Top Gadgets for Christmas '05
Get the inside skinny on the hottest gadgets for Christmas 2005
Do you have a propeller head on your Christmas list this year? Here's some inside information on what's sure to become some of the hottest gifts for gadget hounds of all ages.
Every year there is a killer gadget for the Christmas season. Christmas 2000 belonged to Playstation2, just as the Christmas of '77 belonged to Atari 2600. This Christmas will belong to the Xbox 360. With a surprisingly low price tag, we hope Microsoft made enough to fulfill demand and didn't wind up like the Sony PS2 travesty in 2001. Speaking of Sony, the PSP will make a large stand as one of the most requested toys in letters to Santa this year.
Another common feature we've seen this Christmas season- next generation gadgets not being released until after Christmas. We hope this isn't a trend to sell more of the older models, like trying to sell off the IE Palm Treo 700 or the Nokia N91. Hopefully they really do have more development before the finished product is ready. Whatever happened to rushing development out the door for Christmas?
Xbox 360
The next generation Xbox with the console that set a foundation of excellence. Stellar upgrades aren't just in the hardware. The Xbox 360 moves in bold directions with wireless controllers, HD graphics, music mixing and Xbox Live- all standard features on 360 games.
iPod Nano
A new iPod is sure to make the hit list for any mobile music fan. This one is more compact than the Mini and even has a 1.5" display.
Archos Media Player
Archos Media Player's are small devices with an LCD screen that easily offer twice that of an iPod video and have the storage to match.
Motorola Rokr
You've seen the ads with rock stars' packing themselves into phone booths; the campaign is in full swing. Find out why the Rokr isn't so rockin' as a media phone. Our own number #6 pick shows us that so much better is just around the corner.
Firefly
the cell phone for kids. Practical convenience or an inappropriate gift? Find out why they're banned in certain regions of North America.
USB Flash Drive
USB Flash Drives are the latest way to make your PCs storage as portable as possible.
1080P. A new digital standard in HDTV promises to upgrade the current crop of 720P and 1080i digital display devices with twice the video bandwidth as its predecessor. While higher resolution is always better when it comes to digital TV, don't hold your breath waiting to realize the full benefit of 1080P. We'll show you what snags to watch out for you're dropping the serious coin it'll take to wrench one of those hot new display devices out of the local TV shop.
Slingbox
What will they think of next? Internet media sharing in its most clever and affordable incarnation yet.
Disney Mix Sticks
The iPod for the under ten crowd. At a price that won't make parents wince, children finally have their own MP3 players.
Microsoft UMPC
The UMPC was originally hyped as Microsoft's Project Origami.
