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Gadgets
Tech the halls

Unwrapping the latest in electronic goodies

by MICHAEL CITROME

Junk in the Trunk

If your hard drive is turning into a tight squeeze, then an external USB hard disk is the perfect stocking-stuffer to stuff full of downloaded music and movies, naughty children. The prices have dropped on these suckers, and while they’re not small or beautiful, you can add 250 gigabytes to your computer for $150 or less. (Just make sure your bargain is Mac-compatible if your computer is of the white ’n’ shiny variety.)

Zdata Diamond Digital 250-GB External Hard Drive at Bestbuy.ca, $119.99
Acomdata 320-GB External Hard Drive (Mac compatible), $149.99 at Futureshop.ca

Smile Ear To Ear

The iPod may be the New York Yankees of the portable MP3 player world, but it’s hard to knock the king off his throne. The 80 GB iPod video is a monster, plain and simple. Load it up with all the podcasts, mp4 TV episodes and crunk music videos you can muster, and it still feels as cavernous as an Italian cathedral during World Cup. You can find a cheaper 4-GB player than the iPod Nano, but the outstanding iTunes interface is worth the price of admission.

Apple iPod Nano 4-GB $219.99, Apple iPod Video 80-GB $379.99, at Futureshop.ca

The Incredible Shrinking Camera

This mighty midget fits comfortably in an Altoids tin but packs a 6.2 megapixels and 3X zoom to make you the subtlest paparazzo around. The latest generation of Canon’s ever-shrinking Elph series, the SD600 features ISO 800 shooting speed for low-light and fast-action and it even shoots video. Not bad for something that looks like it should come in a box of Frosted Flakes.

Canon PowerShot SD600 Elph 6-MP Digital Camera, $299.99 at Bestbuy.ca

Pocket Theatre

You may be taking your love of television too far if you buy an Archos 504 Multimedia player, which has a 4.3” widescreen, 80 GB of storage and an optional base station that turns it into a pocket-size Tivo. Or this might just be the beginning. Unlike the iPod, this bad boy plays DiVX (and almost everything else) and it supports Linux. It even outputs directly to TV in full DVD resolution—who needs a PSP?

Archos 504 80-GB Multimedia Player, $549.99 at Bestbuy.ca

Wall of Fame

If Santa brought you a next-gen video game console or an upconverting DVD player, or if the idea of seeing every crease in Larry King’s face in hi-def is your idea of a good time, an LCD HDTV might be the perfect trophy for your wall. Today’s prices are tempting enough to justify putting a dent in the MasterCard, especially compared to last year.

Be aware you’ll pay a serious premium for 1080p, which, truth be told, is no necessity, and cheaper TVs may not have a built-in tuner, which is no problem if you have cable or satellite. Visit the big-box stores, find a model you like, and wait until they discount it on the Web site—you can find a 32” model for less than $850. Happy shopping!

Sexy Thing

Okay, Korean megaconglomerates may not leap out at you as sexy, but some of their products sure are. For your geeky Xmas, Telus combines the ooh-and-ah-inducing LG Chocolate phone with a 1.3-MP camera, slide-out keyboard and MP3 player, with a 1-GB memory card and coolest of all, a stereo Bluetooth headset. It can even do that crazy TV-on-cellphone thing to rock it Seoul-style.

Telus Hot Chocolate Package, $399.99

Oyster Not Included

Finally, a BlackBerry that’s more chic than geek—although purists might say that’s missing the point. The slim BlackBerry Pearl gentrifies the e-mail workhorse with a 1.3- MP camera, a MicroSD slot (for all those important MP3s) and support for custom ringtones. The kid in you will like all the bells and whistles, but the adult in you will love that BlackBerry e-mail egotrip.

BlackBerry Pearl, $249.99 with a three-year term from Rogers.ca

Shiny Shiny

The huge screen, dual-core CPU and gleaming white finish of the latest Apple iMac may have you breaking several biblical commandments, envy being the least of them. The 24” model of the latest iMac takes the series from entry-level to entering-orbit, with its futuristic curves, built-in camera, DVD writer and optional wireless keyboard and Mighty Mouse. If the $2,249 price is too stratospheric, you can choose from 17” and 20” flavours for as low as $1099. And students, don’t forget about Apple.ca’s sharp educational discounts.

DIY

Make Magazine is Popular Mechanics for the propeller-beanie crowd. A one-year subscription will teach you how to hack your car, boost your iPod volume to freshman level, take high-speed, Matrix-style photos of whizzing bullets and popping balloons and build a video game console out of common household ingredients. Plus pick up lots of DIY geekery in the Make store.

A year of Make, $39.99 USD at www.makezine.com

Clockers

Clearly a clock radio that only has a clock and a radio has no place in your high-tech pad. Sanyo’s iPod Media System packs a digital radio tuner, remote control dual alarms, BASSXPANDER and a big, backlit LCD into a sleek, lacquered package. Just plug your iPod into the top, and you’ll be waking up to your favourite podcast instead of the morning zoo.

Sanyo iPod Media System, $99.99 at Wal-Mart stores