Taking the mic...

How about a compact PC recording studio for anyone who's ever scoffed 'I can do that' while watching Fame Academy or Pop Idol, and needs eardrum-rupturing evidence to the contrary? This interactive PC studio has a cache of ten tunes (from the likes of Anastacia to Ronan Keating) and lets you sing - karaoke style - and upload the result to the Web. Submissions are judged by an online jury and ranked on the Pop Idol Talent Box charts.

Disappointingly, the mic doesn't amplify, songs are limited and, on playback, the volume sketches wildly from tinny middle-distance to scratchy-static high. But dexterous mixmasters can iron out the kinks with a studio console, and the rest of us armchair critics can bite our tongue with freshly minted self-awareness. Value.