The Plustek SmartOffice PS282 is a handy and compact scanner that zips quickly through jobs and folds up so it doesn't take up a lot of space. Since it costs over $300 it competes with Fujitsu's ScanSnap line--an excellent set of scanners, which also come with the full version of Adobe Acrobat (Plustek does offer a suite of OCR and image-editing software). And the Fujitsu ScanSnap S510 is cheaper as well. Bottom line? For now, Fujitsu has the edge, but Plustek does a decent job as well.

Update (11-4): As promised, the Barbie B Nails printer (the full names is Barbie Doll'd Up Nails B-Nails Digital Nail Printer) is available for purchase. Check PriceGrabber for the lowest prices (a recent check shows it about $275). Want to know what you're getting yourself into? Check out the updated video.

The CES show, where exhibits of the latest and greatest electronic gadgets are found, is also where some "do I really need this?" items are on display. Exhibit 1, the Barbie B Nails, an inkjet printer that puts custom designs on your fingernails. Or rather, I hope, on your kids' fingernails. It's quick (three seconds) and looks painless, although that depends on whether you'd consider it painful to have the Barbie logo on your fingernail. No word yet on price though this post (and video) from Gadget Review estimates it about $200, available later this year, in time for Christmas. Lucky you!

As M. David Stone rightly notes in his PC World article, "How Printers and Scanners Get GreenTech Approved, "Anything that chews through stacks of paper as its primary job description has to work pretty hard to qualify as green." Still, PC World has bestowed its "GreenTech" seal on a handful of printers; criteria include how well they minimize waste, their packaging and recycling efforts, and the manufacturer's commitment to energy issues. Winners include the HP Officejet Pro 8500.

One reader wrote looking for advice on scanning "several thousand photos." The scanner needs to be Mac friendly and optimized for photo scanning. Given that there are so many to scan, it might help to have an automatic document feeder, though I've never used an ADF to scan photos and am not even sure if you can do it. The Epson Perfection V500 has an optional ADF for an additional $199 (note: that link goes to a review of the V600, a similar scanner but with no optional ADF available). Anyone have any experience scanning a lot of photos using a photo scanner with an ADF? Let us know!