We gathered nine people who were curious about the new wave of Internet devices, and set them loose to run select machines through the ringer of everyday consumer use.

GO STRAIGHT TO THE TOYS... or read about the real people who reviewed them below:

Larae Brown, 28, is a marketing specialist. She occasionally uses the Web as part of her job duties.

Teresa Gonzalez, 25, is an administrative assistant. She has very little Web surfing experience.

Thor Gudmundsson, 38, is a carpenter. He has no computer experience whatsoever.

Catherine Harris, 22, is a temp worker. She used the Web occasionally while in college.

Steve LeVine, 40, is a physician. He regularly surfs the Web, and writes site reviews for The Net.

Marcela Linkova, 22, is a student. She has experience with the Web, Usenet, and mailing lists.

Irene Ng, 26, is a graphic designer. She regularly surfs the Web, and plans to design Web pages.

Mark Sebransky, 31, is a warehouse worker. He has used computers, but has never been on the Internet.

Jonathan Stevens, 24, is a creative director. He has three years of experience in Web production.

Overall, our testers were impressed by the Destination's bombastic majesty, found the Monorail to offer charm and utility, and considered WebTV to be the only set-top box worth a second look. The group considered the MessagePad and e-mail pager to offer some value for specific needs. Portions of the testers' feedback follow each product review.