Last week I gave you some
ideas for gifts and stocking stuffers for the techie on your list. Here are some more ideas that will delight
someone with a digital sweet tooth and not break your holiday budget.
Watching TV programs on
demand via the internet has become very popular. You don’t need to invest in a new smart TV to
take advantage of offerings from Netflix,
Hulu Plus, Amazon TV or any of the other programming services streamed online. For $35 to $40 you can give a Google
Chromecast or Amazon Fire TV Stick. Both
of these units, about the size of a USB memory stick, plug into an open HDMI
port on your digital TV and allow access to most all internet delivered TV
services. Of course you must have Wi-Fi,
a good internet connection and a subscription to one or more of the TV services. Both devices are easy to use and set up. The Chromecast requires a smartphone or
computer to operate. The Amazon Fire
Stick comes with a separate remote control.
For a few more bucks you can
purchase Apple TV or Roku units. Both
provide most of the same features as the less expensive offerings and both come
with separate remote controls, so it may be worth the higher price of about
$100. All of these devices are available
online and at most big box electronic stores.
For the hobbyist there are
several offerings from WEMO. I wrote
last year about this company that sells wireless devices to control electrical
devices and lighting remotely from a smartphone or tablet. WEMO has expanded their product line to
include coffee makers, slow cookers and even wireless webcams. Perhaps the most “geeky” addition is a universal
module that can be customized to control most any household device. The latter requires a bit of knowledge of
wiring and electricity. For the right
person who loves to take things apart and tinker, this gift is sure to be a
hit. You can see all the WEMO offerings
on line at www.wemothat.com
Seems that each year the
digital stuff we want to keep increases almost exponentially. The good news is that the cost to store our
bits and bytes continues to fall. Why
not give a high capacity USB storage drive?
They come in various sizes from 500 Gb to 6 Tb and larger and plug into
most any computer. A good choice is a
1Tb drive. It will set you back less than $70.
1Tb (about one trillion bytes) is enough to store about 16,000 hours of
music, 1000 hours of HD TV or 300,000 high quality photographs.
At about the size of a ham
sandwich, it is a better alternative to the more than 120 individual DVD disks that
it would take to store the same amount of data.
Of course, for those priceless photos and videos be sure to make a backup.
This can be done most easily with a second unit. You can find these portable
storage drives online and at most stores selling computer supplies.
I hope that these suggestion
were helpful and result in some happy faces around the tree.
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