Allen’s List of 2006′s Ten Coolest Gadget Gifts

Posted on 15 December 2006 by


As the number of holiday shopping days is counting down and some are clueless about to what to get as a cool gift, I decided to help out and put together a list of 10 of what I believe to be the best technology and gadget gift items…

# 10 – Nokia N93

nokia_n93

photo courtesy of Nokia

It’s a cell phone and recording studio in your pocket. Its built-in 3.2 megapixel camera offers up 30 frames per second DVD like video, and it includes on-board editing software.

$ 699.99 direct from Nokia

candy_canes

# 9 – Garmin Nuvi 350

garmin_nuvi_350
photo courtesy of amazon.com

Perfect for those who get lost or those who don’t want to get lost. GPS, MP3 player, photo viewer and world clock all in one pocket sized package. GPS features speech and turn-by-turn directions. Unit has 700MB internal memory and SD card slot for expansion.

$ 449.99 at amazon.com.

candy_canes

# 8 Nintendo Wii

nintendo_wii
photo courtesy of Nintendo

Fun innovative gaming system for everyone. Unfortunately, the Wii being in high demand and limited quantities, the only place to score one for the holidays maybe via ebay or trying various brick and mortar stores.

$249.99 Info at Nintendo

candy_canes

# 7 The New Video Aquarium DVD

video_aquarium
photo courtesy of Things You Never Knew Existed

2 hour DVD video of beautiful fish swimming in nicely decorated aquariums complete with bubble sounds. Great for people who always have fish go belly up.

$19.98 at Things You Never Knew Existed

candy_canes

# 6 Swiss Army Knives

These nifty pocket tools make a great useful gift item and the Cybertool is perfect for techies and D.Y.I’ers.

Swiss Army Cybertool 41

cybertool41

74.99

or as an alternative, the USB drive version…

Swiss Memory USB

swiss-memory
photos courtesy of ThinkGeek

69.99 to 119.99 (256MB to 1GB capacities)

candy_canes

# 5 Silverlit Remote controlled mini helicopter, Picoo Z

Looks like this is the new remote controlled vehicle craze, these R/C helicopters are no longer expensive. The Silverlit is the entry level and will give you a taste of the fun. Trust me, these are tons of fun.

helicopter

$ 39.99 at Hobbytron

candy_canes

# 4 AccuWeather 5-Day Wireless Weather Forecaster

5-day_wireless_weather_forecaster
photo courtesy of Brookstone

People need to know the weather and accurate time so the Weather forecast unit with 5 days of weather info and time wirelessly updated is ideal.

$ 85.00 at Brookstone

candy_canes

# 3 Swiss + Tech Utili-key 8-in-1 Tool

utili-key_8-in-1
photo courtesy of Brookstone

New model of the Utili-key. It now has a nail file instead of the knife blade.Very useful set of tools to carry on your key ring.

$ 9.99 at Brookstone

candy_canes

#2 Apple iPod shuffle (2nd gen)

ipod_shuffle
photo courtesy of Apple

Nice simple basic mp3 player.

$ 79.00

candy_canes

# 1 Nintendo DS Lite with Brain Age Bundle

nintendo-ds_lite brain_age
photos courtesy of Nintendo

The DS lite, is a new lighter and brighter gaming model, and with Brain Age, the cool game that sharpens your brain every day as you run through the exercises.

$ 149.98 Bundle package available at GameStop.

This post was written by:

- who has written 62 posts on Gear Diary.

Allen is a computer technician with experience spanning MS-DOS to present. Having been a Star Trek fan all of his life has given him a love for technology. Tech toys and gadgets are also a weakness of his. Allen also loves video games, especially the classics and is a big Nintendo portable gaming fanboy and has his DS with him everyday so that he can get his gaming fix daily. He can also be considered a couch potato as he is addicted to watching TV, especially the Sci Fi Channel with its B-movies.

Contact the author


  • http://www.lenos.com Debbie Chong

    The Garmin Nuvi is a great gift at this price. Since I try not to talk on the phone when I drive for safety reasons, the lack of Bluetooth in the 650 is not an issue and makes the Nuvi affordable vis a vis the latest models with Bluetooth and a larger screen. The screen size is fine, navigation is Excellent to Very Good and this has navigated me around the country, on business and personal trips. Never read the manual — it is user friendly. Better than the “Never Lost” system in Hertz. Easy to update with the Garmin updater loaded on my laptop.

    The Ninetendo DS Lite is a favorite in my household, including my 24 year old son. We gave the DS Lite to a teenager and child as gifts and they love them too. There are a great number of games for players at all ages at a reasonable price. It is a better game system for those who are not just interested in playing “male-focused” racing, shooting and violent types of games. Ninetendo has been really smart about making new systems backwards compatible with older games they have produced, which even increase the number of games available at reasonable prices.

  • Allen Hong

    Debbie, I agree with you on the Nintendo DS… they sure do know how to make great games for everyone.