For him
LaCie Neil Poulton eSATA drive - Perhaps you know someone who's a perfect storm of incredible nerd and rampant minimalist? If said individual also happens to require a pile of storage for their collection of Herzog films and Harmonia bootlegs, the LaCie Neil Poulton eSATA hard drive should be just what the doctor ordered. The sleek black box is available in all sorts of capacities, but if you really want to show how you feel, nothing less than the 1TB version will do.
$199.99 -
Buy from LaCie
BlackBerry Storm - Okay, as we said in our review, RIM's new BlackBerry Storm isn't for everyone -- but there are whole bunch of guys you know who probably really,
really want one. If the target of your gift giving this year is already a Verizon customer, there's few handsets you could get him that pack in more features (or more cool). With a beautiful 3.25-inch touchscreen, GPS, EV-DO Rev. A, and that patented BlackBerry email / messaging on board, handing this over come holiday time should provide you with a whole year's worth of thank-you's.
$199.99 with 2-year contract -
Buy from Verizon
Popcorn Hour A-110 - As any good geek will tell you, a media player can never handle too many formats. The Popcorn Hour A-110 streamer is a perfect cocktail of flexibility and affordability, allowing the guy you're getting this for to watch or listen to just about any kind of file you can throw at it. Add in support for 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch SATA drives, HDMI 1.3a (with DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD output), three USB ports, component outs, S/PDIF audio, and a heaping mess of server and web services, and you've got a veritable tech explosion on your hands. So, uh... watch where you point this thing.
$215 -
Buy from Popcorn Hour
For her
iPhone 3G - Speaking of smartphones that get all the attention, this one's a no-brainer if she doesn't need to copy and paste, send and receive MMS messages, or run apps that Steve hasn't personally approved. Yeah, everyone knows what the iPhone can't do by now -- but a lot of what it
does do it does better than the rest. Trust us, she won't be angry to find one in her stocking.
$199 - Buy from Apple
Flip Mino HD - There's something about the Flip that makes people actually take videos -- and the newest model will let your sweet little Scorsese capture her precious memories in pretty decent high-def. Just make sure you're ready for how cloying your sqeaky-voiced babytalk sounds on tape, Snuggles.
$229 -
Buy from Pure Digital
JVC NX-PN7 Dual iPod / iPhone speaker dock - So you and your lady both have iPhones, but only one of you gets to charge up in the alarm clock at night? That's not fair and you know it -- which is where JVC's surprisingly brilliant dual-dock speaker system comes into play. It's the simplest idea, but it works a treat to reduce clutter -- and it's awfully cute when you both plug in at night with differently-colored light strips. Awww. (You'll have to rely on your iPhone's built in alarm to wake you up -- it'll play through the speakers, so it's loud, but check out
iLuv's iMM173 if you want more traditional alarm clock features.)
$149 -
Shop for JVC NX-PN7 Dual iPod / iPhone speaker dock
Western Digital My DVR Expander (or any DVR-compatible external hard drive) - Let's face it -- when the chips are down, it's your shows that are getting deleted off the DVR to make room for Grey's Anatomy. Not to worry, though -- newer DVR's from DISH Network and TiVo can take advantage of external hard drives like Western Digital's 500GB My DVR Expander to record an additional 60 hours of HD content -- too bad you can't jack in another tuner or four.
$149 -
Shop for Western Digital My DVR Expander
For son
Guitar Hero: World Tour complete band game - A faux drum kit engulfing the den, or a real set of skins consuming the garage? Your move, pop. Having experienced this quandary first hand, we can definitively say that you'll regret the former option the least, meaning that your sanity is likely safer with the fake instruments in the abode. Not to mention this is infinitely less expensive than an open-ended trip to Guitar Center.
$179.99 to $189.99 -
Buy from Red Octane
Sling Media Slingbox SOLO - Placeshifted content and component jacks go together like tea and crumpets, and Sling's Slingbox SOLO will fit equally well under your son's stocking. Oodles of functionality -- STB control, passthrough outputs and support for incoming HD signals -- for a price even you can appreciate. How did we grown-ups actually enjoy TV
on the TV again?
$179.99 -
Buy from Sling Media
T-Mobile G1 - While your special ladyfriend might be busy downloading all sorts of apps onto her iPhone 3G, we suspect a certain kind of inquisitive son would enjoy spending a little quality time with Android. For even less than Apple's darling, your dear John can wield (and tweak) the world's first Google-powered smartphone. And that's saying something, daddy-o.
$179 -
Buy from T-Mobile
For daughter
Motorola ROKR E8 - No handset is all things to all people, but if a musicphone is in your little girl's future, you might want to take a good look at the ROKR E8. Featuring vibrating haptic "keys" and a bright and crisp QVGA screen housed in a glossy black shell, the phone certainly holds its own in the looks department. And while 2GB of flash storage (not including the microSD slot) won't put her iPod out of business, it'll certainly kill time during Saturday detention.
$149.00 (with service contract) -
Buy from T-Mobile
iPod Touch - What can we say about the iPod Touch that hasn't already been said? What can we write about the iPod Touch that we haven't already written? Nothing.
$229.00 -
Buy from Apple
Speakal iPig speaker system - What do you give the girl that's got everything? As in, really, truly everything? How about the iPod docking iPig, a unique speaker system that offers 360-degree sound distribution, a 4-inch subwoofer and adjustable bass controls. In a plastic pig. It's your call whether she'll find it adorable or atrocious.
$139.99 -
Buy from Speakal