Tech gifts that won't bust budget
Canny shoppers can find popular items at thrifty
prices
Carrie Kirby, Matthew Yi and Benny Evangelista, Chronicle Staff Writers
November 22, 2004 – So you want to give the gift of technology.
But when you look at shop windows festooned
with iPods, digital video cameras and other
items costing hundreds of dollars, you get sticker
shock.
Don't despair. You can't afford to. You've
got kids or a spouse or even grandparents with
visions of microchip-driven gadgets dancing
in their heads.
With the cost of technology falling every
year, there are plenty of high- tech gifts that
can be had for less than $200. Some devices
once considered high-end adult toys -- like
portable video players -- are now offered as
children's playthings.
The Chronicle tech team canvassed experts
and users and scoured new product listings to
come up with a few suggestions in various price
categories that will light up your family's
circuits without draining your financial batteries.
We've set a hypothetical budget of $200. Some
may want to pour it all into one special present,
while others may want to purchase a handful
of gifts in the $50 range.
$50 OR LESS
Music players: Apple Computer's best-selling
iPods are probably at the top of many holiday
gift lists this year as both a cool tech gadget
and a fashion statement. But these players,
which store songs on a mini-hard drive, will
also set you back at least $250.
If that's way over your budget or your loved
ones don't own close to the 5,000 songs it takes
to fill an iPod, smaller digital players that
use flash memory cards could fit the bill, especially
since flash prices have fallen dramatically
in the past year.
A number of companies market flash MP3 players,
including iRiver, RCA, Samsung, Virgin Electronics
and several brands based in Asia. Even computer
and digital camera flash memory-makers SanDisk
and Lexar are getting into the MP3 business.
For the same price as an iPod Mini, for example,
you can get five MuVo TXs ($50) from Creative
Technologies. This 128MB player doesn't have
an LCD screen, but it holds about four hours'
worth of songs, enough for a few jogs around
the lake.
TV play systems: For parents who find the
Nintendo or Xbox, and all the games that go
with them, a little pricey, a new kind of TV
game has emerged. TV play systems are hand-held
controllers that have all the software they
need, so you just plug them into the television
and play.
Marianne Szymanski, author of "Toy Tips:
A Parent's Essential Guide to Smart Toy Choices"
and president of Wisconsin's Toy Tips Inc.,
recommends Crayola's My First TV Play System
($19.99), which lets kids 3 and up color pictures
or play games. Both researchers and kid testers
at Toy Tips rated the system exceptional for
promoting motor skills, thinking and fun.
Nostalgic parents might like the Etch-A-Sketch
Eto ($34.99), an electronic version of the old
drawing toy.
A favorite from last year that is expected to
be popular again this year is Jakks Pacific's
TV Games ($20), a controller that comes with
five to 10 retro arcade games built in. Last
year, the company released controllers preloaded
with classics like Namco's Pac-Man and Atari's
Asteroids. This year, there's one with old Activision
games like Pitfall.
Game system add-ons: Families who already
have a Nintendo or PlayStation 2 can breathe
new life into them by giving one of these accessories
that expand game play.
For gamers who are rhythmic, there's Nintendo's
Donkey Konga ($49.99), a bongo that controls
Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong by pounding on the
drums. Speed and power matter as the player
controls how fast the characters run or when
they jump.
There's no drum action for PlayStation 2 owners,
but they can wave their arms with another video
game peripheral called EyeToy.
EyeToy is a small video camera that connects
to the USB port on the PS2 and sits on top of
your TV. The player becomes part of the game
as his image is captured and shown on the TV.
For example, in the game called Wishi Washi,
the player, seeing an image of himself behind
a dirty window, goes about washing as many windows
as possible by waving his arms and hands to
wipe off the grime.
$100 OR LESS
Music players: Creative Technologies makes
a 128-MB MuVo NX ($100) that plays up to eight
hours' worth of songs. Bargain hunters can also
find the credit-card size MuVo Slim, which also
stores eight hours of music, for less than $100
online, $10 under Creative's suggested retail
price. Both include an FM radio and voice recorder,
and the Slim comes in several colors, including
pink.
Cameras: A three-megapixel digital camera
used to cost $300 or more, but cameras like
the Kodak EasyShare CX7300 now come in at $100
or less. Last week, the 3.1 megapixel HP PhotoSmart
435 (with a list price of $120) could be found
online for $100.
Handheld video for kids: Microsoft is putting
its considerable weight behind a new line of
Portable Media Centers, handheld devices that
store enough movies, TV shows, digital songs
and photos to keep the kids occupied on a long
drive. But the prices (about $500) of these
devices are enough to ground most family budgets.
Cheaper alternatives might be handheld media
players that toymakers Mattel and Hasbro are
marketing for teens and tweens. They also play
videos that adults may like.
Hasbro makes the VideoNow Color ($75), a color
version of the black-and- white personal video
player introduced last year, and a VideoNow
Jr. ($85) for preschoolers. They play only special
pre-recorded disks that cost about $9 each,
with selections ranging from episodes of the
cartoon "Rugrats" to reality series
"Fear Factor."
Mattel's Juice Box ($70) plays video cartridges,
which are sold separately for $9 to $25. The
titles start with cartoons like the Power Puff
Girls and Courage the Cowardly Dog. There are
also music videos from artists like Ashlee Simpson,
Liz Phair, Ruben Studdard, Clay Aiken and Avril
Lavigne and episodes of the home-decorating
hit "Trading Spaces."
