Looking at the technology magazines pumping out their top 10 or top 100 gadgets lists, I get a feeling of awe at the cost of it all. So much technology for so much cash. It?s the run-up-to-Christmas lists, useful for most of us as those rough guides.

Many it seems have the means and the inclination to buy one, two or even three in a range. ?For anyone who thought an LCD was out of their price range, we roundup three from Sharp, Winbook, and LG with prices starting at a low $1,099,? gushes PC Magazine. It?s still out of my price range.

It seems a bit crass to want so much when the accumulation of disasters this year has left so many people with less than they had before. However, consume we must, but while we?re out there slavering over our goodies, remember to set some dough aside for those in need.

Looking at the glittering array of hardware and the sometimes gushing reviews, I feel as if everyone is out to plug something.

The most gushing can be PC Mag, which describes a $200 chubby candy-bar phone as the ?perfect gift for texting-crazed teens?. Another mini review is for the Enfora TicTalk at $100, a cell phone ?just for kids?.

Start ?em young, they?re saying. OK, so whom do you trust for a good, honest review? Magazines like PC Magazine (www.pcmag.com) will give you a view of the vast depth and breath of what is available.

ZDNet.com also has a good system of reviews and holiday ratings. But for the real low down on the ratings and a comparison of what?s on offer in a variety of categories you?ll have to use Consumer Reports.

Unfortunately the reviews are only for paid subscribers. Still the site has excellent free guides as the different factors to consider when choosing a gadget. Click on the electronics and computers section at www.consumerreports.org.

In the UK the equivalent is Which?, funded by a consumer group whose motto is ?excellent advice from an independent source?.

Which? is also subscriber only. If you are looking for a digital camera the magazine?s top picks in the five megapixel range are the Sony Cybeshot DSC-F828, the Olympus Camedia C-8080 wide zoom. Olympus? Camedia C-7070 wide zoom rated third.

In the laptop category the Apple Powerbook 15 inch CD and the Apple iBook 14 inch came out on top of the bunch, followed by Fujitsu Siemens P7010.

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A reader wrote to me criticising me for being too soft last week on the privacy issues surrounding radio frequency identification technology (RFID).

particular I was worried about the US government?s plans to use RFID?s intrusive technology in passports.

He or she wrote: ?Read your ?soft? article shown above. Privacy is nonexistent in this modern world! It?s becoming more and more impossible to have ANY privacy in a world where sensors are being placed in and on everything, and in or on humans!

?In fact, there will be NO PRIVACY, not even in your own mind one day soon!

?With the privacy of your mind invaded, which may already be a reality, using scientific technological means, there will be NO FREEDOM!

?Your thoughts and intentions will be monitored and controlled! Those who don?t conform to the ?standards? now being introduced, will be impoverished, imprisoned, and eliminated! Why don?t you tell the truth??

Well certainly I would have written that if I thought it was true.

Unfortunately many people, in defending privacy and taking a critical look at the way technology is being used and regulated, end up being over-the-top.

That is, an alarmist view of the situation prevents a reasoned debate on the issue. We still live in a democracy and it is therefore up to us to help shape the debate.

Clearly, we need technology. RFID is a useful tool for supply chain management.

The debate on that particular issue concerns how to regulate it at the consumer level. People should be able to turn off the tracking tags and, like mail-shot marketing, be able to choose whether the want targeted advertising beamed to them as they enter a store.

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