Well, here’s a list of 5 guaranteed gift ideas that any tech geek will love!

1. iTunes Store Gift Cards

The name iTunes really doesn’t describe what all is in it’s store anymore. It started out with Music and then added Movies and TV shows. Now it’s also the only place to find iPhone/iPod Touch applications. If your household geek has an iPod or iPhone. An iTunes gift cards is easy gift to give. You can find them at almost every check out counter and you can even send a gift card right from iTunes to their email with whatever amount you want to give. Easy.

2. iPod Touch

The Holy Grail of iPods. It play Music, Movies, and TV shows.You can also load it up with over 100,000 apps to choose from (really an insane amount). Lot’s of great apps are free or less than $5.00. This iPod’s real new claim to fame is gaming. There are some of the best mobile games of any device, including the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP. Games and Geeks usually go together well. Oh and yes it’s like having an iPhone but without the phone and without the monthly bill that comes with it. The iPod Touch (sometimes mistakenly called an iTouch) starts at $199. You can pick them up locally at Walmart or order online from store.apple.com and you can have your gift engraved with a special message for free.

3. Viper SmartStart

Does your geek love his or her car? And do they also posses an iPhone? This security system and iPhone application from Viper is the ultimate tech/automobile combination. The SmartStart system allows you to arm/lock and disarm/unlock your car using your iPhone. It also allows you to remotely start your car. FROM ANYWHERE. It uses your 3G connection to communicate from the iPhone to the installed security system in your car. Technically your car could be on the other side of the country and you could start it. You’ll also get notifications straight to your phone when the alarm goes off. Being able to start your car from the comfort of your home or office on a cold or hot day is a luxury we all want. If they only added a GPS tracker then I don’t know how this system could get any better. Of course the best gear does comes with a price. $499 for the SmartStart system + Best Buy installation + $30 a year subscription. Your car geek would simply die if this was under the tree.

4. Windows 7

Yes, your eyes didn’t deceive you. A Mac guy just put Windows on a Christmas wish list. Until we can afford to upgrade my wife to the #5 Geek Gift on this list she’s still rocking a two year old HP notebook that came with Windows Vista. The notebook was really not powerful enough to run Vista well. It eventually began to crash and became the usually frustrating PC we’ve grown not to love. She didn’t have her discs to reinstall Vista so I decided to install Windows 7. And you know what, it’s not half bad. Microsoft finally put in some effort in the user experience and design. Simple things like switching Wi-Fi networks no longer require 10 clicks or more. Her notebook runs much better now; no crashing, doesn’t slow down, and runs as good as my MacBook Pro.

Now all the PC manufacturers would love for you to run out this Holiday season and buy a brand new computer with Windows 7 on it. But you can save some money and just get the software. So if you’re still stuck on XP, it may finally be time to upgrade. The time that you waste upgrading your anti-virus database could be spent on, oh I don’t know, Facebook. Partner Windows 7 with Microsoft’s new and free Security Essentials software and now the PC isn’t so bad. However, Microsoft didn’t make upgrading to 7 an easy task. You have multiple versions to choose from with prices varying from $120 to $220. Of course you could fore go this headache and get a Mac.

5. The 27″ iMac

Apple makes it too easy to fill your holiday shopping cart with their products. Their newest drool worthy computer is the 27 inch iMac. This desktop Mac is not only beautiful but very powerful. The large screen is spectacular. New technologies like LED back lights and in-plane switching (IPS) make the screen evenly bright and viewable from almost any viewing angle. The display is also in 16:9 HD aspect ratio. Absolutely perfect for viewing HD content, whether it’s HD movies from iTunes or from the web like Hulu and YouTube. No, it does not play Blu-Ray HD discs. According to Steve Jobs Blu-Ray is “a bag of hurt.” I’ll let you translate that one.

But the one super neat trick the 27 inch has that it’s smaller 21.5 inch sibling doesn’t, is HD Video input. The Mini DisplayPort not only let’s you output it to another monitor but it also allows you to use it’s own display as a monitor for another device. For example, the iMac is your home computer. You have newer MacBook that you’ve been using on a project your working on and you’d love to use your iMac’s big screen as the display, with the 27 inch you now can. But it doesn’t stop there, more devices like Blu-Ray players, PC’s, and video game systems might soon support this connection (with or without a proper adapter). This means the iMac can double as a really impressive HDTV. Let that sink in for a bit.

The iMac also ships with a wireless (Bluetooth) keyboard and the new Magic Mouse. This mouse has a multi touch sensitive surface like an iPhone. Scrolling through pages with the touch of your finger feels just right. Prices on the 27 inch start out at $1,699. That gets you 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 4GB of memory (upgradable to 16 GB!), 1TB hard drive, 8x DL DVD R/W drive, and 256MB ATI graphics card. Of course it goes up from there for those who want Intel’s new Quad Core i5 or i7 processors. Just add $300 – $500. My only complaint with this amazing machine is Apple nickel and dime-ing you for the Apple remote, $19. By the way, this iMac runs Windows 7 great, works great with the iPod Touch and those iTunes gift cards too!

The above article I wrote for the new business section of the December 2009 issue of Stillwater Living magazine. Thank you to Sarah Little for letting me republish the article here. Learn more about the magazine and publisher, Peacock Pro here. Be sure to pick up your copy, it’s only $2 at magazine stands around Stillwater.

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