Holiday Tech Toys 2009!

holidaytechtoy.jpgWhat gets me about the holiday lists created by other technology companies is that they often put things like printers and monitors on their lists. Sure, these things might be great tech items, but do they really make great gifts? Maybe for some, but I’d say they are the high-tech equivalents of toasters and blenders. But enough ranting. Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, here in no particular order, I present my list of some great technology gifts for 2009.

Ghosts of Christmas Past – I’ve written 2 previous Holiday Tech Toys lists (2007 and 2008) and you should go back and review them as many of the items there are still great gifts this year. Also, clicking this link will take you to all my previous Tech Toy of the Month articles so you can review other tech gift ideas.

macbook.jpegMacBook – Most laptops purchased as gifts are for high school and college students. The MacBook line is the #1 selling laptop on college campuses. So if you are going to buy a laptop for a student, you can’t go wrong with an Apple brand laptop, especially considering that MacBooks can run both the Mac OS and Windows. No other laptop gives a student so much flexibility in their ability to run various software, which is very important for students who may be taking a wide variety of classes.

ps3.jpegConsole Video Games – Of course, the Nintendo Wii, Playstation 3, and XBox 360 are all popular items. Which one should you get? That completely depends on who you are buying it for. Many people have a preference on which they want – and purchasing the wrong console would be quite disappointing. Or many people now own multiple consoles (usually the Nintendo Wii along with either the Playstation or XBox) so find out what they already own and if they want another console (usually because a particular game is only available on that console). You can read about the Nintendo Wii in my earlier articles (part 1, part 2), along with why I think the Playstation 3 is a great purchase just for playing Blu-Ray movies.

kindle2.jpegKindle – This device is quickly becoming the de-facto standard in the new category of “e-reader”. An e-reader is a device that lets you download and read electronic books. Read more about the Kindle from my article earlier this year.

atomicbass.jpegAtomic Bass Headphones – I still love these headphones every time I use them! I think they would make a great gift for someone who is still using the original headphones that came with their iPod or other music player. A previous article details why I think these headphones are great.

iPhoneiPhone & iPod Touch – Yet again, these devices are selling at a phenomenal rate! One of the reasons for the growth of the platform is the high number of applications available for these devices. With now over 100,000 applications available, as the tagline goes, “There’s an App for That.” This is probably a good time to state that if someone really wants an iPhone or an iPod Touch, know that they will be seriously disappointed if you get them a competing product. iPhone and iPod are not generic names like Kleenex and Xerox 🙂

imac27.jpegiMac – The iMacs have recently been updated with larger screens (21.5″ and 27″ models) and increased performance. For people who love big screens, video games, or movies, the new iMacs are a great choice. And the quad-core iMacs are incredibly powerful for the price. I’ve not been seriously geeked-out about new iMacs in a long time, but I can totally envision myself sitting in front of a 27″ quad-core iMac completely immersed in a 3D video game.

itunesgift.jpegiTunes Gift Cards – They’re not just for music anymore! The iTunes store has expanded into movies and TV shows as well, but perhaps more important is the fact that applications (and games) for the iPhone and iPod Touch can be purchased through iTunes. For the same price as a single cartridge or disc for most game platforms, many high quality games can be purchased for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

gps.jpegGPS (Personal Navigation Devices) – GPS devices are now being called Personal Navigation Devices or PNDs. Not to be confused with WMDs, Garmin, TomTom, and Magellan are still among the most popular brands. It may be a little difficult to know which model to purchase for someone, so a gift card to a technology store may be a good option here.

If you have any questions about any technology gift, feel free to contact me.