With the plethora of
computers and gadgets that are released this year ( yes, they are not only
better, but cheaper!), here is my own list of great devices you may like this
Christmas.
All of them, except for the digital notepad, are available in NGenius stores.
1.)
Apple
Itouch
Apple scored a great hit in
the iPhone, and even Time magazine branded it as invention of the year. But it is still not sold here, so what do you do?
Get the Apple Itouch! It looks the same, except that it is not a
phone ( so you don’t forcely have to subscribed to their preferred phone
providers). Not only does it look cool,
and you can do pretty much what you can do in the iPOD which is to watch video,
listen to music, and browse pictures, but there is one more thing – it has
WiFi, so you can browse the web if you are in a hotspot! And Of course, the plus is that you can
watch YouTube videos!
2.)
Asus
EeePC
We know we want a notebook
that is small, light and cheap! But we
always go to the store that when it comes to notebook, the smaller it is, the
more expensive it is. Maybe not
anymore. Asus introduces the EeePC and
it has been a great hit, and it is no wonder why. First, it is less than 2 pounds, ( it has a 7 inch screen and a
qwerty keyboard). It is powered by
Intel Celeron, and has 512 mb of memory.
It does not have a hard disk, but a 4 gigabyte flash drive ( it is big
enough for most needs , especially email, and a flash drive may be less prone
to crashing, and also faster to boot up).
It has a network card and also wireless Wifi, as well as a small
videocam. It has most of the
application you need, and pretty much is a small notebook computer, but the
nice thing is at 17,000 to 19,000 pesos, it is really a bargain. Asus sold 350,000 of the units the last two
months, and is now predicting that they will sell over 5 million next
year. It is one of the more sought
after gifts for Christmas. Currently
the notebook has preloaded Xandros Linux ( a windows mobile version is coming
soon). The disadvantage currently is in
the Linux, it is somewhat hard to add some of the peripheral devices ( like my
PLDT WeRoam.
3.)
LinkSys
Wireless N Router
This is a little bit
technical, but for those who want to be able to browse the internet anywhere in
the house or the office, a wireless
router has always been a plus. The problem
with 802.11b or 802.11g router is not so much as the speed, but rather its
range is quite limited. Linksys has
this new Wireless N router, and it promises more speed ( 9x times over Wireless
G or over 35 times over Wireless B), but the most important thing is that it
has 3 times the range. So if you are in
another room or another floor, you will most likely not hit a deadspot!
4.)
A
digital Notepad
This is a personal
preference, and it is not being sold here. I had to get it through the US. I have always been a scribbler, and for a
while, I used a notebook Tablet ( where I can scroll using handwriting). However, a tablet PC is still expensive, and
it is a hassle to wait for the few seconds for the notebook to boot up before
you can write anything.
The digital notepad is
actually a very thin device and it looks like a notepad ( with paper). You use a pen to write on paper, and a
digital replica is captured on the device.
Later on, you can synchronize the notes into a computer so you have an
extra copy.
If you are like me, who go
everywhere and scribble anything anywhere ( in my notebook or in pieces of
paper which I later lost), having a notepad to scribble on, and later on,
having a copy in the computer is a big help.
The Genius G-Note 7100 is only available through special order, but
would cost anywhere from 6 to 8 thousand pesos, and have 32 megabytes of memory to store 100 pages of notes.
Even if you don’t like or
know how to use the computer, you can use this! Then later on, you can have the unit given to your assistant or
your children to synch and store in the computer!
5.)
Portable
DVD Player
This is another device that
you can use even if you are not computer savvy. It is just a DVD player with a
7 inch screen that you can bring around easily since it is only less than 1
kilogram. Then you can watch DVD
anywhere ( some models even have antennaes so you can watch TV). Before it used to cost upwards 20,000. Now, prices are going down, and you can get
one for 6 to 8000 pesos! Most models
have batteries that last 2 to 4 hours.
Many of them have also car chargers so if you are in the car, you can
watch it on long trips ( of course, only if you are not the driver).
6.)
Digital
Photoframe
I remember that before, one
of the great mechanical devices that caught my fancy was a Picture Showbox. It
was a device where you can put in upto 20 pictures inside, and you could
manipulate it so that people can see the photos like a slideshow, or you can
put it in your desk, and everyday, just flick it so that it shows another
photo.
You can do that now with a
digital viewer. And prices are going
down. Now there are digital photoframes
that you can just insert your memory card, and you can make it show all the
digital pictures you took ( you can even work it so that you have music
background). New models can also play
mpeg movies. Prices are also going
down, and some models are going as low as 4 to 6 thousand.
Check out the Asus EEE PC, which was rated as America’s most wanted gadget gift this Christmas.