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Pick the Perfect Holiday Gift
Not sure what to get the technology lover in your life? Whether it's a sleek cell phone or a big HDTV, we can guide you to the ideal gift.
If you've been to a computer or electronics store recently--or even visited stores' Web sites--you know that there are more products to choose from than ever. Selecting just the right item seems impossible, whether you're shopping for a family member, for a friend, or even for yourself. Eventually you have to narrow down your choices, keeping budget, product quality, and appropriateness in mind.
We can help. We've pinpointed some of the best and most popular products for this holiday season at all price ranges in ten categories: desktop PCs, laptops, cell phones, digital cameras, camcorders, audio and video players, HDTVs, printers, games, and gadgets galore.
For even more assistance, turn to our expert buying guides, which offer advice on selecting the perfect product in a variety of categories.
Desktops for the Living Room or the Office
Finding a power desktop is easy. Picking the right one is tougher. Some systems, however, stand out from the pack, like the HP Pavilion d4650y. Inelegantly named but elegantly equipped, it has the features to meet most computing and entertainment needs--this work-and-play horse is ready for the races.
The d4650y, which earned a PC World Rating of 84, features Windows XP Media Center Edition, with an Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4-GHz processor, 1GB of SDRAM, two 250GB hard drives, a 16X LightScribe DVD Multi drive, a secondary DVD-ROM drive, and a 256MB nVidia GeForce graphics card with TV-out. Add in a dual TV tuner with DVR functions, an FM tuner, a remote control, an integrated 7.1-channel sound card, stereo speakers with a subwoofer, and a 19-inch LCD, and we're talking about a PC that doubles as a home entertainment system.
The dual tuner means you can watch one channel while recording another. And with the continuously updated Media Center Edition online TV program guide, you can set up recording of future shows with one click.
This configuration is priced reasonably at about $1825, but you can customize the system further with more (or fewer) features at HP's Web site.
For more-modest gift budgets, the $1100 Velocity Micro Vector GX Campus Edition will fit the bill. It's neither the fastest system we've seen, nor the cheapest, but it is handsomely equipped and earned a PC World Rating of 88.
Laptops That Are All Work and Play
Question: When is a laptop not a laptop?
Answer: When it doubles as an entertainment center not dependent on its Windows OS. That's what the Toshiba Qosmio G35-AV650, a terrific multimedia powerhouse, can do. While it comes armed with Windows XP Media Center Edition, it also sports Toshiba's QosmioPlayer, which lets you view TV, play CDs and HD DVDs, and record TV--all without booting up Windows.
And when you do start up the PC, you get blazing performance. In our rankings it earned a WorldBench 5 mark of 87, one of the highest laptop scores we've seen to date. On top of that, the PC World Test Center rated its features with a score of 96 and its design with a mark of 92, both superior scores. Of course, all of this isn't cheap: The G35-AV650 costs about $2300. But then again, this model also serves as a blazing portable HD entertainment center with a high-resolution, 17-inch wide screen backed by an nVidia GeForce Go 7600 video card, 1GB of SDRAM, and a 2-GHz Core Duo T2500 Intel processor.
For about half the price of the Qosmio, the $1100 HP Pavilion dv6000z is easier on the wallet yet doesn't sacrifice features. It comes with Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, an AMD Turion 64 X2 Mobile processor, a 15.4-inch wide screen, 1GB of SDRAM, a DVD Multi drive, and a TV tuner. The PC World Test Center has not yet evaluated this model, but its predecessor, the dv5000z, earned an impressive WorldBench 5 score of 86.
Thin Phones, Big Features
Motorola had a runaway hit with its ultraslim Razr cell phone. Taking the next step--combining the wow factor of the svelte Razr and the convenience of a QWERTY keyboard--was a no-brainer. The Moto Q offers a camera, a music player, and e-mail access in a low-priced, South Beach Diet-size package. The device is available from Verizon Wireless for $199 with a two-year contract.
Running Microsoft's Windows Mobile 5.0, the Bluetooth-enabled Q boasts a crisp 2.4-inch color LCD--all the better to show off the photos and videos you take with its 1.3-megapixel camera. The full keyboard and side thumb wheel make navigation and text entry easy. The e-mail send and receive functions are optimized for Microsoft Exchange clients, but the unit also supports e-mail from POP3 servers, as well as full Web browsing.
The built-in pair of stereo speakers in the half-inch case might not make your MP3s (or any of the seven supported audio formats) sound great, but they do enhance the Q's speakerphone capabilities. A headphone port gives optimum stereo audio, and a miniSD card slot allows for expanded memory. Oh, yes, the Q works great as a phone, too.
If you're shopping for someone who doesn't need a flood of features, check out the Sanyo Katana (available from Sprint Nextel for $80 with a two-year contract). This slim clamshell model has a VGA camera with dedicated controls that make the feature easy to use; the Bluetooth-enabled phone can send photos wirelessly or by e-mail, too. Available in pink and black, the Katana certainly mimics the Razr V3, but it still has its own high-tech style.
