Small, sleek, fun define this year's favorites
By Lois M. Collins
Deseret News staff writer

Santa's going to have extra room in his gigantic red sack this year, because those much-wanted electronic gadgets are getting sleeker, smaller, flatter and more fun than ever.

And though clothes and money still top the wish lists this holiday season, technology's a perennial favorite.
But how do you sort it all out? There are thousands of gizmos guaranteed to warm the tech-loving hearts of the young, the old and the in-between, and it's impossible to look at all of them. So we picked a few categories and looked at the options.
They've been out for a while, but PlayStation 2, Gamecube and Xbox are still going to be popular gift items for kids of every age. Littler kids get a lot of joy from PS One ($49.99). But this year, unlike last, you'll find some of them on sale, too, if you look carefully.
Some of the most popular items, like televisions and DVD players, are made by so many good companies and share so many of the same features (within categories, like high-definition digital or analog) that you just have to pick the one that fits your budget and your space. Other items have so many subtle differences that it's sometimes hard to make a choice.

The ultimate gift, if you have $4,950 to spend, is the Segway.

Courtesy Of Segway
For that, we went online, into stores and browsed the aisles at the Comdex tradeshow in Las Vegas last week. Then a friendly clerk at Salt Lake's CompUSA helped narrow some of the choices, sharing what's flying off the shelves right now. And remember, every category has a number of options and a wide price range, to boot.
Let's get this one out of the way: The ultimate gift, if you have $4,950 to spend, is the Segway, which is making waves around the world. Folks lined up to test drive it at Comdex. But you'll have to give your loved one a rain check, since the "Human Transporter" won't start shipping until March from its exclusive retailer, Amazon.com. You'll get a hand-numbered collector's print to give in time for the holidays, though.
The Segway is a two-wheeled, electric vehicle that moves along using cues from your body, such as how you lean. It tops out at 12.5 mph, and you steer it using a twist grip on the left handlebar. It can do sharp turns and run you around in circles, too.
More practically, if you haven't rushed out to get a digital camera yet, you're missing out on the ability to see what you've shot, on the spot; easily transfer images to computer; burn them onto CDs; e-mail them to loved ones and take advantage of the plethora of software products designed to help you organize, print and project your personalized photo album.

Apple ipod MP3 player stores thousands of songs - and never skips.

Courtesy of Apple
Olympus's Camedia C-730 Ultra Zoom with a 10X optical zoom, 3.2 megapixels and proprietary TruePic technology is a high-quality camera that allows both automatic and some manual control. Suggested retail is $599 and it just captured a "best of what's new" award from Popular Science. The C-50 model has 5.0 megapixels, but a 3X zoom for the same price. It all hinges on what kind of pictures you want to take. Digital cameras start below $100 now.
BenQ's DC1300 is one of the best simple point-and-click cameras for people who just want to take nice-quality snapshots. Weighing in at 2.2 ounces, it has 16MB of memory that will store 85 fine or 123 normal (JPEG) images at a resolution of 1280x1024 (1.3 megapixel), serves as a Webcam and even records 90 seconds of video with sound, all for $99.
Want to see the face of that person you're calling? If you both have a Vizufon GVP-1000A, it's possible. The video phone lets you look at the other party while talking over a plain phone line. It includes a calendar, alarm clock, remote surveillance, external video and audio ports and regular phone enhancements. The suggested retail is $485, but you can find them online for as little as $250.

With a Vizufon GVP-1000A, phone calls are a visual experience.

