’s 1989.

1. Altec Lansing MIX

With easy-to-grasp handles and ridiculously powerful bass, the MIX was our choice for the new-millennium remake of Say Anything. Throw in eight D batteries and the MIX can travel with you to your neighbor’s house party or your crush’s window. A high-contrast digital display scrolls song titles and artist names—making it easy to send a message to that special someone.

WIRED Two auxiliary inputs and a designated dock let you connect three devices at once for the Longest. Playlist. Ever. Front handles for easy military-pressing.

TIRED Not beachworthy; too many nooks and crannies to catch the sand. A bit deep for shoulder wielding or shallow shelving.

$300, alteclansing.com

2. Lasonic i931 iPod Ghetto Blaster

Oh, nostalgia. Lasonic’s aptly named Ghetto Blaster would be at home on the shoulder of someone wearing Skidz and blasting Kool Moe Dee. This gigantic relic of a bygone era even has a faux tape deck that conceals an iPod dock. But though your jams might be rocking, the sound will disappoint. Chalk it up to true 1980s fidelity—audio quality and all.

WIRED Quite the head-turner. Preprogrammed sound settings for different types of music means it’s time to bus’ out the Mozart, yo!

TIRED Tape deck dock doesn’t support iPhone or iPod touch, and it’s hard to get your ‘Pod situated. Ten D batteries?! Only spacecraft should need that much power.

$139, lasonicstore.com

3. DeWalt DC012

Power tools and crashing metal can’t silence the DC012. Neither can short drops, rain, spilled coffee, sawdust, or other job-site hazards. Volume is not an issue, but clarity is: This rugged sound blaster is as sturdy as Andrè9 the Giant, and cranked up to the limit, it might level a city block. Too bad the sound quality is lacking.

WIRED Power cord stows on a bottomside spool. Also works as a charger for DeWalt power tool batteries. Three outlets on the side—this is the rockinest powerstrip ever. Weatherized construction makes this our beach blaster of choice.

TIRED A little bulky and awkward for residential use. Charges your drill but not your iPhone. Runs on proprietary batteries only.

$170, dewalt.com

4. Memorex miniMove

A boom box shaped like a purse? Of course! As long as you’re comfortable in your masculinity, the easy-to-tote design does make the miniMove ideal for traveling and picnics. And once you get to your destination, you can stash this girlie embarrassment in the shade and control your tunes with the included remote. But don’t stray too far—this mini can’t get as loud as its larger competitors, and sound suffers at higher volumes anyway.

WIRED Available in six colors, and fortunately, one of them is black. Squishy buttons are fun to push. Fifty bones = bargain alert.

TIRED Tiny speakers produce tinny sound. Radio antenna sticks out awkwardly from the side.

$50, memorex.com

Product: 2-Person Tents

Manufacturer: Roundup:

Wired Rating: 0

Three may be company, but we’re more than happy to just double up — especially when it comes to camping. These two-person tents are perfect for sheltering you and a pal anywhere from the valley floor of Yosemite to the untamed wilderness of your own backyard.

MSR Carbon Reflex 2

The Carbon Reflex 2 is the Winnie Cooper of two-person backpacking tents — sweet, sensible and not without its charms. Its two-pole frame is quick and easy to set up. It’s also possible, if somewhat awkward, to set up the fly without the tent, which is a nice option: You can erect the tent under the fly to avoid getting the interior soaked under heavy rain, or you can set up the fly by itself for a quick bivy. Mesh sidewalls make the Reflex 2 incredibly breathable, even when the fly is on. And for such a light weight — less than 4 pounds with the ground sheet — the tent’s interior feels luxuriously spacious with 40 inches of headroom. A minor point: Brick red and canary yellow is a color combination that brings to mind carrot-flavored baby barf. But like Winnie’s turtleneck sweaters, it’s at most a cosmetic defect. And one we’re willing to overlook.

WIRED Aluminum needle stakes are lightweight, easy to use and attractive. Fly can be erected separately. Quick setup.

TIRED Gaudier than Liberace’s entire wardrobe. Drafty in inclement weather.

$400, msrcorp.com

Big Agnes Fly Creek UL2

The Fly Creek is a tent aimed at beginning backpackers, which is to say — light, small, and not the most comfortable night’s sleep in the world. The tent’s dimensions were by far the most cramped of all the ones we tested. While the specs state that the UL2 offers 38 inches of headroom, those inches are towards the back of the structure instead of front where your head is. This makes putting on your pants a grueling, horizontal task if it’s cold or raining outside. Moreover, the Fly Creek must be thoroughly staked out to produce those dimensions, including two crucial stakes on each of the tent’s sidewalls. Rocky campsites cause the tent to collapse on itself, shrinking from 28 square feet of floorspace to what feels like about 5. Missing any stakes lets the UL2 flap noisily in the wind, while the miniature vestibule leaves packs and boots exposed to the elements. On the other hand, the ultralight silicone of the tent and fly felt like silk, packed up small, and kept out the fiercest cliffside breezes and rain. The Fly Creek is ideal for Daniel Boones who like to go fast and travel alone.

WIRED Unbelievably light (a shade over 2 pounds with groundsheet). Fly and tent pack smaller than a grapefruit. Single-hub pole setup is fast and easy. Interior gear loft. Well-ventilated, even under the fly.

TIRED Suitable for only diminutive hikers. Small vestibule leaves boots and bags soaking wet.

$350, bigagnes.com

Nemo Morpho 2P

Inflatable supports are a nifty idea in theory, but in reality the Morpho 2P suffers from several fatal flaws. Two thick, sturdy air booms support the Morpho in the front and back but not in between, which makes the tent difficult to pick up and shake out when damp or dirty. Moreover, the air booms save neither time nor weight. Each took about 30 seconds to inflate with the minuscule foot pump — which isn’t bad for a balloon-animal party, but a lot longer than the time it takes to assemble aluminum tent poles. And the tent itself was more than a pound heavier than any other tent tested. The integrated fly makes it impossible to separate the pieces to dry them or cut weight. And finally, for a three-season tent, it’s stuffy. The back vent is too small to allow much in-and-out air flow. Multiple interior pockets are a nice touch, but not enough to compensate for the tent’s deficiencies.

WIRED Booms stayed sturdy and inflated throughout rain and wind gusts. Inner vestibule keeps backpacks and boots dry. Convenient interior pockets. Cozy, cave-like interior.

TIRED Confusing setup. Heavy: 6 pounds with footprint. Gets hotter than a volcano stuffed with Victoria’s Secret catalogs.

$430, nemoequipment.com

Marmot Haven 2P

The Haven 2P is the ideal tent for a Saturday beach trip with friends. Leave the optional floor at home to cut weight, and stake all eight corners in warm, soft sand. Then clip the single support pole into place and unzip the tent’s top vents with the convenient stiff handles. The 10-second setup complete, your whole family can then stretch out in the unbelievable 56 square feet of space in the Haven’s well-ventilated interior. Yes, the Haven would be perfect there … and nowhere else. It’s impossible to use in places with limited space or on rocky ground, as all eight corners need to be staked for the tent to be secure. Moreover, the Haven leaves a few inches of open space above the floor, giving vermin, wind and rain free access to your vulnerable, sleeping head. A three-season tent? It’s barely a weekend tent.

WIRED Light in proportion to the tent’s size. Removable floor lets warm-weather campers cut weight. Excellent ventilation. Plenty of room for bags, boots and people.

TIRED Freezing in temperatures below 55 degrees. Gap between tent and floor lets dogs wriggle out and mosquitoes buzz in.

$200, marmot.com