Top Geek Gifts
Posted in Random on: Friday, December 14, 2007 by Paul Boag
So this holiday season (previously known as Christmas), what gifts would you recommend others buy for the geek in their life? Here are my top 10…
These are products I own myself and would happily recommend to others. They are not in order and I have tried to pick things that suit varying budgets.
1. A mac
2007 was the year I moved from a PC to a mac and I have never looked back. Best of all if you have the budget they make great gifts. They look cool, are a pleasure to setup (no swearing on christmas day when something doesn’t work) and if you give him a week he will be insisting that you have one too so he no longer has to provide technical support for windows. Buying a computer can be scary if your not technical yourself so I suggest going along to an apple store. Those guys will be able to help you with selecting the model that best suits the geek in your life.
Prices start at £700 and are available through the Apple Store.
2. An ipod touch
I actually don’t own an ipod touch but I do have an iphone. However, I thought it was unfair to suggest something that has a £35 per month contract associated with it! I love my iphone and can’t imagine anybody not being pleased with an ipod touch. They are sexy, fun to use and definitely a cool toy for christmas day if they haven’t played with one before.
The 16GB version of the ipod touch (which is the one you should buy) costs £269 and is available through the Apple Store.
3. The Jawbone
The Jawbone is a bluetooth headset unlike any other. I have awful hearing and have trouble with mobile phone conversations. The Jawbone however has amazing noise cancelling technology that makes calls crystal clear no matter how noisy the surroundings. Best of all it looks cool and you almost don’t feel ashamed to wear it in public (unlike most headsets). In my opinion the Jawbone is the best headset on the market.
You can buy the Jawbone in pretty much any mobile phone shop and I have seen prices as low at £64.
4. Getting Things Done
Most geeks I know live a life in chaos. Getting Things Done is a superb book that has transformed my life and made me a more organised person. If the geek in your life does not read then buy it as an audio book and pre-install it on his new ipod touch!
You can buy the book for £7.14 on Amazon or for $12.60 as an audio book from Audible.com
5. Moo Cards
Moo Cards are cool little cards similar to mini business cards. You can print 100 cards for £9.99 and each card can have its own unique photo. You can either upload photos or just grab some random photos from his flickr account.
6. A flickr pro account
Talking of flickr why not upgrade him to a pro account this christmas. Flickr is the most awesome photo sharing site around and although it has a free account it is definitely worth upgrading. For just $25 the geek in your life can upload a limitless number of photos.
7. A Tom Tom
My sense of direction sucks and I couldn’t live without my Tom Tom GPS. Chances are the geek in your life doesn’t get out much, but when he does he wanders around looking lost and confused. A cool GPS in your car might encourage him to venture out of the house more. You never know.
They seem to sell Tom Toms pretty much everywhere these days from Halford to Currys. Prices seem to start at the £149 mark. To be honest the lower end models seem perfectly good from what I can tell.
8. A DVR
A DVR is a Digital Video Recorder such as the TiVo in the states or Sky Plus in the UK. These clever little boxes let you record programs to a hard drive, pause live TV and series link an entire season of a show ensuring you never miss it again. Having one of these babies will change the way he watches TV forever.
If you buy Sky Plus online at the moment you can get the box for £49. Of course it does require a sky subscription which starts at £16 per month.
9. A Duct Tape Wallet
Okay admittedly a wallet isn’t the most hi tech gift but Duct Tape Wallets are cool. Basically they are… well… wallets made out of duct tape. I know that sounds strange but they make a great stocking stuffer. Mine has lasted forever, it always generates discussion and its easy to repair (stick more duct tape on it).
I bought mine from Ducti and it cost about £15.
10. A Wii
I know there is world wide shortage of these babies but try to get one. The geek in your life may sneer at it but they are strangely addictive. The novelty will wear off after a while but not before you have had many hours of fun watching your geek actually taking exercise and socialising with others!
Good luck finding one of these. Prices seem to range from about £270 to Millions on Ebay at the moment.
Actually looking back through this list I think I would recommend most of those gifts for pretty much anybody. However, the real question is what would you recommend? Add your suggestions to the comments.
15 Comments
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“A Duct Tape Wallet” – you’re so classy it hurts! :)
Good selection, but what about a holiday voucher to run away from all the geeky stuff :).
@rob: you better believe it!
Can’t believe that you didn’t mention a Nabaztag!!!
£80 and a quality gift for anyone :>
Yeesh a Mac, you don’t ask for much huh. LOL
I was keen for an iphone but went and bought a Samsung f700 which I guess is just an alternative minus quite a few features. Didn’t have to pay for the handset though, only the contract, which was the clincher!!
I had to give my wife the ‘little boy wide eye’ look to get her to buy these for Christmas for me:
Star Wars Lego fridge magnets
It’s gotta be one of the latest pc games – Call of Duty 4, Gears of War, Crysis or Unreal Tournament 3 along with a nice shiny new GeForce 8800 Ultra
If only i’d been a good boy.
Cool list apart from the wallets, us geeks have taste as well!
Everything on your list would be great for us girl geeks, too. Well, maybe not the duct wallet..
What has everybody got against my duct tape wallet?
I, for one, would have loved to get a duct tape wallet for Christmas. My wife and I actually just exchanged gifts last night since we’re traveling home for the holidays. The geeky gifts I received included a Learning Universal Remote, Guitar Hero III, a Firefox Shirt, and a Simplehuman IR Sensor Soap Dispenser. All of which rock, but the soap dispenser was completely unexpected and exceptionally geeky.
I had to give my wife the ‘little boy wide eye’ look to get her to buy these for Christmas for me:
How about paying for an account at:
Mindmeister.com
Backpackit.com
or maybe surprising your geek with:
the Motorola A1200 Ming phone (linux powered)
Also, Paul, please note that not all geeks are male. ;) Brenda, yes to what you said!
And I got a new DVR box for crimbo. It’s beautiful !
hahahahahahahahahaha
Mac products for a geek? That’s like buying a motorhead a 1960 VW beetle with all the flowers painted on it, a greenpeace sticker, and no engine.