Cool presents??
 

While I could pretend I'm buying presents for my pretend friends, what I'm really interested in are some interesting tech presents for myself. Looking for suggestions from the forum, interested in ideas in all price ranges. Some of my miscellaneous suggestions:

1. If you don't have TiVo, buy it. Most people here know about it, enough said.

2. If you have TiVo, think about a hard drive upgrade and/or hacking it to extract video. Can download programs onto your laptop to watch while traveling.

3. If you have a Sony Ericsson or Ericsson phone, buy a CMT-10 travel charger--tiny and cordless.

4. If you feel you're missing something in the bedroom, how about an extra 17 inches? An LCD TV that is. I'm on the verge of doing this. You can get a 17" for about $500, some 20" models for about $800. Can double as monitor depending on model.

5. If you hate to vacuum, get a Roomba, see http://www.roombavac.com/homepage.asp for details. Works great on hard floors, decent on carpeting.

6. If you want to know the exact temperature outside without going out, get a wireless weather station. Some http://www2.oregonscientific.com/cab...humbnails.html for some examples.

It's all about digital imaging - photo & video.

Buy memory cards, 3MP or higher camers, digital miniDV camcorders, photo printers. These make great gifts.

I wouldn't by a TiVo ... if you're a Time Warner cable customer you'll definitely want to get the DVR they are now offering in most (all?) markets.

Time Warner DVR: $5-$8/month
TiVo: $12/month + buy the hardware

Although I hear the TiVo software is better than Time Warner's, the TW DVR has the huge advantage of having two digital tuners.

I have a friend who doesn't even watch much TV and I've been telling everyone how great the TW DVR is, and he decided to try it out and within two days he too was touting how it was the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Get an iPod.

We have two DirecTV Tivos. I think they cost an extra $5 / mo each.

I'd suggest a ReplayTV. Features are better than TiVo and most ReplayTV models don't have the monthly fee.

I've bought them for friends and family. I have NEVER talked to anyone that didn't completely rave about them. I promise that it will change your TV viewing life!

I'm likely going to buy hard drive upgrades for the ReplayTV for a couple people this Christmas.

One more thing...

A GPSr. I'm not yet sure how practical they are for most people, but they certainly make a cool toy.

If you are interested in searching for hidden stuff with your GPSr, visit
http://www.geocaching.com