Take-it-on-the-road technology

Does your significant other view summer vacation as a time to get away from technology? Quick, hide this column. When it's safe, read on.

OK, now that we're alone, here are some vacation tips: Shut down the e-mail. Don't answer calls from work. And yes, turn off that computer. Why? Because there are so many hot gadgets out there designed for summer fun you'll hardly miss your everyday tech.

Shades with sound
Imagine yourself strolling along the beach trying to look cool with that long, white, tangled MP3 player cord flapping in the breeze. Not a pretty picture.

Instead, slip on a pair of Oakley Thump polarized sunglasses with an MP3 player built in. The working parts of this digital eyewear, including the 512MB of flash memory, the on/off switch, volume controls, and a USB port are embedded in the sides of the frame, along with the earbuds (adjustable in three directions).

At 1.9 ounces, the Thump is remarkably lightweight. Connect it to your Mac or Windows computer via the included USB cable and it shows up as just another hard drive. You can drag and drop music files onto it in MP3, WMA, WMA DRM, and WAV formats. I found that Windows Media Player had no problem recognizing the Thump, so I was able to easily sync it with my music library.

Yes, you can store data files on the Thump. And, the sunglass lenses flip up, so you can rock on indoors.

How's the sound? As good as with any plain vanilla digital music player, although I did have to crank it up and snug the earbuds for better sound outdoors.

Cool, my friend, does not come cheap. Oakley recently released a 512MB version of the Thump for $495. The 256MB model runs $395 to $545, depending on which snazzy color combination you choose.

A Whiz of a road guide
Highway signs that point to food, gas, and lodging don't always give the full story. The Talking Road Whiz ($39.90), a ''hand-held travel computer," claims to have the scoop on more than 80,000 services.

This gizmo doesn't need a wireless connection. Everything's built in. When prompted, you enter information such as the number of the highway you're traveling on and the nearest mile marker. A melodious female voice then responds with details about nearby gas stations, restaurants, tourist sites, malls, convenience stores, hotels (including their 800 numbers), and more. The information also appears on the display screen.

I recently loaned a Talking Road Whiz to my brother and sister-in-law to test on a drive from Washington, D.C., to San Francisco. Their verdict: Once you figure out how to operate it and understand its limitations, the Road Whiz can be a useful, but at times, frustrating gadget.

My sister-in-law liked the fact that even when they were driving through areas that had no cellphone coverage, the battery-operated Whiz yakked away and calculated the distance to the next town.

She noted that it would be tough for a solo traveler to operate the Road Whiz. ''You'd have to use the Whiz after you make a pit stop." (True. The manual warns against operating while driving.)

Among the frustrations: Road Whiz offers less information as you head off of the major roads. And it leans heavily toward chain hotels, restaurants, and other establishments. They also found it maddening when the Road Whiz became a nag, prompting them over and over if they delayed entering information.

Even so, they didn't kick the Whiz to the curb. ''Driving through Kansas, we were starving, needed gas, and driving through a blinding rainstorm. The Road Whiz assured us that X miles up ahead the Town of Salina had gas and food for us," my sister-in-law said.

Video on the run
If you've headed off for vacation but forgotten the video camera, you could pick one up for $29.99 at CVS. Like those cheap single-use snapshot cameras, you use this camcorder once then turn it in for processing.

The pocket-size camcorder will record up to 20 minutes. It has a 1.4-inch color playback screen, and you can view and delete unwanted scenes. Once it's full, you return it to CVS, pay $12.99 and they transfer your video to a disk.

Fido, call home
And finally, if you're taking the family pet along and you're worried about losing Fido, wire him up with GPS. Attach the GlobalPetFinder ($349 plus activation and a monthly fee) to your pet's collar and it will send an alert to your cellphone or other wireless device if he leaves the area. Better yet, with GPS it's easy pinpoint the pet's location -- at home or on the road.

Michelle Johnson is a freelance writer. She can be reached at mijohn@mail-me.com.