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A Christmas gadget guide

By Chelsea Otakan
Friday, Nov. 30, 2007 @ 8:32 pm

Christmas is around the corner and, whether they like to admit it or not, everyone wants to get their hands on the latest gadgets. For those who don’t have a deep enough wallet for the thousand-dollar plasmas, here’s a guide to gadget gifts under $500.

PNY Pen 256 MB Flash Drive - $21

I know that you can’t fit much on 256 MB these days, but … its in a PEN. If this doesn’t make you feel like a James Bond (or in my case, Veronica Mars), I don’t know what will.

Philips DivX DVD Player - $60

DVD players come a dime a dozen these days, but this particular player comes with more features than most DVD players. With HDMI support, 1080i upscaling, DivX support, and USB capabilities, this DVD player is practically a swiss army knife.

120GB Western Digital Passport External Hard Drive - $86

All the hard drive space and portability of an iPod, with none of the music playing capability (or the extra $200). A decent price for a portable external hard drive, great for the gigabyte deprived.

250GB One Touch 4-Lite Maxtor External Hard Drive - $90

Twice the hard drive space of the Passport and half the portability for about the same price. Choose your poison.

Nikon Coolpix L11 - $98

With 3x optical zoom, a sturdy design, and 6 full megapixels, this little camera is great for a casual user just looking for a quality portable and easy-to-use camera–and all for just under a hundred bucks.

Audio-Technica QuietPoint Noise Canceling Headphones - $115

For those of you who like getting completely lost in your iPod, noise-canceling headphones are a must. How else will you save your ears from those damn carolers?

The iPod Family - $79 to $399

By now, iPods need no sales pitch or introduction, as they’ve become practically a staple for holiday shoppers. Here’s a price breakdown (from lowest to highest) of the current generation, previous generation, and refurbished iPod products all available from the official Apple Store, ranging from $79 to $399.

1GB iPod Shuffle - $79
2GB Refurbished Previous Generation iPod Nano - $79
4GB Refurbished Previous Generation iPod Nano - $99
4GB Current Generation iPod Nano - $149
8GB Refurbished Previous Generation iPod Nano - $149
4GB Previous Generation iPod Nano - $149
30GB Refurbished Previous Generation iPod - $159
8GB Current Generation iPod Nano - $199
8GB Previous Generation iPod Nano Product RED™ Special Edition - $199
30GB Previous Generation iPod U2 Special Edition - $199
80GB Previous Generation iPod - $219
80GB Current Generation iPod Classic - $249
8GB iPod Touch - $299
160GB Current Generation iPod Classic - $349
16GB iPod Touch - $399

Canon SD1000 - $176.00

If you’re willing to spend a bit more cash for sleeker point-and-shoot than the sub-$100 Nikon L11, go for the Canon SD1000. A 3x optical zoom, a plethora of shooting modes, and ISO sensitivity up to 1600, this tiny camera packs a lot in its 4.5 ounces.

Zune 8GB/4GB - 185$ and 139$

I’ll give the Zune its credit. The new design looks much sleeker than the previous one, AND they got the sense to dump most of the DRM crippling its wireless capabilities … as well as the feces colored Zune. If I didn’t already have a bunch of iPod accesories, I might go for the upcoming new generation 80GB Zune 2.

Toshiba HD DVD Player - $232

When looking at high-definition player options, its clear that HD DVD is in the lead as far as affordibility goes. When I find a sub-$300 stand Blu-ray player, I’ll add it to the recommended list. This particular Toshiba player supports HD DVD, standard DVD, and CD playback, and up conversion for standard definition DVDs.

Amazon Kindle - $399

For the bookworm who wants a library in their pocket. You can e-mail or transfer via USB your own eBooks and Word documents, download books from the Kindle Store, browse an up-to-date Wikipedia, get digitally delivered newspapers, read blogs, and more, all from your Kindle on-the-go.

Canon TX1 - $435

When was the last time you could fit a 7.1 megapixel camera AND an HD camcorder in your pocket? Uh … now.

Canon Rebel XT with Lens Kit - $465

While its been overshadowed by the new Rebel XTi, the XT is still a solid entry-level SLR, and, unlike the XTi, can be found on Amazon with a lens kit for under $500. (Oh yeah, and its 8 megapixels for those who are megapixel-centric).

Nikon D40 with Lens Kit - $480

Also a previous generation SLR (predecessor to the Nikon D40x), the 6 megapixel Nikon D40 comes with a lens kit for under $500.

This entry was posted on Friday, November 30th, 2007 at 8:32 pm and is filed under Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

A Christmas gadget guide

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