See Me, Hear Me

I have thousands of pictures and MP3s. How do I protect all of my digital assets?

As its lengthy name suggests, the Seagate Mirra Sync and Share Personal Server ($599 for the 500 GB version) not only continuously backs up your files but lets you easily share them with others. You get to your content through its intuitive software over the Web and send emails to friends to give them access to certain files or folders. It can also perform backup duty for several computers on a network, and works with both Macs and PCs. --MAP
www.seagate.com

My iPod is the center of my universe. How do I make it play nice with all of my home electronics?

The Griffin Technology TuneCenter ($129) makes simple work out of showing off all those photos, videos, and music stored on your iPod through your home-entertainment system. You can easily view and cycle through your songs, playlists, and other iPod media on your TV using its remote control. You can also play Internet radio stations thanks to its built-in ethernet port, although the TuneCenter was annoyingly tricky to set up with my router. At least Griffin was smart enough to include an s-video output. --MAP
www.griffintechnology.com

My friend just got the Series 3 TiVo. How do I put him to shame?

You could try the Niveus Media Center Rainier Edition, which, for $3,499, gets you three TV tuners, a 400 GB hard drive (that's 40 hours of HDTV recording, or more than 55 days of continuous digital music, or enough storage for more than 250,000 high-resolution photos), eight-channel audio, FM radio, Wi-Fi, an Internet connection, a DVD/CD burner, and an HDMI output for your new HDTV--and this is its entry-level offering! It features two banks of heat sinks that eliminate the need for noisy cooling fans. Just one complaint: The Microsoft Media Center software on the Niveus crashed several times during our tests. --MAP
www.niveusmedia.com

If someone's not going to make a documentary of my life, I am. Which camera should I use?

The JVC Everio GZ-MG57 hard-disk camcorder ($700) is a quick jump ahead of the relatively new DVD camcorders, which could become the Betamax of our generation. No more tapes, no more disks, and, best of all, no more dubbing. This extremely user-friendly camera records up to 37 hours and features Dolby digital audio and a "telemacro" zoom (up to 2 inches), which can be either a great thing or quite scary if you're not used to seeing what people really look like that close. While Scorsese's not going to use this to film his next movie, it'll work just fine for any budding Borats. --Helen Barnard
www.jvc.com