NRM's electronic holiday gift guide

This year the hottest gifts all run on electricity from batteries or generated
by shaking or cranking. The lowdown on gifts you might want
— or not want — to give

By Lucas Rosa

Says one disgruntled Scarborough, ON, family physician with three kids between ages 11 and 16: "We're going barebones this year. We've just got too much stuff. The cupboards are full, the garage is full, the basement is full. We don't need three-quarters of this junk." The family decided this year — no gifts. Instead they're all going on a skiing holiday at Quebec's Mont Gabriel.

In Regina, a two-physician family — she a psychiatrist, he a GP — are spending Christmas on his parent's farm. They plan an old fashioned holiday in every sense of the word. "Mom and Dad," as she calls his parents, "have been going to Florida for the last several winters but this year they're staying home. The idea is we'll go out there on December 23 and decorate the house, put up the tree and bake. The girls are excited about stringing popcorn and cranberries and making presents. The only thing we'll buy is a couple of new board games."

You can't help but admire the spirit. Retailers grant that there is a mood of cutting back and are anticipating a moderate year for holiday sales. There are some notable exceptions. Electronics are hot, hotter, hottest. Top of the line luxury goods — purses, briefcases, costly watches — are expected to rack up record sales, as is high-end clothing. In the US particularly, where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, the 24% increase this year in the number of millionaires is expected to be good for stores like Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus and less so for Wal-Mart, Target, JC Penny and the like.

Electronics being the gift of choice, we cruised the catalogues and the internet and talked to retailers looking for this year's favourite electronic products. Here's a sampling.

Flat screen TVs
Big box retailers like Future Shop, anticipating that this would be the year of the move away from old-style televisions, have stocked up heavily on everything from HDTV wide screen sets to rear projection models to plasma. The word on the street is that they've overstocked and there'll be deals aplenty before December 25. If it's plasma you're after, though, you might want to wait another year. Prices are expected to continue to fall as demand rises and unit manu-facturing costs tumble. Also consider video projectors and pull down screens.

Personal video recorders
These are the devices that are sweeping the nation. Doctors who have them say they're the best invention since TV itself. They digitally record two programs at once, will record up to 50 hours and allow you to rewind live TV. Best yet, they're easy to use. Unchain your family from TV's scheduled offerings. Watch only what you want to watch, when you want to watch it. Illico offers a unit at $430 but you can pay up to $750. They can be purchased at retail or through your cable/satellite supplier. www.futureshop.ca

Digital cameras, printers
If you've resisted the move to digital, this is the year to throw caution to the wind. You can now pick up a decent 3-4 or even 5 megapixel digital camera for less than $500. Concerned about how to get your photos off the computer and into prints? Forget about it. Shoot anything that moves, discard what you don't want and take the camera (or the memory card) into the nearest photo development shop and you'll have great pictures back within 24 hours, just like film. (You can even do it online and by mail if you like.) Too impatient? Get both a camera and a photo printer. Radio Shack offers an HP 4.1-megapixel camera and printer for under $400 for both; Kodak has similar combo deals at less than $500. One caveat: the cost of ink and paper is such that you'll save time but not money if you elect to do your own prints. Radio Shack also offers slim 2-megapixel models for under $120. www.radioshack.com

Indeed, if you're looking for anything electronic online, start with Radio Shack — they're got a great site in both languages and have a wider range of products in the middle price ranges than Future Shop or www.amazon.ca.

Digital video cameras have also had huge price cuts in the last 12 months. Look for deals at Future Shop or any big box office supplier at under $300.

Value convenience above all else? Panasonic offers a small device that records video, voice and still photos (2.1 megapixels) and is also an MP3 player. $400 range.

iPods
Every kid from age 10 to 85 who's into music wants one. Thing is they cost anywhere from $350 to $650. Here's the question: Are they worth it? Here's the answer: maybe. If you plan to use them only to play back music through the earphones then you might want to consider a less costly MP3 player or other device. On the other hand, if you'd like to have your entire music library at your fingertips anywhere you go and be able to easily select pieces and play them through your home or car stereo or any other stereo for that matter, then yes, they are worth it. The wireless device to play them in your car costs $80, is a snap to use and renders your car's CD player instantly obsolete. HP now offers a PC version of the iPod at slightly lower prices.

Cellphones
Much touted as the device of the future, cellphones now routinely offer cameras and email as part of the package. Problem is, the monthly fees are still too high and the only deals on the equipment come when you sign up for a new package. Nagging teens should be told to make do with what they've got for another year. The hottest items in the field for professional use are the Blackberry — about $400 a pop plus $50 a month for unlimited email and surfing action — and the Treo from Palm, which will set you back another $100 and comes with a still camera, is fully compatible with Palm software, of course, and looks somewhat niftier in its silver case. Advice from here: stick with the Canadian product, go Blackberry!