Where to Find Great Gear

Every week, I'm planning to dig up a site (or two) that features great gear for business people. I'll try to focus on sites that a) test the products they flog or b) offer great deals. I'll try not to get too caught up in fanboy promotions, and I'll try to stick to sites that offer practical, real gadgets. (As former Gizmodo editor Joel Johnson warns—in not-so-nice language—there's danger in fetishizing craptastic new stuff.) This week, I'll stick to a couple of golden oldies.

Cool Tools: This site, run by Kevin Kelly, features products that have been thoroughly vetted by the writers. While the gear on the site isn't always relevant to the business world—see this recent post on a coconut puncturer—they often review office products that are a step above the rest. For example, the ReAir Duster can be refilled with a bicycle pump, and the APC Universal Adapter is cheap, and small enough to fit easily into your laptop case.

Woot.com: "One Day, One Deal." The site is pretty simple. Every day at 12 am Central time, the editors list for sale a certain (but unknown) amount of a particular product at a great discount. In the past, they've sold everything from laptops to headsets, but the shipping cost always remains five dollars. It's a great place to pick up cheap gear, but beware of compulsive buying, especially when the "I want one" button appears to signal that less than 10% of the stock remains. You can read more about the Woot business model and the Woot community in Wikipedia.