Vegas, Baby, Vegas! After sharing a flight with Walt Mossberg, I’m on the ground for the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and Mari will be joining me in about 24 hours. We’ve made the command decision to stay fewer nights this year for a variety of reasons. Certainly the trip is not inexpensive, in terms of both time and money (and those 50,000 United miles I just parted with). Also, the vast number of pre-show announcements has devalued the convention center discovery experience. Lastly, several vendors we’ve visited on the show floor in previous years are not present this year or have downsized and relocated to various hotel suites. However, we love this stuff and wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. (That’s the view from my room, above.) We know full well we can’t compete with the Engadgets and Gizmodos. And don’t aspire to. But we’re hopeful of supplementing their coverage with some hidden gems. Plus, like most trade events, CES provides outstanding opportunities to learn and network.

The CES news is already flying fast and furious. Netbooks are still a hot topic. But the most interesting looking portable that I’ve seen in some time is not the Google/HTC Nexus One, but Lenovo’s inspired IdeaPad u1 Hybrid transforming tablet/laptop. Both Mari and I are making arrangements to try and track it down. In the home entertainment and digital media space, of course there are and will be new televisions. (Some with Skype?! And others in 3D.) Beyond that, we’ve learned D-Link’s Boxee box will launch under $200. Something they probably had to hit to compete with the $130 Popbox and high-end Roku. We saw the box hardware last month, but new today is the Boxee QWERTY remote! We need, and will see, more of these text-entry devices in 2010. Including ones from Vizio and TiVo. Bigger picture, the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE) initiative is gaining steam and partners. But I’m not sure we’ll learn enough this week to pass judgment any time soon.

And, without further ado, here’s our pre-show coverage:

Pre-CES Data Backup with Clickfree
Ceton to Unveil CableCARD Quad-Tuner ($399)
Syabas to Launch $130 Popbox
SiliconDust to Announce CableCARD HDHomeRun
Of Lenovo Launches and Leaks
5 Things Missing from CES 2010

In addition to periodically checking in on us here, both Mari (@msilbey) and I (@davezatz) intend to actively post mobile thoughts and pics on Twitter. Plus, Brent’s going to keep the CES coverage going on GeekTonic while reporting from home. If there’s anything you’d like us to seek out, hit the comments below.

Related Stories:

1. CES 2010: That’s a Wrap
2. CES 2009: Day 0 Summary
3. CES 2010: Where are they now?