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Which is best for lawyers, e-readers or tablets? It's a question that doesn't yet have a clear answer. And with Microsoft's recent investment in the area, the answer is even more ambiguous.

Both have features that benefit attorneys. Neither is perfect. So figuring out which is best for your practice will come down to preference. At least until an amalgamation of the two is released (one that doesn't suck).

It's hard to say which you should get, but here are four of the best.

The old adage "time is money" is perhaps most true for attorneys. Living life in 15-minute billable blocks can do that to you. So having time-saving gadgets and devices is a must for any lawyer.

But where do you start and how do you figure out which areas of your life are due for a trim? Well counselors, you're in luck.

Check out these five neat items that'll help you achieve that work-life balance thing you heard about in law school.

With Best Buy closeouts scheduled to hit 50 of the electronic retailer's locations, attorneys looking to upgrade their law offices could be in for a score.

"Could" is the operative word here. Savvy shoppers know that closeout sales usually yield the worst deals. In the case of Best Buy, most of the big ticket items (like TVs and laptops) are slated to be shipped to other locations.

But that doesn't mean it's all bad. Generally, smaller items will still get good mark downs. So money-conscious lawyers should look out for the following office necessities. They may not be the most exciting buys, but they make billing hours much easier.

A new year means a new slew of cool new tech devices. For many attorneys, though, new legal gadgets usually amount to larger binder clips and a photocopier/fax combo.

But fear not tech-savvy lawyers, FindLaw is here to help.

Legal gadgets need not be boring. These days there are all kinds of tech goodies that can make reaching your billable hours a little easier to endure.

So if you're in the market for some new tech, you can't go wrong with the following five must-have legal gadgets.

Sony is cutting the price of its Tablet S by $100. This brings the 16 GB version down to $399, and the 32 GB version down to $499. The real question for legal professionals is: is the Sony Tablet S right for attorneys?

And, are you willing to ditch your iPad dreams in order to capitalize on this relatively hefty discount?

Let's look a little bit closer at the gadget.

Among the new gadgets at this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas: an upgrade for a mobile credit-card reader. It's part of a trend that's changing the way merchants, including law firms, get paid.

Software maker Intuit showed off its redesigned GoPayment Card Reader at CES, the website iSource reports. The reader is a small device that connects to a smartphone or tablet to allow users to swipe credit cards for payment processing.

Meantime, a competing mobile credit-card reader made by Square is expanding its retail reach. Square announced new partnerships with OfficeMax and The UPS Store that will make its reader available for sale at 10,000 retail locations nationwide, Daily Deal Media reports.

You may be ready to upgrade your office software, but are you ready for your help desk to keep you on hold -- for hours? Those hours aren't billable and could cost you money.

Help desks usually see a 25 to 30 percent spike in calls from computer-challenged colleagues after a major software or equipment upgrade. The increased call volume can go on for another six months.

That's a huge burden for your techie problem solvers -- not to mention a potential time sink for your team.

Every day it seems that another company invents a new gadget that is compatible with your smartphone.

So it's relatively unsurprising that a new iPhone projector case is about to hit the market.

Brookstone's new Pocket Projector case will run you a $230 bill, which is relatively cheap considering the price of other projectors. It's powered by Texas Instrument's Pico projector technology - and it's conveniently attachable to your iPhone 4.

Technology can simplify nearly everything in an attorney's life. Gone are the days where lawyers type pleadings on typewriters and file them by hand. Now there are a host of gadgets that attorneys can use to make their work day more efficient.

But with so many tech gadgets out there, which ones are worth it for attorneys?

Sure, there are smartphones and tablet computers that can help you stay connected with clients wherever you go. But there are other gizmos out there that you may find useful. Here are just a few:

If you're a technology-minded attorney, you probably anxiously awaited the release of Apple's newest gadget: the iPhone 4S. And one of the biggest "upgrades" to this new phone? The Siri speech recognition software.

Many attorneys may wonder if this new "assistant" is worth it. Certainly, the commercials look pretty awesome.

But how does Siri really stack up?

So far, reviews have been generally positive. Most find the software relatively easy to use.