top5

Subscribe: RSS (SD) RSS (HD) iTunes (SD) iTunes (HD) While everyone has become distracted with storing their data in "the cloud," portable drives have been quietly evolving. Today's crop of bus-powered portable drives offer unbelievably compact designs, terrabytes of capacity, and blazing fast USB 3.0 speeds that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago.

The best news is that there are several great portable drive options out there under $100. CNET Senior Editor Dong Ngo has an ongoing roundup of them over on CNET's Crave blog. I asked him to rank his current … Read more

Subscribe: RSS (SD) RSS (HD) iTunes (SD) iTunes (HD) There's never been a better time to buy an Android smartphone. Device manufacturers such as Samsung, HTC, LG, and Motorola are at the top of their game, pushing the limits of screen quality, battery life, and design.

CNET always keeps an up-to-date list of the best Android smartphones, and it's a list that sees a lot of turnover. But as smartphone manufacturers gear up for their iPhone 5 retaliation this fall, I figured it would be a good time to take a snapshot of the best Android smartphones for … Read more

Subscribe: RSS (SD) RSS (HD) iTunes (SD) iTunes (HD) Smartphones are practically essential in this day and age. I mean, how else are we expected to upload pictures of our lunch on Facebook?

Unfortunately, there's still a misconception that smartphones are an expensive luxury item. Not true. I mean, data and messaging plans may bankrupt you, but the phones themselves can be found for next-to-nothing so long as you're on contract.

In this episode of Top 5, I'll count down CNET Senior Editor Jessica Dolcourt's favorite smartphones under $50, for June 2012. Not only that, but … Read more

Console game controllers get no respect. These days especially, with all the attention paid to mobile games, touch-screen control, and Microsoft Kinect, everyone has lost sight of the irreducible awesomeness of a sweaty gamepad.

With this thought in mind and the hype of E3 2012 fading in the distance, I offer you my best attempt to round up the Top 5 game controllers of all time. … Read more

Update: Voting is now closed. Thanks for helping us choose a winner. Stay tuned for an upcoming CNET Top 5 on console controllers.

All this E3 coverage recently has me thinking it's time for a Top 5 on console game controllers.

I have my thoughts, and I'll be sure to poll our CNET editors for their opinions too. In fact, I'll probably have the final Top 5 span the best game controllers of all-time, just to keep things interesting.

But I also want to know what you think. To keep it manageable, I'm restricting this reader'… Read more

It was clear from CES that 2012 is going to be a year of major changes in home networking, considering the availability of the new 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard. While it's rather complicated to figure out all the differences between Wi-Fi standards, it's quite easy to equip yourself with the best as long as you follow this regularly updated list of the Top 5 networking products currently available.

This time around, the list includes the two first 802.11ac routers on the market and three cream-of-the-crop N900 Wireless-N routers. Any of these routers is able to transform your home network into something you might not have imagined possible before, thanks to features, speed, or both.

This list is sorted by the review date, starting with the most recently reviewed.… Read more

The wireless router is arguably the most important piece of computer equipment in your house, since it connects the rest of your gadgets to one another and the Internet.

Now that we're well into the new year, let's look back at the top five routers of 2011. These routers will stay relevant this year and maybe even beyond. They are a handful from among the many I reviewed last year that represent what consumers will find on the market. … Read more

With iCloud, Apple has the pulpit to make or break "the cloud" in the minds of millions of consumers. We recently showed you what iCloud does right; now we take a look at the top 5 things about it that make us scratch or shake our heads.

Breaking news from CNET about Apple iCloud.

Before we can get down to the difficult business of breaking our resolutions, we're giving 2010 one last hurrah. Watch CNET editor at large Brian Cooley round up the worst software releases of the past 12 months. Did we miss your most hated software of 2010? Tell us what's on your "worst-of" list in the comments below.