With the holidays coming up one of the hardest parts of the season is choosing the right gift for someone. Have no worries, with this set of gifts it will be hard to disappoint those you care about. At the bottom of this posting you'll find pictures and links to all my recommendations on Amazon.com.
KingMax 8GB Super Stick - Is a flash drive meant to survive one of the classic errors people make with small gadgets, leaving it in a clothing pocket that then goes through the laundry. Great for saving the forget from losing important files.
Xbox 360 Wired Controller - This is one of the best conventional controllers available and the wired version has two advantages over its wireless counter part. It doesn't need to recharged so lack of power doesn't stop the fun and you can use it on on computer without the need for a dongle thanks to its USB connector.
World of Goo - This is a simple puzzle game that involves making structures in order to accomplish a task. People of all ages will find this enjoyable and challenging as it is one of the best puzzle games to come out this year. It is available for Windows, Mac, Linux and the Nintendo Wii. If you want to try it for yourself you can download a free demo for your computer here.
Motorola MOTOZINE ZN5 - As many photographers know you never the opportunity for a great shot can come anytime and anywhere and you'll regret if you miss the chance to get it. Sure you could carry your camera with you at all times but that can be cumbersome. The other alternative is to use your cell phone's camera but most take crappy photos with none of the options found on regular cameras. The exception to this is the Motozine ZN5. A joint development between Motorola and Koday, this is part phone part camera, not a phone with some camera added on. It has the quality and many of the features features you would find on a point and shoot. It has some nice phone features as well. While it is not as versatile as the iPhone it is advanced enough to feel state of the art. You can buy it unlocked for the price below, allowing you to chose a compatible carrier or you can get it much cheaper with a T-Mobile contract.
Joby Gorillapod - This basically a miniature tripod. What makes it useful are its three legs can bend in any direction allowing you to wrap them around other objects. So if you want a take a picture or film from a tree branch a railing or some other place you can't rest your camera the Gorillapod lets you attach it. Just make sure you get the right type for the camera its going to be used with.
Eye-Fi - Is a 2 GB SD memory card with wi-fi. With this the card can take your photos and sync them to your computer, upload them to photo sites like Flickr and even geotag them. All of this is done wirelessly and without taking the card out. How many of the features a card has depends on what model you get.
Archos 5 - This media player features a larger screen and larger capacities than the iPod Touch. Plus its built in browser can do flash. With a cradle accessory you can turn it into a DVR that can hook up to your TV so you can watch your favorite show on the road or at home without having to buy episodes or download them illegally.
Logitech Squeezebox Boom - This is the ultimate home music player. The Boom plays internet radio or your computer music collection through your wi-fi or Ethernet network. Services like Pandora, Last.fm and slacker all work with it so as long as your can connect to the internet you can play some great music to your taste. The boom has a very customisible alarm clock and other features like the the ability pull the local temperature from the internet.
MacBook Pro 17 in. - As my own computer I can recommend this to anyone look for a powerful laptop. While the 17 in. model didn't receive a recent redesign lie the 15 in., this may be a good thing for some. The 17 has a conventional keyboard and track pad which some will prefer. The biggest draw may be that you can get one with a matte screen so reflections won't be issue for those who want to create media on their computer.
Adobe Creative Suite CS4 - While very few people will have use for all the apps in the Master Collection many will value the smaller specialized collections or just one of the programs included like Photoshop, Illustrator or Flash. What is especially good about CS4 versions is that this time Adobe could focus on refining and adding feature to its programs unlike the CS3 versions where had worry about making them compatible with Intel Mac and Vista and integrating the apps from its Macromedia acquisition.
Amazon.com Gift Card - For a gift that's good for anyone that can use the internet, go with this. Amazon sells such huge variety of items so whoever you give it too is bound find something they really want. Just be sure to make it for $30 dollars or more so they can qualify for free shipping on their order, therefore spending all of the card on the actual item(s) they want.
