The Top 10: Best Tech Products of 2009

2009 was definitely the year of the Smartphone and E-book reader, with talk of the iPhone 3Gs, Palm Pre, and Amazon Kindle dominating the conversation. Netbooks also advanced during 2009, with the introduction of larger screens and keyboards, and the line between handheld computers and Mp3 players continued to blur with the release of the new Zune HD and upgraded iPod Touch. In this list of the top 10 tech products in 2009, all of these categories are represented, plus a few more, making up a well-rounded group of technological game changers presented in no particular order.

1.) iPhone 3Gs/iPod Touch (3rd Generation)-While neither one of these products received huge enhancements during 2009, the relatively small changes made were enough to put them at the top of their respective categories. Enhancements like Voice Control, (which works pretty good) faster processors, combined with the solid platform and thousands of apps, still make them hard to beat.

2.) Motorola Droid-It's not the prettiest thing out there, but like Verizon says "It's not a beauty queen, it's a robot" (whatever that means...) Regardless, this no nonsense phone makes the list, because it finally put Google's Android in the same league as the iPhone. With its fast processor and multitasking capability, it's definitely Apple's biggest competitor yet.

3.) Kindle 2-Amazon's Kindle is currently the king of e-book readers, combining a nice form factor with 3G wireless book purchasing, aggressive pricing, and large storage capacity. The Barnes & Noble Nook is hot on its heels, but most say it's not quite ready for prime time.

4.) HP Mini 5101-This Netbook makes the Top 10 tech products list mainly because of its sleekness and build quality. The 5101 showed us how far the Netbook category could go, by using an aluminum/magnesium enclosure for durability, close to full-size keyboard, and built-in broadband, making it the best sub-notebook money can buy.

5.) Archos 5-This Portable Media Player provides e-mail, Internet, High-Definition Web TV, and music in a sleek, easy to use package. Add up to 250GB storage, and Flash 9 video support, and you have a multimedia powerhouse that fits in your pocket.

6.) Kodak Zi8-Kodak finally beat Flip at their own game, by making a mini camcorder with 1080p video capture, and nice still images. The fact that it comes with an HDMI cable in the box, and allows for memory expansion via SD card, puts it on the Top 10 tech products list.

7.) LG 55LH90-This LCD TV, can be summed up in two words. LED Backlighting. This technology allows for picture quality rivaling plasma screens, along with a super-bright display. Even more impressive on a 55".

8.) ZUNE HD-The latest version of Microsoft's MP3 player gained an internet browser, a nice big, sharp screen, and High Definition playback. It also gained a lot of fans due to it's monthly all-you-can-eat music download plan.

9.) Canon PowerShot S90- This pocket size camera is on the list due to it's big camera performance. The high-quality CCD captures excellent low-light and action shots, all in a form factor that's highly portable.

10.) LG BD390 Blu-Ray Disc Player-Taken from the CNET review: Excellent image quality on Blu-ray movies; integrated 802.11n Wi-Fi; Netflix, YouTube, and CinemaNow streaming; superfast disc loading; plays music, videos, and pictures off a connected USB drive or over network; Profile 2.0 compatible; onboard decoding for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio; 7.1 analog outputs; 1GB onboard memory. Need I say more?