Mobile Computing: Holiday Gift Ideas

Gadgets that are sure to generate buzz in your household.

James A. Martin

Feature: Gifts for Gadget Freaks

It's that time of year again. Time to make a gift list. Check it twice. See who was naughty and who was nice. And then leave the list at home and go buy something fabulous for yourself.

But I feel confident you'll eventually want to spread holiday cheer to others, too, and this is the place to start--the Mobile Computing newsletter's annual holiday gift guide. This year, with a nod to the still-soggy economy, I've organized the gadget-head gifts by price, beginning with the least expensive ($275) and ending with the priciest ($600). Next week's newsletter will focus on gifts under $250. Though I haven't tested all the following products myself, I'm including them because they've got buzz; they aren't the usual run-of-the-mill gadgets; and, in some cases, they've been reviewed favorably by my colleagues at PCWorld.com.

Under $300

Fossil Wrist PDA. For the hopeless gadget head: a PDA for the wrist. Fossil's Wrist PDA ($275 to $295), a Palm OS device incorporated into a large wristwatch, practically requires that any description of it include a reference to Dick Tracy. But I'm not going there. Instead, I'll just say that this gadget, which lets you view as well as add and edit PDA data, brings new meaning to the old cliche "It's all in the wrist." Hmmm... maybe I should have made a Dick Tracy reference after all. At any rate, Fossil's wrist PDA deserves inclusion in this list for making it easier than ever to carry your PIM data wherever you go. For more info, read PCWorld.com's "High-Tech Tools for Your Wrist."

Nokia N-Gage. For the garrulous, globe-trotting gamer: a mobile phone play station. Mobile operator T-Mobile is the first to offer Nokia's N-Gage ($299), a wireless game console that's also an MP3 player, FM stereo radio, tri-band mobile phone (for use in over 110 countries), and can probably even act as a remote control for your neighbor's hot tub. The N-Gage has an undeniable cool factor that sets it apart from other cell phone/gadget combos. For details, see "T-Mobile Plays Nokia's Games."

$300 to $400

Tapwave Zodiac. For the half kid/half adult: a gamer's PDA. The Zodiac is a Palm OS 5.2-based gadget that's optimized for action games but is also a standard PDA. The Zodiac includes a large color display, stereo sound, analog joystick, and built-in Bluetooth, and it's available with 32MB of RAM ($300) and 128MB of RAM ($400). With all that going for it, the Zodiac is sure to thrill the game-addicted geek on your list.

Rio Audio Rio Nitrus. For the tune toter: a slick MP3 player. Everyone's carrying an IPod these days, it seems. But Apple's music player isn't the only game in town. Rio Audio's Rio Nitrus ($300) is about the size of a deck of cards, and yet you can haul 1.5GB of music on it. The Rio Nitrus is "one of the best [MP3 players] I've tried," says PCWorld.com's Tracey Capen. (You can check the PCWorld.com Product Finder for the latest prices.)

Bose QuietComfort2 headphones. For the discerning, frequent-flying music/movie lover: headphones for high above. Bose's QuietComfort2 noise-canceling headphones ($300) are designed to make all those irritating sounds on an airplane--babies crying, engines roaring, passengers yakking--fade into the background, so your MP3 tunes and DVD movie audio can take center stage. Recently I borrowed a friend's QuietComfort2. The noise-canceling worked so well, I was able to completely tune out his demands that I return his headphones. (For the latest prices, check our Product Finder.)

HP DVD Movie Writer Dc3000. For the aspiring home-video auteur: a DVD burner with direct inputs. As a video playback technology, the VHS tape format is kind of like Liza Minnelli's career--one banana peel away from extinction. Hewlett-Packard's DVD Movie Writer Dc3000 ($399) helps you preserve your old videos on tape by putting them on shiny new DVDs. Unlike similar devices, HP's Movie Writer combines analog video inputs (for connecting your VCR or other video source) with a DVD+R/RW burner. The software is especially helpful at stepping you through the conversion process, says PCWorld.com's Melissa J. Perenson in her review of a preproduction unit. (Check our Product Finder for the latest prices.)

$400 to $600

HP's IPaq Pocket PC h4350. For laptop-loathing, Internet-addicted, coffee house habitues: a wireless Pocket PC. HP's IPaq h4350 ($500) is one of the most power-packed PDAs to appear yet. Sporting both built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, this Windows Mobile 2003-based portable also features an integrated, backlit keyboard. With these features, the 4350 looks like a serious notebook alternative (and great gift) for the Starbucks Wi-Fi set. (Check our Product Finder for the latest prices.)

Handspring Treo 600. For the trendy but sensible tycoon: a cell phone/PDA/wireless Internet device/digital camera. The candy-bar styled Treo 600 (about $550, depending on service provider) is one of the most sought-after devices on the market today, probably because it promises to deliver everything the mobile executive needs. First, it acts and looks like a cell phone (available in CDMA and GSM/GPRS versions, depending on the service provider). But because it's a Palm 5 OS device, mobile pros also have access to their contacts and appointments. They can surf the Web and check e-mail, tapping out deathless prose on the Treo's built-in QWERTY thumb keyboard. And when they're done with all that, they can take pictures, too. Sprint was the first service provider to offer the Treo 600; others are expected to follow suit--probably by the time you read this. (For the latest prices, check our Product Finder.)

