Top Ten Gift Ideas for Computer Geeks

The holiday season has crepted up on us once again, and so, it is around this time of year that we all usually start plotting out what special items it is that we'll be purchasing for our close friends, associates, loving family members.....or........all of the above. :)

I personally thought, hmmmmm, now wouldn't it be clever this time around to do something a lil bit different........a unique twist on gift ideas for a special kind of individual, I thought, "How about something for the 'computer geek' residing in anyone who has come even remotely close to a computer?", ah ha!! So, here you have it, a list of wonderful gift ideas for your common "Computer Geek". :)

1.) A Picture CD movie : This is something very special to do for the lady , be they your sister, girlfriend, mom, etc. Anyone who has XP as their OS can utilize an installed program called "Windows Movie Maker" and scan several pics, or copy over some digital pics from your camera, open them up in this program, add her favorite track as the ambient background, burn it all to a cd, and "wallah!!", you've just made a nice, sentimental gift for them to cherish for a lifetime. :)

2.) Can of Air ( Dual Pak ) : These are compressed cans of air which can be found at any well-known store like Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Circuit City, etc. Often coming in sets of two, these are great for blowing dust out of the keyboard, the fans at the back of the PC tower, and the inside of the tower as well. Costs about $6.99

3.) CD lens cleaner : More often than not, if you're getting failed cd burns, freeze-ups when playing back dvds, data not being read when discs are inserted, it's because your cd lens needs to be cleaned. Saves a lot of money and time to try this first before taking the PC in for repairs. Costs about $5.99 to $11.99 depending on the brand.

As a side note, don't buy cleaners that require the application of liquids, stick with the straight cd method only.

4.) Monitor Wipes : Not to be confused with "Wet-Wipes", these are actually sold and used to keep the screen of your monitor dust and static free. Costs about $10.00

5.) USB Drive (aka, jump-drive, flash-drive) : These are very neat lil gadgets that have made the dreaded, and usually unreliable floppy disk, nearly obsolete. The prices of these are coming down drastically, you can find a 1 gigabite one these days for less than 50 bucks. :)

6.) Printer Paper (plain white) : Who doesn't need plain white printer paper for their copier? I thought so. If you can buy a package of 500 sheets at Kinkos for $3.99, then you'll be saving a whole lot more at other stores like "Staples" or "OfficeMax".

7.) Mouse Pad : Folks are practically giving these away, price should be no concern. :)

8.) CD Case : A great way to keep that special collection safe, dust and scratch free. You should be able to find one that holds 32 discs for about 10 bucks.

9.) Blank DVDs : Great for doing backups of the OS, storing large amounts of data, etc. Costs about $29.99 for a 50 pak, although you can always catch sales somewhere for much cheaper.

10.) Blank CDs : These are becoming less popular these days in favor of the heftier DVD, also because the price of dvd burners have fallen dramatically. Costs about $19.99 for a 50 pak, again, you can obtain these at a much cheaper price when they are on sale.