If you've been to a computer or electronics store recently--or even visited stores' Web sites--you know that there are more products to choose from than ever. Selecting just the right item seems impossible, whether you're shopping for a family member, for a friend, or even for yourself. Eventually you have to narrow down your choices, keeping budget, product quality, and appropriateness in mind.
We can help. We've pinpointed some of the best and most popular products for this holiday season at all price ranges in ten categories: desktop PCs, laptops, cell phones, digital cameras, camcorders, audio and video players, HDTVs, printers, games, and gadgets galore.
For even more assistance, turn to our expert buying guides, which offer advice on selecting the perfect product in a variety of categories.
Desktops for the Living Room or the Office
Finding a power desktop is easy. Picking the right one is tougher. Some systems, however, stand out from the pack, like the HP Pavilion d4650y. Inelegantly named but elegantly equipped, it has the features to meet most computing and entertainment needs--this work-and-play horse is ready for the races.
The d4650y, which earned a PC World Rating of 84, features Windows XP Media Center Edition, with an Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4-GHz processor, 1GB of SDRAM, two 250GB hard drives, a 16X LightScribe DVD Multi drive, a secondary DVD-ROM drive, and a 256MB nVidia GeForce graphics card with TV-out. Add in a dual TV tuner with DVR functions, an FM tuner, a remote control, an integrated 7.1-channel sound card, stereo speakers with a subwoofer, and a 19-inch LCD, and we're talking about a PC that doubles as a home entertainment system.
The dual tuner means you can watch one channel while recording another. And with the continuously updated Media Center Edition online TV program guide, you can set up recording of future shows with one click.
This configuration is priced reasonably at about $1825, but you can customize the system further with more (or fewer) features at HP's Web site.
For more-modest gift budgets, the $1100 Velocity Micro Vector GX Campus Edition will fit the bill. It's neither the fastest system we've seen, nor the cheapest, but it is handsomely equipped and earned a PC World Rating of 88.
Laptops That Are All Work and Play
Question: When is a laptop not a laptop?
Answer: When it doubles as an entertainment center not dependent on its Windows OS. That's what the Toshiba Qosmio G35-AV650, a terrific multimedia powerhouse, can do. While it comes armed with Windows XP Media Center Edition, it also sports Toshiba's QosmioPlayer, which lets you view TV, play CDs and HD DVDs, and record TV--all without booting up Windows.
And when you do start up the PC, you get blazing performance. In our rankings it earned a WorldBench 5 mark of 87, one of the highest laptop scores we've seen to date. On top of that, the PC World Test Center rated its features with a score of 96 and its design with a mark of 92, both superior scores. Of course, all of this isn't cheap: The G35-AV650 costs about $2300. But then again, this model also serves as a blazing portable HD entertainment center with a high-resolution, 17-inch wide screen backed by an nVidia GeForce Go 7600 video card, 1GB of SDRAM, and a 2-GHz Core Duo T2500 Intel processor.
For about half the price of the Qosmio, the $1100 HP Pavilion dv6000z is easier on the wallet yet doesn't sacrifice features. It comes with Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, an AMD Turion 64 X2 Mobile processor, a 15.4-inch wide screen, 1GB of SDRAM, a DVD Multi drive, and a TV tuner. The PC World Test Center has not yet evaluated this model, but its predecessor, the dv5000z, earned an impressive WorldBench 5 score of 86.
Thin Phones, Big Features
Motorola had a runaway hit with its ultraslim Razr cell phone. Taking the next step--combining the wow factor of the svelte Razr and the convenience of a QWERTY keyboard--was a no-brainer. The Moto Q offers a camera, a music player, and e-mail access in a low-priced, South Beach Diet-size package. The device is available from Verizon Wireless for $199 with a two-year contract.
Running Microsoft's Windows Mobile 5.0, the Bluetooth-enabled Q boasts a crisp 2.4-inch color LCD--all the better to show off the photos and videos you take with its 1.3-megapixel camera. The full keyboard and side thumb wheel make navigation and text entry easy. The e-mail send and receive functions are optimized for Microsoft Exchange clients, but the unit also supports e-mail from POP3 servers, as well as full Web browsing.
The built-in pair of stereo speakers in the half-inch case might not make your MP3s (or any of the seven supported audio formats) sound great, but they do enhance the Q's speakerphone capabilities. A headphone port gives optimum stereo audio, and a miniSD card slot allows for expanded memory. Oh, yes, the Q works great as a phone, too.
If you're shopping for someone who doesn't need a flood of features, check out the Sanyo Katana (available from Sprint Nextel for $80 with a two-year contract). This slim clamshell model has a VGA camera with dedicated controls that make the feature easy to use; the Bluetooth-enabled phone can send photos wirelessly or by e-mail, too. Available in pink and black, the Katana certainly mimics the Razr V3, but it still has its own high-tech style.