Garmin IQue 3600. For the eternally lost/forever tardy traveler: a GPS PDA. A PDA helps you stay organized; but Garmin's one-of-a-kind IQue 3600 ($589), a Palm 5-based PDA with a built-in Global Positioning System receiver, helps you stay on course, too. With automatic route calculation, turn-by-turn voice directions, and complete street addresses, along with the usual Palm address book and calendar, there can be no more excuses for missing an appointment. Except, perhaps, that your Pinto had a flat tire. (For current pricing, go to our Product Finder.)

Archos AV320 Video Recorder. For the traveling TV addict: a portable video player. The super-cool AV320 Video Recorder ($600) is a lightweight, portable device with a 3.8-inch color screen, a 20GB hard drive, and the ability to both record and play back MPEG-4 video and MP3 audio. Now you can catch up on last week's Law and Order while on lunch break from jury duty. Archos offers two other versions: the 40GB AV340 ($700) and the 80GB AV380 ($900). For details on all three models, go to the Archos site. Check our Product Finder for the latest prices on the 20GB, 40GB, and 80GB models.

Notebooks & Accessories

News: ThinkPads With Souped-Up Graphics

IBM's latest ThinkPad mobile workstations, the R50p and T41p models, have the same design as other R and T series ThinkPads but include ATI's Mobility FireGL T2 graphics card with 128MB of graphics memory. When combined with the R50p's 1600-by-1200 UXGA display or the T41p's 1400-by-1050 SXGA+ display, you can create detailed, dazzling three-dimensional graphics such as blueprints, according to IBM. The R50p has a starting price of $3799; the T41p starts at $3449.

News: Gateway's Giant-Screen Portable

Gateway's new 675 sports a 17-inch wide-screen display and a numerical keypad on the right side of the keyboard--two features designed to make life easier for spreadsheet jockeys. The 675 starts at $1999, including a 3.06-GHz Mobile Intel Pentium 4 processor with hyperthreading, 512MB of RAM, a 60GB hard drive, a CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive, and 802.11g wireless networking. For more details about the 675 and other new Gateway computers, read "Gateway Updates Business PCs."

Review: World's First Linux-Based Tablet PC

Desktop Evolution's $1900 De-Tablet, billed as the first Linux-based Tablet PC to hit the market, is relatively easy to use and configure, but its software needs some tweaking, says PCWorld.com reviewer Alexandra Krasne. For instance, the De-Tablet, also known as the Toshiba Portege 3500, lacks some expected Tablet PC features such as handwriting recognition and portrait mode.

Handhelds

Review: Zire 21 Is Favorite New Palm

Of Palm's recent product releases, PCWorld.com reviewer Yardena Arar's favorite is the consumer-oriented $99 Zire 21. Arar rates the Zire 21 four and a half stars and says it's a good deal for beginners who don't need high-end Palm functions, such as the new Tungsten T3's stretch-slider screen.

Speaking of the T3 ($399), Arar appreciates the high-end Palm's updated contact and calendar programs. The mid-priced Tungsten E ($199) is recommended for anyone who wants a more compact PDA capable that's still pretty robust. See "Palm's Power Lineup" for more details. Check our Product Finder for the latest prices on Palm's Tungsten E, Tungsten T3, and Zire 21.

News: Dell Gets Into the Groove

Dell has finally released its new portable music player and music download service. The Dell DJ music player is available in 15GB ($249) and 20GB ($329) hard drive capacities and weighs 7.6 ounces. Dell's music service, provided through a partnership with MusicMatch, offers 250,000 songs for 99 cents each and complete albums for $10 and up. Songs are in the MP3 or WMA (Windows Media Audio) formats. For more details, read "Dell Delves Into Digital Music."

News: Turning Your PDA Into a Wireless Internet Device

SupplyNet offers a variety of cables that connect a PDA to a data-capable cell phone, so that your Pocket PC or Palm OS device can wirelessly fetch e-mail and Web pages without the need for a Bluetooth connection. The company also sells cables that connect cell phones to a notebook's serial port for wireless Internet access--but at speeds that are about half as fast as a 56-kilobits-per-second dial-up modem, according to the company's Web site. Cables vary in cost. A cable that connects a Palm M-series PDA to a Motorola StarTac phone is $50, for instance.

I haven't tested SupplyNet's cable connections, but would appreciate hearing from readers who have--or who've used other products that turn their mobile phone into a wireless modem for a PDA or notebook.

Wireless

News: First Microsoft OS-Based Phone Offered by Major U.S. Carrier

AT&T Wireless recently began selling the Motorola MPx200, said to be the first Microsoft OS-based smart phone available in the U.S. The MPx200 debuted one year after Microsoft introduced the first Windows-powered smart phone in the UK, followed by Microsoft Windows Mobile phones in Europe and Asia. The MPx200 is based on Microsoft's Windows Mobile Smartphone 2002 software and sells for $299 when purchased with an AT&T Wireless plan. The device lets you surf the Web, send instant messages, access e-mail and a calendar, and sync with a computer. Unlike its competitor the Handspring Treo 600, however, the MPx200 doesn't include a built-in keyboard.

Past Newsletter Topics

You can access previous newsletters at our Mobile Computing archive.

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