gift

Digital City 110: Last-minute gifts; game company holiday cards; and the best iPad app for cats

It's the final new show of 2010, and we use it to host a relaxed roundtable discussion about last-minute holiday shopping; check out some holiday cards sent by video game companies; and tune into the perfect iPad app for cats.

It's also a perfect time for an end-of-year office clean out, so there are tons of video game goodies to give away. Leave a comment on our Facebook page and we'll randomly pick some stocking-stuffer recipients this week.

Bonus: You can download the show's theme song as a free MP3 here for a limited time!

… Read more

The gift of iPad: It's better than a sweater, but...

Though the iPad certainly trumps a sweater as a gift, its utility can get lost on some people.

Why? Apple's tablet doesn't fall neatly into the well-worn parameters of personal computers of the past. So, here are five things to consider when giving and receiving the cool, new device.

iPad gift-giving--a few things to keep in mind:

Stump the user: I was pretty clueless when I first started using the iPad. I was convinced it was a solution seeking a problem. That changed, but it took time. Don't expect to find the iPad as an eminently useful … Read more

Perfect Xmas gift: Computer Engineer Barbie

This is the time of year when you try to calculate how little time you can spend buying things for people who are trying to spend as little time as possible buying things for you.

Online shopping has helped hugely in this regard. You can show your closest friends and family how much you love them without leaving your bed.

However, there are so many choices that one can become addled.

So let me lift your burden and toss it into space. For the perfect Xmas gift is here. Yes, Computer Engineer Barbie.

Perhaps you had assumed Barbie was, at … Read more

Goalmine lets you give the gift of mutual funds (podcast)

If you're looking for a last-minute holiday gift, consider something that never goes out of style. It's called money.

Of course you could just write a check or hand over a wad of bills but, aside from some people considering that tacky, chances are that it will be used right away and long forgotten.

Another option is to give someone a savings bond, a gift certificate for a micro-loan from Kiva or Microplace, or start them out with a mutual fund from Goalmine.

With Goalmine, you go to the site, select "Buy a GoalPack," pick a … Read more

Five last-minute gifts you can print at home

My undying thanks to everyone who wrote and commented with such kind words yesterday. I was really flabbergasted by the show of support, and I appreciate the reminder that Cheapskate readers are the coolest, kindest folks on the planet.

This is an update of a post I did last year around this time.

Well, here we are, just one week to go until the ho-ho-holiday. If you're a procrastinator like me, you might be scrambling to find a last-minute gift for, say, your trusty mail carrier, the kids' schoolteacher, or the office Secret Santa party.

No problem: all you … Read more

10 great tech gifts for non-geeks

I love receiving and giving gadgets as gifts, especially around the holidays. But not everyone "gets" consumer electronics like me and my cadre of professional tech cohorts. In fact, some people in my social circle outright dislike tech toys.

What do I gift them? A gift certificate? That's the holiday equivalent of saying, "Here, pal, you do my holiday shopping for me." Enroll them in the Ham of the Month Club? Possibly. A Snuggie? Nah.

I really want to get my Luddite friends something tech related. And I imagine that I am not alone in this. Everyone has a family member with a rotary phone and a VCR that blinks 12:00 constantly. What should we get those folks to help them increase their tech IQ?

Here are 10 simple tech gifts designed with analog personalities in mind.

10. Custom stuff from the Internets Step one: Go to Cafe Press/Zazzle.com/other provider of custom swag. Step two: Find mug/T-shirt/thong. Step three: Upload romantic/embarrassing/funny/memorable/Robocop on a unicorn. Step four: Send to loved one.

9. Green gizmos Green is the new black. Everyone wants to do their part and help conserve resources (and even if they don't, they all want to say at dinner parties that they do). If you have a bunch of environment-loving, technology-averse neo-hippies on your list this year, try getting them some green consumer tech. Check out this solar-powered wireless keyboard from Logitech for starters. Other options include Samsonite solar luggage and this alarm clock that runs on water.

