It's a funny thing, reporting on a show about electronics, because the gadgets you're covering are often the same things as (or very similar to) the products you're using to cover them. Personal electronics are more than just a convenience for CES attendees — they're absolutely essential to have any hope of covering the show efficiently. With that in mind, we present to you a roundup of the tech products our team of writers found indispensable in their show coverage. Check them out after the jump.

 

JVC Everio GZ-MG505 camcorder: My most important gadget companion at the show, even before my MacBook (see below). After all, with no laptop, I could have used one of the many provided in the press room, but the lightweight JVC captured both video and still pictures faithfully. The 5-megapixel stills were fine for the Web, and the video was topnotch, thanks to 3 CCD image sensors. And the beefy 30-GB hard drive ensured I always had room to spare.

 

MacBook: Solid and reliable, my MacBook allowed me to write stories, download high-res pictures, upload posts, and edit video all at the same time without ever cracking a sweat. My only worry was guarding against someone stealing it.

 

Samsung A900 cell phone: The battery made me nervous at times, but this multimedia cell never let me down, enabling me to text-message a colleague while talking to another, plus I could check the site when I was nowhere near a Wi-Fi connection.

 

Sony Ericsson Akono HBH-662 Bluetooth earpiece: Beyond just providing clear wireless, hands-free calling, the Akono HBH-662 was just plain comfortable to wear for long periods — extremely important when you're busily putting it on and taking it off during press conferences.

 

 

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A pad, a pen, a BlackBerry 8700c matched with a Plantronics Voyager 510 Bluetooth headset, a Kodak V570 and a Canon SD800IS for product shots each packed with a Kingston SD HC card, a Kingston 15-1 high-speed media card reader, a two-year old beat up Apple iBook G4, all schlepped around the LVCC in a heavy-duty Booq Python XL backpack.

 

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Panasonic ToughBook: light and tough enough to take a drop (I'm not recommending that) with approximately 6 hours of battery life. Wi-Fi was nice, but at the show the Wi-Fi was spotty at best. Overpriced. but it's small enough to be considered a good travel companion. Nice screen and DVD/CD player.

 

Panasonic DMC-TZ1 digital camera: This 5-megapixel camera includes a Leica lens, image stabilization (helps a lot when the flash is off), and 10 optical zoom (excellent). Best feature: long battery life — I took 130 pictures and still had plenty of battery left.

 

 

BlackBerry Pearl with T-Mobile service: Contacts, e-mail, Web access, and phone. All the fun of a Treo with GPS, MP3 player, 1.3-MP camera, and full BlackBerry functions. T-Mobile had spotty service but that's not the phone's fault.

 

Sennheiser noise-cancellation headphones: Won't travel without them. Equal to Bose at half the price.

 

 

 

 

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Sony IC Recorder: This digital voice recorder with 1 GB of memory, which also doubles as an MP3 player (not that I had time to listen to music), made recording those long-winded press conferences a breeze. It even includes a clock so I could watch time pass ever so slowly…

 

LG enV cell phone: Being able to send my editor pitches and updates was made easy with the Qwerty keypad. Vegas is also notorious for bad cellular reception, but I didn't have a single dropped call with this Verizon handset.

 

 

 

BlackBerry 7130e: This CDMA and EV-DO enabled smartphone made getting online a snap, especially as Vegas is equally notorious for rather lackluster Wi-Fi connectivity. With this handset (borrowed from my tech writer wife), I was able to file even when I couldn't find a Wi-Fi connection.

 

U3 USB thumb drive: Those little thumb drives always come in handy at a trade show like CES, but the newer U3 drives let you launch and run a program directly. This let me make Skype VoIP calls in the press room, and I was able to run Photoshop Elements when needed.

 

Polar RS200sd Heart Rate Monitor: After those rich dinners at CES and otherwise unhealthy food, a short run in the morning got me ready to hit the show floor. This heart rate monitor let me track calories burned and distance ran… I should have used it to track the infinite miles I walked in the Convention Center as well!