Our correspondent goes to a geekfest and reports back on five new tools you need now.

Catch that mouse. Logitech's Performance Mouse MX is one to love. Photo: Logitech

I was in gadgetry heaven.

The Pepcom Holiday Spectacular in New York Thursday night was buzzing — and it wasn't just the sensation of mobile devices on vibrate mode.

With 80 companies — from Hewlett-Packard (HPQ)  to Samsung — showing off their goods for the holiday season, the room pulsated with enthusiasm, competitiveness and innovation. It was like the recession didn't exist!

I can't go through everything I saw, but here are my top five picks of the most interesting, unique technology solutions for business (and then some honorable mentions). More

In a sign that should bode well for Apple's (AAPL) earnings in its third fiscal quarter — which ended Saturday — the MacBook has clawed its way back to the top of Amazon's (AMZN) bestseller lists.

The Mac, which once led the pack in the online retailer's Computers & PC Hardware Bestsellers category despite its $1,000 to $2,000 sticker prices, had fallen behind the blistering sales pace set by netbooks like the Asus Eee and the Acer Aspire One, which sell in the $300 to $400 range.

By June 1, the bestselling Apple computer on the list — a white plastic MacBook — had been pushed down to the No. 14 position.

But netbooks have started to fall out favor recently — as witnessed by reports of return rates as high as 30% and an NPD study that found that 60% of consumers who bought them didn't understand the difference between a netbook and a notebook.

Meanwhile, Apple announced on June 8 that it was refreshing its notebook line and lowering its prices. Result: its computers have become hot sellers on Amazon once again.

Apple's entry-level 13-inch unibody MacBook, renamed the MacBook Pro, has been one of Amazon's top 100 bestsellers for 20 days — basically since the moment it went on sale. As of Monday morning, it was the site's No. 4 bestselling computer overall and No. 1 in the laptop category.

In fact, three of the top 10 and five of the top 20 bestselling laptops on Amazon are now MacBooks.

Apple is not the only beneficiary of what some see as growing consumer disillusion with netbooks. HP (HPQ) Pavilions, Toshiba Satellites and Samsung Mini Notebooks are also selling briskly online.

See also:

• AMEX vs. Amazon; Macs vs. netbooks
• Amazon’s Christmas bestsellers: Acer, Apple and Asus

Look what Santa left under Amazon.com's tree this Christmas morning:

• 7 Acer netbooks
• 7 Apple MacBooks
• 4 Asus netbooks
• 2 Samsung netbooks
• 2 MSI netbooks
• 1 OLPC (One laptop per child) XO laptop
• 1 Lenova Ideapad laptop
• 1 Toshiba Satellite laptop

Can you spot the ringer on Amazon's 2008 Christmas-day list of 25 bestselling notebook computers?

You guessed it. It's those seven premium-priced Apple (AAPL) MacBooks in a shopping cart dominated by stripped-down netbooks, heavily discounted Windows notebooks and a 2-for-1 "$100" laptop.

Except for the MacBooks and one $599 Toshiba, every computer on that list sells for less than $500.

The seven MacBooks, by contrast, sell for three times as much: an average of $1,473.41, after rebates.

It's almost as if Macintosh buyers were insensitive to price, even in a recession. In fact, the best-selling Apple on that list isn't the cheapest; it's a $1,299 unibody MacBook marked down to $1,218.98. The cheapest Apple — a $999 white MacBook, marked down to $929.99 — is No. 22.

Over on Amazon's desktop bestseller list, Apple did even better this Christmas morning: 4 of the top 5 are Macs.

Amazon (AMZN) is the world's largest online retailer, but for definitive holiday sales figures we'll have to wait for the quarterly reports.