Our tech reporter goes to live among his own kind at the Wizard World comics convention.

If nerdiness was on the visible spectrum, then you’d have seen Long Beach, CA from space this St Patrick’s Day weekend, when the annual Wizard World comics convention came to town. Hundreds of dealers, a brace of artists and a sprinkling of genre stars mixed with the various costumed conventioneers… and your indefatigable Filter team.

First up in the magic Filter schwag bag, the LaCie Silver Screen Portable Media Center 80 GB ($299). It’s a handy hard drive for all your movies, pics and tunes.

Next up, Samsung YP-T7X MP3 Player ($150) rocked the house with its bright color screen, photo display capability and miniscule size.

 
Hawking’s Wi-Fi Locator ($40) comes in handy when you’re sniffing around for wireless hotspots.

 
The JVC Everio Video Camera ($1,200) is the first solid-state digicam I’ve ever really liked, capturing DVD-quality video onto tiny flash memory cards.

And finally, Bushnell’s Instant Replay Binoculars ($400) are a boon to bird-watchers and perverts alike with excellent optics and a flip-up LCD screen.

Oh, the wonders I beheld, from a female Zorro to a Robin in green gym shorts and dishwashing gloves. It was all like some beautiful dream. Tune into this episode of Filter and see my report for yourselves.