Associated Press
MP3s came bursting on the scene a few years ago and they're just getting better. The Apple iPod comes in three sizes — 5, 10 and 20 GB (starting around $300) — and is available for Windows or Mac. The 10 GB version holds up to 2,000 songs. They double as a FireWire drive to hold contact lists, files and applications and they never skip, even when you do.
Scores of companies are producing MP3 players, which range from small as a microcassette (not the player, the cassette) to about the size of a small tape recorder. Prices also range, depending on the memory media and how capacious it is, sound quality and more. You can expect to get a very basic, good one for as low as $130.
Time to finally get into a handheld device but struggling with what to get? First you have to decide if you want a Palm operating system, something Windows-based or a different proprietary system, and then what you want to do with it.
Among our favorites: The Sony Clie and the HP iPaq. The latter was a Compaq iPaq until the two companies joined up. Depending on the model, the Clie starts around $299 and the price goes up with features. The iPaq h910 is $299, the h5450 is $699 and features biometric, wireless and bluetooth technology. The Toshiba PocketPC e-740 is another powerhouse at $599.

Philips has two projectors in the bSure series that offer silent operation and high resolution.

Courtesy Of Philips
If you just want a simple device for addresses, phone numbers, scheduling and basics, older Palm and HandSpring PDA models can be had for well under $100. You might consider the Samsung SM60 at $79.99
Projectors seem to be a desired item for men. And we're not talking about putting that film clip on the wall in science class. Rather, people are projecting HDTV-quality images on wide screens at home and in the office. Philips, Epson and Viewsonic all have projectors that do a very nice job.
A good projector starts around $1,500, with higher-end projectors costing a couple of thousand dollars more.
Philips' bSure SV1, which can take input from a number of devices, including video and stereo, retails for around $2,700, for instance. Its main features are a bulb that's going to give you 6,000-plus hours (replacing bulbs is a big projector expense) and the fact that it's nearly silent. No fan buzz in the background.
Want to keep track of your kids as they play in the neighborhood or afraid you'll misplace them at the mall? How about when you're up snowmobiling? Try a pair of two-way radios.
With ranges from two to five miles, and prices beginning at about $30 a pair, they're a way to keep in touch without springing for a cell phone and airtime. In the mid-range, check out Motorola's Talkabout T5300, at $49.99 a pair.

Motorola's Talkabout T5300 two-way radio has a two-to-five mile range.

Courtesy Of Motorola
Lego has a group of high-tech robots you assemble yourself that will appeal to kids 9 and up. You have to have a PC to get anything out of them once you've built them, then you can play spy games. Kids (including middle-aged reporters) love them. They have 10 preset missions, but check the box before you buy. They don't work with Windows 2000 or Macintosh. And you have to have a serial port connection.
Spybotics are available in several different versions and retail for around $59.99. When they say "some assembly required," they're not kidding. Putting it together is as challenging and fun as anything you'll do with it.
If you want to print your own snapshots easily after you take them with your digital camera, check out HP's PhotoSmart 130 and 230 photo-quality inkjet printers. Smaller than a loaf of bread, though slightly heavier, the 130 costs $139, prints 4x6 photos and is fast and high-resolution.

HP's PhotoSmart 230 photo-quality inkjet printer costs around $239.

Courtesy Of Hewlett Packard
The 230 costs $249 and is super fast and even higher-resolution. You can take your printer along to the family reunion, snap those photos and print them on the spot.
For printers in general, there are too many choices to even think about. But a basic inkjet printer now costs as little as $29, so there's no reason not to have one. When you're shopping though, ask how much the replacement ink cartridges are, because the cost of ink is the big expense.
"Customized" is the name of the game for desktop computers. You can pick options like the leopard-skin tower case by EnerMax and build your own. Or you can tell companies like Dell, Gateway and CompUSA what you want and pay for the features you'll be using

You can do the same with laptops at places like PC Laptops, where there are more than 150 different configurations including a very fast, large-capacity machine for $2,999.

If you buy a ready-made, make sure you get USB ports, huge hard drive, CD-RW, DVD and scads of memory. And consider a flat-screen monitor for your desktop. They're more expensive (starting around $500 and going much higher), but lots easier to look at for long periods of time. And you'll save a lot of space on your desk.
While you're at it, don't forget to get a Codi USB hub ($17.50), a two-port hub that weighs less than 2 ounces. It has a short cord. With it, you can add more peripherals to your notebook.