Nuff' said.

http://www.crazybump.com/

Generated normalmaps will never be as good as handmade ones (unless actual 3D data is used to generate them).

I tried using generated normalmaps multiple times but the result was never something I'd call good:

(click for full size)

But I have to say that crazybump produces useable results (although I'm 100% sure they've used an image which works well with their generator to show in the video)

I can have nice results with Shader Map 2, mainly with tiled textures.

in CryEngine docs they recommend xNormal. it's free but I have not tried it yet. any experience? http://www.xnormal.net/1.aspx

I use Crazybump since 2008... havent found a better solution since.

xNormal is different, good for baking AO from hi-poly mesh to low-poly.

nDo appears to also be a great tool.