Winter Wish List: Turn Your Christmas into a Tech-Noël

By TOM WANIELISTA
July 30, 2011

It’s the holiday season! The only thing that can mean is that eventually, you’ll find yourself alone in a Best Buy, lost, confused by the technical nonsense obnoxiously driving you to buy things that you don’t even understand. If this is a familiar feeling, not to worry. Here’s a list of the best holiday goodies the world of consumer technology can offer. This list is perfect to help you find gifts (or gift ideas) for your loved ones, or gifts you can ask for the loved yourself, if that’s your style.

$100 and under

  • KLIPSCH IMAGE S4 ($79): These Klipsch headphones have consistently been lauded for their top-notch sound, but they should receive more applause for their impressive value. The kind of sound you can get from these headphones is worth two, even three, times as much as the price you see here. This is the perfect pair if you’re interested in sharing the bass drums of the song you’re listening to with everyone in the elevator.
  • APPLE TV ($99): Stop watching mindless TV programming! Ever been in that night class while your favorite show is on? You don’t need to be enslaved to the cable companies’ programming list anymore. On iTunes, You can rent a TV show for 99 cents and the rental lasts 24 hours so you can watch it whenever you want. If you have an iPhone or an iPad, you can stream whatever you’re watching or listening to right to your TV over the air. It’s not only a great way to put your favorite TV shows into a tame schedule, but it’s a great way to bring your dorm room to the 21st century.

$200 and under

  • AMAZON KINDLE (3G + WIFI – $189): Don’t be a Luddite. Print is dying. A Kindle can save you from joining the medium’s fate and aging away into obscurity. If your classes require mostly novels (hello, English majors), the ability to purchase your reading instantly and Kindle’s passage searching functions should serve you well. You’ll also save a ton of space in your travel bag and in your room. Now you can fit your collection of obsolete technology—mix CDs, your first iPod, and your vintage books—onto that now-empty shelf.
  • IPHONE 4 (16GB – $199): The iPhone 4 ushered in a new era of industrial design for smartphones. Its new, super-sleek design makes the phone feel like a solid brick of technology when held in your hand. The phone’s battery can last a full day and a half even with heavy use. The clean, simple, and easy-to-use interface looks fantastic on the iPhone 4’s sharp screen, and the App Store is filled with great applications and games for your phone that you can download in an instant. During class.

$500 and under

  • HP MINI NOTEBOOK ($415): The HP Mini is HP’s attempt at making a netbook just for students—and HP has very well succeeded. The HP Mini is incredibly small, light, and has a clicky, comfortable keyboard. It’s made from aluminum, therefore much sturdier than the plastic laptops you normally see. The best part though, is that the keyboard is spill-proof; you won’t have to jump in fear when you spill all of your (as of this publishing, illegal) Four Loko on your keyboard while writing that paper at 4 a.m.
  • A DIGITAL CAMERA: At this price range, you can get a great digital camera. For those looking for a significant improvement to their current point-and-shoot without making a jump to DSLR, the Panasonic Lumix LX-5 for $499 is excellent. The LX-5‘s picture quality is superb for its point-and-shoot compactness and can get you some great shots when you’re out on the town or taking pictures of your outfits before you go out. However, if you’re willing to plunge into the depths of DSLR, you can pick up a Nikon D3000. The D3000 is a great beginner’s DSLR that can be yours for $450. If you do go that route, prepared to become addicted to long walks through New York.

$1000 and under

  • Macbook Air ($999 or $959 w/ Fordham Discount): You should pop into an Apple store to see how thin this laptop is. It’s a half-inch thick at its thickest. Incredibly light and durable, the Macbook Air is great for its desk-space saving factor and mobility. Inside, not much is compromised in technological sophistication: it sports flash memory as the hard drive, making the computer super quick and zippy. The boot-up time for the new Air is insanely quick—you only have to wait a few seconds. Depending on the model, you can squeeze five or seven hours of battery life, perfect for those extremely long night classes, or just your entire school day. Unfortunately the keyboard is not spill-proof, so be careful with that Four Loko.
  • HP ENVY 14 ($999): The HP Envy 14‘s strong aluminum case, top-notch processor, simple design and decent 4-hour battery life makes this is a steal for the price. The HP Envy 14 is a solid PC in a world populated by plastic and therefore, fragile laptops. The HP Envy 14’s build quality is superb, so you can bang it up and still rely on it to keep running. Breaking out a rig like this in class, you’ll be living up to the Envy 14’s moniker.