Loading ...Tech gifts you would want to beg from Santa
By Charles E. Buban
TECH ENTHUSIASTS
Like me tend to enjoy wondering which latest gadgets will make great gifts this season. Some are indulgences, yes, but what better time of year to dream such dreams.
This writer put together a list—10 items and in no particular order—to show you what’s out there for this season of giving (prices are listed, although you may be able to haggle for a better price once in the store).
Apple’s MacBook Pro (P116,990-P159,990)—The super slender and sexy MacBook Air would have made the list, but without a built-in optical drive and only three connectors (a headphone jack, a single USB port and a port for connecting an external monitor), the MacBook Pro is a better buy especially if you are ready to spend within this price range.
While the new 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pros may be identical to their predecessors design-wise, the latest models now boast of larger hard drives and slightly faster processors (they now run on Intel’s new 45 nanometer Penryn processor).
The trackpad, which is also the same size as in previous models, has been updated to accommodate the multi-touch hand gestures that allows you, for example, to pinch an image to reduce its size, or swipe it to advance you to the next image (first introduced in the iPhone and featured in the MacBook Air).
Asus Eee PC 900 (P15,000)—A couple of years ago, opening an ultraportable laptop in a coffee shop would have been scandalous—they are not only poorly built and ill-designed but are also sluggish in performance.
That changed with the arrival of Asus Eee PC, which broke all expectations and offered a full-featured laptop at a mere P18,000.
Suddenly, it’s hip to own a laptop this small.
The Asus Eee PC 900 is the updated version. With a wider 8.9-inch screen (up from 7 inches), 20GB storage drive (up from 2 GB), and a bigger 1GB RAM (up from 512 MB), the 900 becomes even more appealing to the highly mobile—including road warriors and students—and to those who want an unobtrusive and inexpensive computer for basic Web surfing, word processing, and e-mail.
Canon Pixma iP100 (P13,495)—When it comes to portability, this 2-kilo mobile printer offers the highest resolution (up to 4,800 x 1,200 dpi color maximum) and prints at an impressive speed to boot. If you simply must have a printer with you at all times, the iP100 should be the do-it-all at your side.
Nike+iPod Sport Kit (P1,790)—If you’re among those who will splurge this holiday season, there’s a good chance that you will be kicking off the New Year with a vow to shed some pounds and get into shape.
In the interest of helping readers stick to such a resolution, this writer included the Nike+iPod Sport Kit (updated to work with the newer 4th generations iPod Nano), which is a miniature transmitter that fits into Nike+ running shoes and beams data to a stamp-sized receiver attached to the dock connector at the bottom of the Nano.
The pair lets you track and store distance, pace, and calorie data from your workouts.
You can also track your performance on your Mac or PC since you could sync the information in iTunes when you dock your Nano.
Of course, you need a pair of Nike+ shoes (like the P4,995 Nike Lunar Lite Trainer+ or the P5,195 Nike+ Zoom Victory), which have cavities located under the insole where you can insert the transmitter.
Sony DSC-W170 (P23,999)—This camera is not only light (175g) but easy to use—its lens can cover a 35mm equivalent range of 28-140mm, much wider than many of the other models in this class.
Why opt for a lens that can shoot wide? A point-and-shoot camera like the W170 will allow you to capture beautiful landscape type shots or large group portraits in a confined space (no need to move farther).
Apart from a 10.1MP sensor and a generous 2.7-inch LCD display, the W170 also has an optical viewfinder, an increasingly rare feature in this class that is so useful when you are following a fast subject or when trying to conserve power.
The W170 also features Sony’s new intelligent scene recognition (iSCN) technology, which allows the camera to automatically select what it “thinks” is the optimal scene mode. With this feature, the camera may even automatically take a second photo if it determines that another setting is much better, giving you two shots to choose from afterward.
Nikon D60 with 18-55 kit lens (P39,000)—If you are new to photography or shun the heftier and much more expensive professional-level cameras, then this consumer-lever digital SRL is an excellent choice.
The 10-megapixel D60 is a perfect “upgrade” camera for anyone who has outgrown their digital compact camera and wants to step up the image quality of their pictures as well as prepare to take control of parameters to get the best possible results.
Joby Gorillapod Original (P1,500)—You may be wondering why this “low-tech” device is included on the list. While window shopping for some interesting gadgets, this writer chanced upon this unique tripod that can firmly secure your camera to just about anything and anywhere.
Its legs feature flexible plastic joints that can bend, rotate 360 degrees, as well as handle cameras weighing up to 325 grams (the bigger Gorillapod SLR-Zoom can handle up to 3 kilos).
Because of its flexibility, one can use this tripod to grapple a branch, a pole or even make it stand on an uneven surface to get the most innovative shooting angle.
Buffalo MiniStation DataVault 160GB (P3,900)—With files and programs taking up more space than ever before, and the fact that computer crashes may happen any time, wiping out information in the blink of an eye, this portable hard drive is great in backing up valuable digital images, music and other files.
The Buffalo is easy to install (you don’t have to install any software) and maintain. It also does not need a power adapter since it can run solely off USB power once attached to your computer.
What’s special with this particular portable hard drive is that it is also compatible with a Mac, which a number of other brands cannot claim.
Nokia 2680 Slide (P4,990)—On a tight budget but still want a modestly equipped phone?
This slim slider phone has far more to offer in terms of functionality despite its inexpensive price tag: it has a music player with FM radio capability, a VGA camera, and the capacity to store 1,000 contacts. It can also play MP3 ringtones and even allow you to send and receive e-mail.
Apple iPhone 3G 16GB (P43,799 for the pre-paid kit or P2,900 if you avail of Globe Philippines’ P4,999 plan)—If you are ready to splurge, then the iPhone is an excellent Christmas treat.
First, you have to be a Globe subscriber to get hold of this long-awaited, iconic smart phone from Apple.
With the iPhone 3G’s cool design, lovely 3 1/2-inch multi-touch display, its revolutionary and super responsive multi-touch interface, and fast and strong Web browser, you will quickly forgive its few inadequacies like its inability to forward your text, no MMS (which allows you to send and receive pictures, video, and audio files through text messages), no option for storage expansion, disabled iTunes purchase function, or battery that drains too quickly.
Tags: christmas
