Great Gadgets for Traveling Techies
Here's a gift guide for the mobile digerati in your life (or to add to your own wish list).Joel Strauch, Special to PCWorld.com
Got a digital Drake or da Gama on your shopping list this year? Give them a gift that will spice up their wanderlust.
This year's tech travel gear could lure those annoying relatives back onto the road a little sooner. Whether it's a GPS receiver or a wrist-worn compass, shopping for traveling technophiles can be an easy trip.
Say Yes to GPS
Global Positioning System receivers have become veritable bargains, letting you know exactly where you're at anywhere in the world. Adding one to your car still comes with a hefty price tag, but you can pick up a handheld receiver like the GPS 310 ($100) from Magellan or the eTrex ($109) from Garmin for an affordable price.
You can also get add-on devices to turn your Palm or Pocket PC handheld into a GPS receiver, but in my experience these don't function as well as a stand-alone receiver.
PDA Add-Ons
If you're looking for add-ons for PDAs, however, plenty of good choices are available. Roving digerati will appreciate any gifts that let them get more out of their handheld.
Cases and battery charges are always useful gifts, but if you know your traveler has specific destinations in mind, you can tailor your gift even further.
Green Maple's $32 WorldSpeak Global Translator for Palm or Pocket PC devices translates to and from English and 20 other languages. Handmark offers a variety of handy PDA titles for the traveler. Among the most useful are Rand McNally Mileage Calculator ($10) and Street Finder (priced between $10 and $50, depending on the subscription level you select).
Watch Where You're Going
We all remember those attachable ball compasses--the ones that connect to a car's dashboard and float in Magic 8 Ball liquid. If you know someone that still has one, it's time to hook them up with an upgrade. You can get Corsa digital compasses from PNI for as little as $30.
If it's a wrist-worn compass that your recipient needs, Suunto's watches, with their compact design and wealth of features, are among the best. Geared toward every type of outdoor enthusiast from hiker to cross-country skier, these watches pack in such extra functionality as a barometer and altimeter in addition to the compass. They are priced from $200 to $500.
Portable Entertainment
My wife's been salivating over those portable DVD players ever since they debuted. As with any technology, you need only be patient and the price will drop into an affordable range.
You can now find these coveted portable DVD devices priced under $300. Some have displays as large as nine inches and support Dolby Digital sound output. You'll find the best prices available through PCWorld.com's Product Finder.
Normal MP3 players have become passé. If you really want to take your music on the road, you need to be able to take all your music on the road.
While Apple's IPod now comes in a Windows flavor, it has tough competition. The Nomad Jukebox Zen released this fall by Creative Labs offers the same 20GB capacity as the largest IPod and sells for about $200 less ($350 with a $50 rebate).