The Spy-Cye robot, marketed as a home-surveillance tool (among other uses), is the only product we reviewed that actually lets you tell the surveillance camera where to go, even when you're not there. The unit learns its environment by feeling along objects and walls, taking its bearings from a home-base location you designate. You can also simulate these boundaries using the Map-n-Zap software. Probotics says this process can take minutes, but we spent over 3 hours mapping and came to the conclusion that the robot isn't really meant for areas with chairs, table legs, rug fringes, toys, or any floor surfaces besides long, wide tracts.

The Spy-Cye's documentation is haphazard at best, and the software is cumbersome. The included X10 camera offers such a narrow field of view that we couldn't figure out why on one occasion the dog kept head-butting it—until we found that the unit had run aground on one of his bones. Once you get a suitable area mapped, though, the Spy-Cye is a breeze to operate. You can control the Spy-Cye from any Web-enabled terminal. Click on the on-screen map to send the robot to a destination or guide it with mouse clicks or a joystick via the video-display window, then snap pictures to save and upload to the Web. This device's value for home surveillance is questionable, but if you're willing to invest a lot of time in programming, the Spy-Cye can be loads of fun.