TECH HOLIDAY SHOPPING

5 Hot Holiday Gift Ideas for Black Friday

(Long Island, N.Y.) Last year, the Nintendo Wii and the iPod Touch had shoppers lining up outside stores at the start of the holiday season. What will be the hottest tech gadgets on holiday gift lists this year?

Time released a list of the Top 20 must-have tech gadgets for the season. I agree with a lot of their picks. I’ve added the sleek new Leatherman Freestyle CX to my husband’s Christmas list already. (That just guaranteed he’s reading my column this week.)

After poring over emails, surfing the Web and talking to my closest tech-savvy buddies, I found it impossible to narrow my list down to just a handful of holiday toys, so let’s talk product categories. Stay tuned over the next month for more holiday gift suggestions and reviews.

Cell phones – For the past few years, cell phones and cell phone accessories have made great gifts for business people, busy parents and teens on your list. That continues this year, from the new Blackberry Bold 9700 to the Nokia 7705 Twist with its innovative contact light ring and cool swivel form that reveals a full QWERTY keyboard.

Bluetooth / Cell phone accessories – My family loves gifts with “add-ons.” It makes shopping so easy. Why not let Santa buy the cell phone so you can pick up a Bluetooth for the special someone on your list? Check out TheFirstOne from Novero. With an included necklace that lets you wear it and a clip that lets you place it on your shirt, unobtrusively, TheFirstOne is as much a fashion statement as a productivity tool.

PCs / Laptops / Netbooks – With the introduction of Windows 7, I see a lot of frustrated Vista users putting a new PC – one fully-loaded with Windows 7 – on their lists.

For a wide variety, good customer support and a reasonable price, consider Dell’s selection of laptops, mini-notebooks and netbooks.

I say this as a Dell user -- certainly, top retailers like Best Buy and Wal-mart will offer great deals again on computers from many manufacturers. With many Netbooks retailing for under $300 (make sure to shop the Black Friday sales) you’ll be tempted to pick up one for yourself, too.

Video cameras – The Flip camcorder was a hot seller last year. As prices of camcorders, as well as digital cameras and DSLRs, continue to drop, I expect handheld camcorders to continue to be a big seller for teens, parents, and entrepreneurs developing an enhanced Web presence.

Retailing for under $140, DXG’s 125V HD 720p camera makes a great gift. Super-lightweight, rugged, and water-resistant, the camera is marketed to outdoorsy types. But life gets rough in the concrete jungle, too, (especially for a work-at-home mom with a toddler), so I’d say this camera is great for anyone ready to explore the digital video realm to market their business.

Again, comparison shop for the camcorder that fits your needs and budget best.

eBook readers – Kindle’s got competition now and the choices in the market promise to make eReaders one of this year’s hottest gifts. PCWorld did a great job covering the differences between Sony’s new eReaders and the Kindle here, but don’t neglect Barnes & Noble’s new Nook.

Note: Several manufacturers have sent product samples to help as I prepared this and future holiday gift guides. No other compensation from the manufacturers or retailers was provided. Promise of a product sample did not guarantee coverage – positive or otherwise.

Dawn Allcot

November 15, 2009 10:25 AM Eastern

E-mail This Page | Follow Us | Return to My Column

You can Bookmark & Share this article by clicking here: