Top Ten Gift Ideas for the Tech Savvy Twenty Something

For the electronics junkie, the holidays are one of the most exciting periods of the entire year. The majority of consumer electronics scheduled to be released are often unleashed in the late October - December period, where gift giving is in the spirit and your credit cards seem to know no bounds. Yet confused loved ones are often in the dark when choosing the correct gifts for the techno savvy young adult. Questions like "Are ipod's still cool?", "Does this dvd player come with all the cables" or the infamous "Are batteries included" are a handful of the questions you're armed with when you pick up the latest in gadgetry. While I cannot tell you how many D batteries you'll need to buy in bulk, I can tell you what the computer proficient person in your life will definetly want and more importantly, wether or not you can afford it.

1. SIRIUS Stiletto 100 Portable Receiver
Sleek, stylish, personal, powerful and completely portable this satielite radio receiver is SIRIUSLY cool. It comes with 2 gigabytes of internal memory which allows you to store 100+ hours of Sirius satellite programming. What sets this player apart from the other's is that it has a wifi connection, so instead of concerning yourself with loss of signal or worse, no signal at all, you can always connect to the terrestrial Sirius radio, set up a playlist and record stations, whenever you want. Do you like Howard Stern? Going out of the country for a month? You can still record all of his broadcasts. . In addition it plays MP3/WMA files that you can load directly to the Stiletto 100. It also has a feature called GameAlert, Which prompts you when your favorite games are being broadcast and alerts you when scores change. Of course you'll need to sign up for Sirius which is a measely $12 - $13 a month but well worth the price. If you want your tech savvy loved one to really jump under the mistletoe this season, get the Stiletto 100.

PRICE: $300 - $350

2. The Zen Vision:M
When you think of media player you would probably think of IPOD! Yet there are many alternatives that work splendidly and cost much less. Try for example this 30gigabyte player from ZEN. Is stores about 7,500 songs in mp3 format and can play the major file formats. You can also store up to 120 hours of video in almost any file format, including recorded TV shows, movies, home videos amongst others. Of course who wants to watch A Christmas Story on a 2.5 inch screen? Never fear! The Vision can hook up to any monitor, dvd player or A/V device with the included cables. It also stores photos for quick viewing so you know santa clause's money is well spent when you show your friends all the pictures you took this season.

PRICE: $200 - $250

3. The Motorola Krzr
Motorola seeks to outdue itself once again in arestheic appeal with its new KRZR. The KRZR, is slimmer then its grandfather, the Razor and has a high end 2 megapixel camera. It is also a new media phone with the capability of playing most video formats and about 25hours of it. It comes equipped with a push to talk (like Nextel walkie talkies) to save on your minutes. It also has an expandable memory card slot so it can be used as an mp3 player, video player, and even a harddrive. It comes with the typical cell phone options also like external caller id, video capturing, speaker phone, Bluetooth and all the other household "tecchish" phrases. This is truly a dream come true for the got to have it all techno junkie in your life. Motorola wont make promises on how cool it will be and for how long.

PRICE: Free with most new cell plans
$300-$350 brand new without activation.

4. OLYMPUS WS-310M
If the month of December is filled with stress, a decrease in sleep and an increase in insanity, your loved one must be a college student. What better way to prepare him for next semester then to get a digital voice recorder. Its great because you can fall asleep in class and still take notes, as long as its on record that is. There is a direct Usb interface on this so you can cut, edit and organize all your lectures and even burn them to a cd. It also has an ultra sensitive microphone to pick up speech in the largest halls and record about 120 hours in the low play mode. Oh yeah. it can play mp3's as well. All in all a great device I might put on my own wish list this season.

PRICE: $75 - $100

5. Sony Play Station Portable (PSP)
This hybrid game console/media player/ all in one hit the market hard and fast. Theres so many reasons for it success. You can network with your friends who have psp's and play games in an ad hoc mode. You can also surf the internet with a wireless lan connection wherever you ar ein a wifi hotspot. It can play any type of video, you can surf the internet and of course it plays games. Any teenager, twenty something or gamers of all ages would be delighted to a psp this when the wrapping paper comes off this season.

PRICE: $150 - $250

6. Bluetooth Dongle
More of a stcking stuffer then the main gift, this tiny bundle of wireless joy will pay for itself over and over again. Essentially a Bluetooth dingle makes your computer a Bluetooth sender and receiver via its usb port. Some of the many things you can do with this is stream music to your Bluetooth enabled phone, make your own mp3 ringtones, zap documents to your laptop, connect to a Bluetooth wireless printer among other things. Most of these dongles are created equal and no particular brand sticks out. I personally have a BLUESPOON and it cost me about $30.

PRICE: $30 - $50

7. IOGEAR Bluetooth Stereo Headphones
Whoever invented wireless headphones didn't consider commuters, walkers or joggers in their development. Luckily Bluetooth changes al of that. Recently dropping in price, Bluetooth head phones are perfect for the avid jogger or commuter. Simply plug it into your Ipod, mp3 player or anything with a headphone jack, press a few buttons and your good to listen to music with absolutely no cords. The sound quality is virtually indistinguishable from corded headphones and well worth the price. Plus they have a much bigger radius then a cord, you can walk about 50 feet away from your music before it cuts off.

PRICE: $50 - $100

8. Palm TX Multilingual PDA
This is the economically friendly alternative to buying a laptop. The Palm TX comes with a wifi connection and Bluetooth. You can make internet phone calls through this device and it comes equipped with its own web browser. So you can surf the internet wherever you might be and it would look identical to the regular internet you surf at home. This means you get emails, memos, myspace, everything the net has to offer. It is also expandable with an SD card. It is set as a good price and is truly an all in one. Consider buying this instead of the Sony MYLO if you're in the market for one.

PRICE: $250-$300

9. TOM TOM GO 910
The ultimate driving companion. This GPS is accurate down to 15 feet and has over 5,0000 points of interestst preprogrammed into its memory. It also comes with maps of Europe and Latin America for those who want to know how to get to germany's AutoBahn quicker. It has Bluetooth capability which enables you to speak to and make calls from the gps through its speakers. It can also sync with your Bluetooth enabled car stereo

PRICE: $600 - $700

10. Microsoft Windows XP Pro SP2b 1pk w/Upgrade Coupon for Vista
This is the latest and last bundle for windows Xp with enhanced securioty features and better user interface. The big seller on this package is that t has a coupon for the next version of windows which is redeemable as soon as Microsoft releases it. It will actually save you money in the long run so you don't have to go out and buy Vista when it comes out…..whenever Microsoft desides to do that.
PRICE: $140 - $160.00

There you have your top ten gifts for the tech savvy twenty something. Any one of these gifts is sure to put a smile on the face of your loved one this season.