A separate MP3 Starter Kit ($45) comes with
blank flash memory cards that turn the Juice
Box into an MP3 player and digital photo viewer.
Whether parents want their kids to watch even
more TV is open for debate. "It's fine
if you think it's appropriate for your child,
but you have to realize that the time a child
spends playing is limited, due to after-school
activities," said author Szymanski.
Robosapien robot: For generations, children
have dreamed of owning a robot that would do
their bidding. Robots like Sony's Aibo dog have
appeared on the shelves in recent years, but
for a price outside the average family's reach.
This year, a company called Wow Wee released
a 14-inch-tall, black-and- white robot ($99.99)
that can walk around, pick things up, dance
and -- probably its most appealing function
for many kids and parents who never grew up
-- make rude noises.
"That's actually the best of its kind
that I've seen, because it's pretty functional,"
said Mark Luhn, co-owner of Jeffrey's Toys in
San Francisco. "It's basically like the
robots Heath and Sony came out with 10 years
ago that were thousands of dollars."
At this price, don't expect a bot that thinks
for itself. Robosapien is controlled by the
user via a radio controller. But with 67 different
pre- programmed functions, Robosapien seems
smarter than he is.
$150 OR LESS
Wireless headsets: Other leading-edge tech
items for the holidays are wireless Bluetooth-enabled
stereo headphones and headsets, used for listening
to MP3s on portable players and laptop computers
or for answering calls on cell phones, said
analyst Joyce Putscher of technology research
firm In- State/MDR.
Companies like Jabra have been selling a popular
wireless headset, worn over the ear, that works
up to 30 feet from a cell phone, but Hewlett-Packard,
Logitech and a host of manufacturers in Asia
are jumping into the market.
The Jabra BT110 headset for cell phones starts
at $70. A $129 premium package includes a universal
adapter for non-Bluetooth phones.
Game systems: Nintendo is making plenty of
noise this holiday season with a new handheld
gaming deck with two screens. Nintendo DS ($149.99)
went on sale Sunday.
The two screens allow a player to see the
game from different perspectives. For example,
in Nintendo's Metroid Prime Hunters game, the
setup allows a player to get an overview of
the area where the battle is taking place, while
the second screen puts him in the middle of
the action as he manipulates his character in
combat.
The second screen on Nintendo DS is touch-sensitive,
so that gamers can control their characters
with a stylus.
Nintendo DS also includes wireless communication
capabilities so two or more gamers with their
own consoles can play against each other wirelessly.
The wireless function can also be used to send
instant messages from one Nintendo DS to another.
"It's different, but it's cool,"
said Schelley Olhava, an analyst at IDC. "It
opens up a new way of playing video games."
Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Morgan
Securities, said he expects the Nintendo DS
to be in short supply this holiday season.
"We're looking at about 1 million units
available initially, with about 100,000 added
each week," he said. "I wouldn't be
surprised if that item sells for $400 a day
after Thanksgiving on EBay."
While Sony's own handheld, PlayStation Portable,
won't be available in the United States until
next year, the consumer electronics giant has
repackaged its popular PlayStation 2 for holiday
shoppers.
The new PS2 ($149.99), which began selling
this month, is smaller than its predecessor.
The console is about half the weight and 35
percent thinner than the original PS2.
The new game machine has a built-in Ethernet
port, which was a separate add-on in the previous
version. One downside: It doesn't have a docking
bay for a hard drive, which is required for
Final Fantasy XI, the latest iteration of the
popular, multiplayer, online role-playing game.
$200 OR LESS
Video recorders: You can give a gift that
keeps on giving if you package a digital video
recorder, which allows the user to pause or
rewind live TV, with a few months of service.
A TiVo box with 40 hours of recording time and
a three-month gift subscription costs $139 after
a $100 mail-in rebate. With a six-month subscription,
the cost is $178.
Music players: Dell is hoping to slice off
a piece of Apple Computer's lead in the portable
audio jukebox market with the PocketDJ ($199),
which is about $50 less than the iPod Mini.
The Pocket DJ has a 5 GB hard drive, compared
with 4 GB in the iPod Mini, but it comes in
silver only.
Creative Technologies, meanwhile, plans to
expand its MuVo TX FM line with a 1 GB flash
player for $200, available at the end of November.
Stocking stuffers: Tamagotchi Connection ($14.99)
is a return of Bandai's digital pet, but this
time around, the keychain buddies can communicate
with one another via infrared connection.
If you have no clue what to get someone but
want to maintain the patina of being a tech-savvy
gift giver, you might consider gift cards for
downloadable online music -- the legal kind,
that is. There are gift cards available, both
online and in stores, for a variety of online
music services such as Napster.
Wal-Mart Music Downloads, for example, lets
you enter an amount between $10 and $2,500,
which would be enough to stuff a truly giant
stocking. Apple's iTunes Music Store gift certificates
only go up to $200.
Instead of stuffing the sock, stuff the cell
phone with new ring tones. You can select five
songs or other sounds for $7.49 at www.modtone.com
and have them downloaded to your loved one's
phone by Christmas morning.
Under $50
Crayola's My
First TV Play System lets kids 3 and up color
pictures or play games. $19.99
Under $100
Mattel's Juice Box entertains kids on the
road with Clay Aiken and Power Puff Girls. $70
Under $150
Handheld game player Nintendo DS is likely
to be in short supply. $149.99
Under $200
More affordable than the iPod but still stylish:
Dell Pocket DJ MP3 player. $199
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