Need a Tech Upgrade? Eight Tools to Consider The recession hasn't put a crimp on technological innovation, and deals abound. Here are eight worthy contenders.

Sometimes the worst of times are the best of times.

Case in point: Small businesses can nab some great technological values this year for a minimal investment.

Take PCs, where competition for the small-business dollar has vendors cutting prices and improving features on even basic business laptops. Better displays and powerful new mobile networks are blurring the line between working at your desk and working on the road. Meanwhile, new alliances between once-disparate players--such as cell phone companies and business process firms--are producing new types of pricing bundles and changing how you buy web hosting and other services. The robust market for add-on peripherals is turning once strictly-for-consumer items such as the iPod into legitimate business tools. Even the way you carry your devices and enter information is changing for the better.