Technology wish list full of new items

So there you are, working 70 hours a week at that Internet startup, making more money than you really need and just waiting for your dot-com to go IPO so you can watch your stock options skyrocket.

Oh, wait. That was 1999.

Well, the economy may have changed and pursestrings have tightened, but let’s assume for a moment that you haven’t been downsized out of a job and price still is no object this holiday season. What do you buy for that technophile on your list?

A quick visit to the popular technology Web site cnet.com gave me a frightening wakeup call. I haven’t made any cutting-edge electronic gadget purchases lately, and I am starting to fall way behind the times. VCRs? Out. It’s all about the DVD now. A CD Walkman? Sure, you can find one if you want to keep living in the 1980s, but portable MP3 players are in fashion now.

I probably could get by just fine without any of this stuff, but as a red-blooded American male I can’t help but salivate at the possibilities. I can picture myself, Sony PlayStation controller in one hand and Palm PC in the other, listening to MP3s I’ve downloaded from the Internet and watching DVD movies on my high-definition flat TV. Heck, as long as I’m picturing myself, I should use a brand-new digital camcorder.

Here, then, are the top five gizmos on my list this year:

DVD player ($99 and up): In case you haven’t visited your local video store lately, here’s a news flash for you: If you don’t have a DVD player yet, you have not arrived in the new millennium with everyone else. Since I have a VCR and a CD player, I’m not exactly sure why I need one. But DVDs are starting to take up more and more floorspace at my local Hollywood Video, and I don’t want to get left behind like those people who kept buying cassette tapes when CDs were taking off.

At Amazon.com, you can get a bargain-basement Daewoo DVD player for about $100, but if you’re willing to spend $200 or so, you can get disc-changers and features like “Super ColorStream Pro progressive scan.” Remember, the longer the name, the more it will impress your friends.

Nintendo GameCube, X-Box or Sony PlayStation 2 ($99 to $299). Since the days of Atari 2600, there’s always been something intoxicating about spending countless hours playing video games. Since I got married, there’s always been someone stopping me from doing so. But if someone were to give me a game console, I wouldn’t have to justify the expense of buying one.

X-Box and PlayStation 2 are the hot game consoles this year, and from what I’ve heard it’s worth the extra $100 to go with Sony over Microsoft. GameCube is the bargain end of the spectrum and has fewer cool features than X-Box or PlayStation 2.

HDTV ($1,599 and up). Hey, I said we’re assuming price is no object. If you haven’t seen high-definition TV, it’s really stunning how much clearer the picture is. Unfortunately, the price is still too high for most consumers and the HDTV programming remains limited, but this is a list of wishes, not necessities.

Digital camera ($39 and up). I am not blessed with the steady hands of a surgeon, so I’m admittedly a terrible shot with a camera. With a digital camera, you can edit out the bad shots before you make prints. Or just load them onto your computer and e-mail them around. As with the DVD players, you can get a much better product if you’re willing to spend a few hundred dollars, including higher resolution, more memory and more options for viewing and editing your pictures.

Palm Handheld ($199 and up). Amazon’s review says you can “synchronize Palm handhelds with your computer so that you can carry all your appointments, notes, contacts, and e-mail with you.” I have yet to have enough appointments to make this necessary, but it sure would be cool to look like I do. Besides, I hear you can also use it to play a good game of Tetris.