Someone from abroad asked for five no-nonsense gadget gift ideas—a question best interpreted as stuff that could be fired and forgotten over international waters, without having to become the recipient's free tech support line. Here's what he got in response. Any additions?
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__Cellphone: Sony Ericsson W960i or Nokia N95 __
Forget the iPhone — its international rollout as under tight control and it won't be worth your pal's time to get it working wherever they're at. There are great international handsets out there like Sony
Ericsson's W960i Walkman phone (also see its older, more businesslike P990i) and Nokia's N95.
Both of these are high-end and expensive machines, and lack the iPhone's panache, but who cares? They have power in abundance, lots of features, and don't come with Apple's hipster airs.
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Laptop: Asus Eee PC __
The hit notebook of the holiday season out here is Asus' Eee PC.
Cheap, simple to use and ultra-portable, it runs Xandros Linux instead of Windows and does pretty much everything one would expect a low-end laptop to do.
Unlike most low-end junk, however, it's got a slick, durable design and no "craplets" — adware or unusuable trial editions of real software
— to slow it down.
It's got its limitations: the simple user interface doesn't reveal much of the machine's possibilities, though savvy users will be able to get under the hood easily enough. But for basic lappy duty, it's cheap, it works, and that's that.
__UMPC: Fujitsu U810 __
If you want something powerful, fast and small — and don't mind spending a lot of money — ultramobile PCs make for truly high-tech toys. I even managed to work for a week at a recent conference using
Fujitsu's U810, the hottest of the current generation of UMPCs thanks to its great usable keyboard and long battery life. Other popular pocket rockets are OQO's model 02 (the EU's model e2 might be easier to get shipped out in some locations) and Raon's Everun. Sony's UX series is well-regarded, but very expensive.
Gaming: Nintendo's Wii.
The magic of this machine is that it skipped on high-end computer components and innovated where it counts: in the player's hands. It's cheaper than the others and the games are still great. In the long run, the shine might wear off as the XBox 360 and PS3 get cheaper, but for now, it takes gaming, a solitary pursuit, and turns it into genuine family fun.
Take care to get the right regional variant for the giftee, as they'll otherwise be stuck buying imported games: try the local Amazon.
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DIY: Make Magazine Subscription __
The era of dull, boring electric sets is over. Anyone can now make great gadgets by themselves. Whether it's simple LED kits or more involved electrical engineering projects, there's no reason to shop your way to geekdom, if you don't want to. A subscription to Make: Magazine would be a great gift for the technically-inclined, something youngsters may keep forever—unlike consumer electronics, doomed to end up in the landfill when they're obsolete.
While you're at it, grab Wired, too!
