Quick Focus

Are you the person in your family and circle of friends who's always having to fix everyone’s doo-hickies and gizmos? Impress your friends with your knowledge of all things techie and place this link in your favorites folder.

Retrevo.com is a large online resource for shopping and support information on consumer electronics. This powerful gadget search site is as much fun to traverse as Wikipedia. The company claims to have a searchable index of 100,000 products, 300,000 expert reviews and one million user product reviews. Retrevo is a one-stop-spot for consumer information to find goods you’re searching for, links you’re in need of and support sites to get the most out of your gadgets, appliances and entertainment systems.

Lost that manual to your old camcorder? Look it up in Retrevo’s catalog of searchable product manuals. Want to see what others say about that $3,000 video camera you’re thinking about buying? Retrevo’s guide links you to blogs, forums and reviews on thousands of topics. Don’t understand a technical concept? Just ask the search engine, and you get dozens of links to pros in the know that supply answers to your burning questions.www.retrevo.com

Most still photographers know that if they give an unframed treasured photo as a gift, the receiver may thank them for the lovely picture, appreciate the gesture, then unceremoniously toss the photo in a drawer or use a goofy magnet to attach it to the fridge, but most likely forget to frame it. Ah, but if the still photographer gives the photo wrapped up in a nice frame, the picture has a better chance of being displayed. Well, now the video producer has that same option.

The new must-have gift to "wrap" that precious Family Memories video that you’ve been working on all year for the holidays might just be the Aluratek 11" Digital Photo Frame. This slick techie frame supports most file formats, has slots in the back for several different memory cards and has up to 1GB built-in memory. If you’re the creative artistic video producer we think you are, your family probably appreciates the annual DVDs you compile, but they are probably stacked alongside all of the other DVDs (including the one you never watched that shows you how to use that exercise equipment you never use). The precious DVDs might not even be in a protective case of any kind. Shudder!

The Aluratek frame can be controlled by remote, sits on a desktop or can attach to a wall and retails for about $180 to $260, depending on model, size and amount of memory. www.aluratek.com

If you're looking for something to stuff in a videographer’s stocking this season, you can never go wrong with a camcorder cleaning kit. PUROSOL Optical by Origin Labs cleans your sensitive camera lenses, using an enzyme-based cleaner that’s made for your camcorder’s delicate lenses. PUROSOL is especially made for the multi-coated lenses. The company claims that, besides cleaning, PUROSOL also removes tiny dust particles that can scratch your lens, is all natural and isn’t harmful to your gear the way alcohol or ammonia-based cleaners can be. Those chemicals can eat away at your viewfinder, rendering it unusable over time. The solution starts at $7.95 for a one-ounce bottle and is available online and in specialty retail stores. www.Purosol.com

Would you love to use some cool gradient filters but can’t attach them to your compact video camera? Check out these magnetic holders we found by Cokin. You permanently attach a fixture to the lens frame on your camera using a special adhesive, then the magnetic adapter attaches to that, and you slide the filter up and down within the magnetic lens holder. Check the Web site for your camera's compatibility. Cokin Magnetic Holders http://www.cokin.com/ico15-B.html?#b.