8. E-readers I'm going to be honest here. I'm not a huge e-reader fan because as an iPad owner, I feel I have everything I need in one smart package. However, I understand they are popular for a reason, price point included. If you're thinking of gifting the bookworm on your list some tech, there is a case to be made for these devices. For instance, if you go to the beach and drop your Kindle in the ocean, you're only out $139 (a sad picnic, but not as costly as a blended iPad. Give this gift a try and see how quickly your old school bibliophile transforms into a user of high-tech e-readers.

7. Doggie tech Dog lovers will wag their tails over Mattel's Puppy Tweets, a device that lets your canine companion microblog. The toy attaches to the dog's collar and sends out a random tweet when it senses noise or motion. There are more than 500 random tweets included on the gadget ("I bark because I miss you. There, I said it. Now hurry home," for example). Dog lovers are known to be "rabid fans" of their pets, and there are plenty of other examples of high-tech stocking stuffers for Fido available, including doggie geolocators and light-up leashes. … Read more

Is Pandora taking over our Christmas carols?

Over the past week, I noticed that some of my friends and family had mentioned that they trimmed their Christmas trees with carols provided by Pandora, the Web's top radio and music-recommendation service.

I wondered what was up.

Turns out this is the first year that Pandora has offered pre-made holiday genre stations, according to Deborah Roth, spokeswoman for the company. You can choose a generic Christmas station or you can also divide up your holiday music by different genres.

You can get holiday music in rock, jazz, or country flavors.

The feature seems to have caught on. Roth … Read more

Sweet-sounding music and audio gifts under $300

You don't have to be an audiophile to appreciate good sound and music, so I've put together a healthy selection of great gift ideas, all priced under $300. Tuesday's blog has nine more, and they're all less than $100 each!

The Sherwood RX-4503 stereo receiver ($130) would be a great way to start building an awesome-sounding budget hi-fi. I briefly auditioned the Sherwood and came away really impressed with its sound quality. The stereo receiver serves up 100 watts into each of its two channels, and includes a mono preamp output if you decide to add a powered subwoofer. It has Dolby Virtual Surround and Dolby Headphone faux surround processors. A front-panel connection is also included for the Sherwood BT-R7 Bluetooth Audio adapter, allowing wireless streaming from your mobile phone or other devices. The Sherwood could also work wonders in a stereo home theater system.

B & W is one of the more legendary names in British hi-fi, and its speakers are used in many of the world's top studios, including the Beatles' favorite, Abbey Road. B & W is also known for its sleek styling, and its P5 on-ear headphone ($300) is definitely a looker. Its real leather earpads and chunky tubular metal construction put all of the other similarly priced headphones on the market to shame. The P5 sounds best plugged into an iPod or other portable music players.

The Audioengine P4 is a bona fide audiophile mini speaker that sells for $249 per pair. I gave it a very positive review last year, and now I love it so much I retired my self-powered Audioengine A2 ($199 a pair) speakers. While the A2 is still amazing in its own right, the P4 is better in every way, but it has to be used with a receiver, like the Sherwood on this list, so the P4 winds up costing a lot more than an A2. If you have the dough, or a spare amp, the P4 is the way to go. … Read more

Prank a techie with these fake gadget gift boxes

While holiday shopping, we ran across these hilarious fake gift boxes, purporting to contain an outrageous assortment of high-tech gadgets (and we promptly ordered a two-pack from ThinkGeek for our own holiday pranking).

These are simple rectangular cardboard boxes, each printed with art and copy purporting to tout a fantastic gift-ready gadget. Of course, none of these devices actually exists; these are just dummy boxes for you to use to disguise your own gifts. After getting the iArm tablet forearm mount and the automated PetPetter, we checked out the manufacturer's Web site at prankpack.com and found several other winners, which we present here in handy slideshow format. … Read more