That's right it's my guide to help you with you holiday shopping for the gadget lover (freak) on your list. The way this thing started was each year towards the holiday season all my friends started asking me and emailing about what my picks were in various categories and of course the answers were usually the same. So I decided to compile a list and just email it to the folks that asked.
Once again I've put together a Holiday Gadget Gift Guide to help you pick out gifts for the techies and gadget lovers on your gift list. However, instead of making a PDF with links to multiple sources, I've decided to go with once source this year. I've chosen Amazon.com simply because they are the one online retailer with not only the largest presence, but also the one that carries 99% of the items I recommend. Another advantage is that I can continue to add things that come up all the way up to the final days of the holiday season. In previous years I would always find some cool gadgets after the static gift guide was published. Now because they don't carry every single item on my recommendation list, you can check for some Extras at the bottom of this post.
How did you pick the items that you recommend?
Simple! If it's in my guide it's because I either use it now, have used it in the past or one of my close friends or colleagues use it and I trust their opinion. Now in some cases there may be an item in the guide that is NEWER than the one I use and I had to list that one because my model is no longer available. Two examples come to mind: The Epson Workforce 610 (I have the 600) and the Sony BDP-S370 (I have the 350). So there was no choice but the recommend the current model. Each year, I get dozens of emails from companies trying to get into the guide. However, unless I've used it or know someone who has, it doesn't get in PERIOD.
How does the gift guide work?
The guide is broken out by Category so that you can shop accordingly. This way you can pick your gift by the kind of person you're shopping for. I know that sometimes you have to buy a gift based on a certain dollar amount or budget (like gifts for co-workers), so I've given you a couple of dollar amount categories too. Happy shopping and in case I don't see you later, Happy Holidays to you and your family! You can go straight to my 2010 Holiday Gift Guide here.
Extras
Here are some additional recommendations not available through Amazon:.
B&H Gift Card – I buy the bulk of my photo gear from B&H. So if you have a photographer on your list, you can't go wrong with a gift certificate from the LARGEST photo equipment store in the world!
ITunes Gift Card – With an iTunes gift card you can give the gift of music, movies, Apps, TV shows, rentals, apps and more!
Don't need any new toys/gadgets? Consider donating to a charity or helping out someone who is less fortunate than you.
Disclaimer and full disclosure: I don't represent or get kickbacks from ANY of the companies whose products I recommend in my gift guide. I would dare say that the vast majority of these companies don't even know I exist. However, I DO work for Adobe (as I've said from day one) and although there are some Adobe products in the guide, they are are there because they ARE the products I use and recommend and would be using even if I didn't work for Adobe. What about Amazon? yes, if you buy from Amazon a very small amount of revenue comes in to help support the blog. That's it!
What if I don't like Amazon? If you don't like Amazon, that's fine. You can buy from wherever you like. You also are under no obligation to buy at all. These are just my recommendations for my friends and fans that are looking for ideas.
Happy Holidays!
Hey, Terry – Great list! I love browsing through it and dreaming. Wish you would do a more in-depth review of both the Nikon D7000 camera and the 28-300 lens. Thanks, Terry.
Terry….I read your blogs everyday and I need to be honest, I miss the format of your 2008 Gift Guide. The format that you started last year and continued this year looks like an amazon.com infomercial. Your old format was much more exciting to read! I did not even look at this years items….
Terry, I just want to say how much I enjoy these gift guides you publish each year. The Amazon format is very functional and intuitive. Keep up the good work and happy holiday’s to you and your family.
But wait, Amazon isn’t always the lowest price. Take the D7000… It’s $100 less at B&H and Adorama (Amazon is $100 over the MSRP). In addition, those other vendors won’t cancel your order as Amazon has done with lots of folks ordering the D7000. Well, I see that Amazon is now saying it’s not available for order through them. No, not out of stock; you simply can’t order it through then
then order from wherever you like 🙂 I got my D7000 through B&H. The guide is for “suggestions” as I said in the post. If you don’t like Amazon or find a better deal, great! Go with whichever company you want to buy from.