A Technology Gift Basket

Noise canceling headphones, LCD monitors, and shameless self-promotion.

Steve Bass

In addition to writing PC World's Home Office column, Steve Bass is the author of "PC Annoyances." Sign up to have Steve Bass's Home Office Newsletter e-mailed to you each week. Despite his being unable to hear you because of his noise canceling headphones, Steve can still be reached via e-mail.

Don't even try to kid me. It's December, the shopping season, and you've been eyeing digital toys for your home office and electronic goodies for your living room. And if you have holiday bonus money, you're probably itching to spend it.

Step up to the counter, kids. I've got stuff for you--a handful of products I like and a few articles--to lead you into a buying craze. (Hedonism aside, you can always figure you're helping get the economy get back on its feet.)

Take Out Your Checkbook

The first bunch of products will make your electronic and digital life more fun--and will lighten your checkbook by several hundred dollars.

Noise Canceling Headphones: I'm wearing them as I write this because the neighbor's gardener (and I use that term loosely) is blasting his way to China by pushing dirt and dust everywhere.

Wearing the Bose--get ready, this is a mouthful--QuietComfort2 Acoustic Noise Canceling Headphones brings blissful quiet to Bass International Headquarters. I flick the noise canceling switch; there's a click, and then a whooshing sound of silence. I can't hear the gardener or even my noisy PC. But the sounds I need to hear--like my pesky dogs barking to be let out--comes through clearly, as does the ringing of the phone with an equally pesky editor. There's more to like about the headphones, but don't get too excited: They cost a drop-dead $300, and I haven't seen them discounted, not even on our Product Finder.

If you're still shaking your head in amazement at that $300 price tag, take a look at the $50 Targus Active Noise Cancellation Headphones. What surprised me is that they work just as well as the Bose headphones for blocking noise. But for the $250 spread, the Bose have some distinct advantages. For one, the cable that connects the Bose headphones to your MP3 player, or other external device, is detachable. That's cool because it means you can use the noise canceling features of the headphones without being tethered by a cord. And no doubt, the Bose headphones have it over the Targus with a more solid, professional feel, greater comfort and fit, and, at least to my ear, better sound when I listen to music.

I'm less impressed with the ENC-S noise canceling ear buds from Turtle Beach. I don't like ear buds, maybe because I've never figured out how to fit them into my ears correctly. I've tried hanging them on my ears. I've also tried stuffing the buds into my ears: They end up sticking out at right angles to my head, and that's way, way too uncomfortable. And they fall out of that position and back to hanging after a short time. Maybe I have small ears, or the buds are too big. (Or maybe you've heard enough about my ears. I know I have.) Either way, unlike the can-style headphones I've tried, the Turtle Beach ear buds don't get rid of enough extraneous noise. The gardener's leaf blower is blasting across the street and I can hear him loud and clear.

Wireless Instant Messaging: Here's a way to move your computer hogging, instant messaging child away from the PC and into another room. Hand them Motorola's IMfree. It's a wireless handheld device that lets you--or your teenager--chat with up to six AOL instant messenger buddies. My 13-year-old niece set up the base station by connecting it to a free USB port on the PC. Then she took the 9-ounce, about 5-inch square gizmo across the house--about 80 feet--into her bedroom, freeing up the PC so her mom could use it. There are no monthly fees and IMfree uses a rechargeable nickel metal hydride battery. It discounts for about $70, though I've seen it for as low as $30 on EBay.

LCD Monitor: Now's the time for you to grab an LCD monitor. Prices are reasonably low; I've seen a few for as little as $285. One is the highly rated 17-inch LG Flatron L1710SK, which we reviewed back in August. If you have the bucks and want something a little bigger, take a look at Planar's 19-inch 19548. At about $540, it's not cheap--but I've been happy with it. Its colors are bright and images are sharp, and it takes up surprisingly little space for so much screen real estate.

Check out our Product Guide for a stack of other monitors.

If you buy an LCD panel, don't let your old monitor sit around gathering dust. Think about setting up a dual monitor system: "Double Your Screen Space," an oldie but goody, tells you how to do it.

Dig This: Have a mirror handy? You'll need one to play Reverse, an annoying game that challenges you to move your mouse backwards. You'll see "You Failed" often. I got to level 20. [He's lying.--Editor] Hint: think before you move--and there's no timer, so move slowly.

PC World's Shopping Resources

I bumped into a couple articles I think may help you deplete whatever you have left in your checking account.

The first is "Autumn Brings Gamers' Delights in which Martyn Williams (who's located in Tokyo and probably eats sushi every night) tells us about the technology emerging from Japan. Not everything will be available here in the States right away, but it's sure neat looking over the stuff.

Then read Michael Lasky's "The Digital Holiday Shopping List," a dream assignment for him. He reviews over 20 products for, as he says, "gadget freaks to audiophiles." On my list is Toshiba's SD-P2600 portable DVD and definitely the Desktop Weather Forecaster, even though the weather never seems to change here in Southern California.

Dig This: Roller Coaster is supposed to be for kids, but I'm enjoying the dickens out of it. (Physics has never been my strong point.) There's nothing to making it work--just press the green Play button, then start fiddling with the settings. You'll kill an hour, easy. The site's slow to load, so be patient.

Shameless Self-Promotion

No tech gift basket would be complete without a copy of my book, PC Annoyances: How to Fix the Most Annoying Things About Your Personal Computer. Right now, my publisher's offering a great deal: For $17, you get my book plus a PC World Super Guide.