You’ve finally resolved to treat yourself this Christmas and replace that creaky 15-year-old VCR. Or maybe your brother’s an audiophile who’s been drooling over the iPod Nano.
Whatever the case, there are plenty of shiny digital gadgets out there just waiting to be wrapped up for the holidays.
The Herald asked several dozen business people, acquaintances and others what high-tech baubles topped their wish lists.
Here are some of the latest hot phone, video and audio devices they mentioned.
The next VCRs
TiVo and its DVR peers can automatically find and digitally record onto a hard drive hundreds of hours of programming. You also can pause, rewind and slow down live TV, as well as zap through commercials. TiVo models can be found for $50 when you pre-pay for 12 months of TiVo’s subscription service or take advantage of a mail-in rebate. DVRs also are available with digital cable and satellite TV packages. DVD recorders are more like a traditional VCR, except they use discs instead of tapes. Low-priced recorders are now available for less than $130.
Ipods
While the number of digital music players on the market keeps growing, Apple’s iPod is the undisputed king, with more than 30 million sold. The key difference the iPod has over competitors is the coolness factor. The iPod Nano is only slightly larger than a credit card, yet holds 500 to 1,000 songs, depending on the memory size you buy. The iPod video lets you watch network TV programs. Cool comes with a price: about $200 for a Nano with just 2 gigabytes. If you’re not wedded to an iPod, consider the Creative Zen Micro. Similar in design to the Nano, though bigger, it comes with 5 gigs at a starting price of $175.
Xbox 360
If you don’t have one pre-ordered, Microsoft’s new Xbox 360 may be hard to find. This is one of the few items this year that’s creating a buying frenzy. To call it a video game console is to call a Ferrari a car. The graphics are so realistic you can watch NBA players subtly get sweatier as the game goes on. The souped-up $400 unit (a more basic one sells for $300) has a wireless control and headset and a detachable hard drive that can store game features. Both versions also seek to be multimedia machines for the living room. You can connect an MP3 player and listen to music through it, and you can view photos through it by attaching a digital camera. It also can play CDs and DVDs or save music on the hard drive. Not an Xbox fan? Be patient. Sony’s PlayStation 3, which may have even more graphics power, is due out sometime in 2006, as is the Nintendo Revolution.
Portable play
If you want something more suitable for playing games while riding the on I-5, the Sony PlayStation Portable or Nintendo DS can bring entertainment to your commute. The gurus at CNET.com give the $250 to $300 PlayStation Portable its highest marks for its wide LCD screen, graphics that are comparable to the PlayStation 2 and built-in Wi-Fi and Web browsing capability. It also can play video and music. The DS – considerably more affordable at a starting price of $130 – has two screens, including a touch screen, Wi-Fi capability, small but impressive surround-sound speakers and a microphone for voice control.
Ring bling
The free cell phone that comes with your wireless service is probably enough if your phone is frequently flying off the car dashboard or buried on your desk at work. If, however, your phone is a crucial tool and a fashion statement all wrapped in one, you need a phone with pizzazz. Motorola’s Razr V3 phone line – the biggest-selling wireless phone of the year – may fit the bill. The V3x, available to Cingular subscribers, has two built-in cameras – one for still shots, the other a video camera. The video camera allows for video conference calls, too. It also comes with up to 512 megabytes of memory for downloading, storing and playing music, games and video. Plus, it’s pretty. V3 models are available for T-Mobile, Cingular and Verizon subscribers.
Wireless sunglasses
Of course, if you’re cool enough for the V3, you probably think the utilitarian headsets designed for hands-free phone operation are too dull. In that case, the Razrwire sunglasses, co-designed by Motorola and Oakley, probably are more up your alley. The glasses offer wireless, hands-free connections to Bluetooth-enabled phones and devices. And, with the Oakley name attached to them, they are slick. But they also cost $300, without the phone.
Noise-canceling headphones
These are ideal for frequent air travelers who want to block out the roar of jet engines and annoying passengers around them. The Solitude active noise-canceling headphones offer up to 18 decibels of active noise cancellation, the highest of any on the market. They also sound great and fold up. At $200 at online shops, the Solitude headphones aren’t for casual users, but they are less spendy than some competitors.
Shooting pixels
Good, compact digital cameras are now available for $250 to $300, with Kodak’s EasyShare V530 winning good reviews from both CNET.com and PC Magazine’s editors. With 5 megapixels, it will take shots with enough detail for those who like to make larger prints. It’s also fast and easy to use. The new 5-megapixel Canon PowerShot A610, also between $240 and $300, gets similarly good reviews.
Satellite radio
If someone on your Christmas list is a fanatic listener of Howard Stern, consider a Sirius satellite radio receiver. After December, you’ll need one of these to hear the popular radio personality do everything the Federal Communications Commission wouldn’t let him do on earthbound radio. There’s also more than 120 channels of static-free music, sports and specialty programming from each of the two big providers, XM and Sirius, both of which charge $12.95 a month for their services. Satellite radio receivers now start at less than $50.
‘Smart’ pen
First there were laptops, now there’s a pen-top computer. The Fly Pentop Computer, selling for about $100, combines an optical scanner, speech synthesis processor and other technology into a fat marker-sized pen. The result is that when a user writes a word on special Fly paper, he can hear it instantly translated into Spanish. Or draw a calculator, touch the handwritten numbers and function signs, and the pen figures out that problem. This homework helper, designed for ages 8 to 13, ranked just below iPod Nano, Xbox 360 and high-definition TVs on Shopping in America’s survey of electronic gifts. Changeable cartridges for the pen, which control what it does, and the special paper cost extra.
Reporter Eric Fetters: 425-339-3453 or fetters@heraldnet.com.
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