When it comes to the holidays,gadgets perennially top people’s wish lists — and retailers are happy to oblige.
Shoppers will spend an average of $252 on consumer electronics this year, according to a Consumer Electronics Association forecast, with 76 percent of gift-giving adults planning to give a gadget as a present. Sorting out the hot items from the ones destined to end up in the clearance bin — or at a garage sale — isn’t easy, though.
If you’re looking for a perfect tech gift for a friend or loved one, read ahead for suggestions that can’t miss.
Kindle Paperwhite
Suggested Price: $119 to $139.
Amazon has a well-established foothold in the e-reader space, but its latest effort is miles beyond anything it has done before. It offers an incredibly sharp screen, a built-in light for nighttime reading, and for Amazon Prime members, a huge collection of free “loaner” books. The battery life is equally impressive, with the company claiming a life of eight weeks, assuming a half hour of use per day.
Photo: Amazon
Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga
Suggested Price: $999 to $1,299.
Ultrabooks are going to be hot this year, but with Windows 8, forward-looking gadget hounds are focusing on hybrid models. Lenovo’s Yoga can morph itself into four different forms: a standard laptop clamshell, a tablet, a tent-style (standing on its ends) and an easel (showing the screen to onlookers across the table). It’s flexible and simple to use, and it works just as well as a touchscreen device as it does as a laptop. While pricier than other Ultrabooks, it’s one that will turn heads — and future-proof you for a few years.
Photo: Lenovo
Samsung E8000 Plasma TV
Suggested Price: Starting at $1530 for the 51 inch model on Yahoo! Shopping.
Plasma TVs might seem passé in an era of LED and LCD screens, but they still are the best displays around. Samsung’s flagship plasma line features not only amazing picture quality, but also an integrated voice-and-motion-activated control system. (You can turn it on by simply saying “Hi TV. Power On.”) Combine that with Samsung’s industry-leading “Smart TV” applications, which extend much further than the usual Skype and Netflix choices, and it’s an easy decision.
Photo: Samsung
iPhone 5
Suggested Price: $199 to $399.
Apple’s smartphone is always a hot gift during the holidays, but this year’s model could be especially hard-to-find.
With a faster processor, improved camera and a longer screen, it offers a lot of the features people were hoping to see with last year’s iPhone 4S. The problems with Apple Maps are well documented — and valid — but overall, this is a solid smartphone that shows off Apple’s ingenuity.
Photo: Apple
Wii U
Suggested Price: $300 to $350.
Nintendo’s next generation videogame system hasn’t yet garnered quite as much buzz as the Wii did in 2006 (perhaps because of the confusing similarities of the systems’ names), but it’s still a big leap forward for the company. Adding a tablet controller to the Wii’s motion controls opens up new areas of gameplay, especially for large groups. And the inclusion of high-definition graphics for the first time lets the company’s games shine.
Photo: Nintendo
VIEW THE REST OF THE GADGETS HERE
via Yahoo!
