Photos: Top tech holiday gifts
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From the pencil-thin iPod Nano (pictured) to the video version that can carry last week’s episode of “Desperate Housewives” alongside the latest hit from Destiny’s Child, the iPod continues to be the most sought-after stocking stuffer and company holiday gift, analysts concur.
Enthusiasm for Microsoft’s just-released Xbox 360 game console is expected to carry over to holiday sales.
According to the Macerich Company, 14 percent of all holiday shoppers plan to purchase a plasma TV as a gift this year. One of many choices is Sony’s KDE-50XS955 Plasma WEGA, which comes with a built-in CableCard slot.
Sony’s PlayStation Portable game console, which made its U.S. debut in March, will see its first official holiday shopping season.
Stylish multifunction phones such as Motorola’s Razr V3i are part of an anticipated Black Friday electronics cavalcade.
Laptops are getting more popular and less expensive. Wal-Mart is offering a Hewlett-Packard laptop similar to this HP Pavilion zv6000 series for $398. The computer comes with a 2800+ Sempron processor from Advanced Micro Devices, 256MB of memory, a 40GB hard drive, a CD-RW/DVD drive and a 15-inch screen.
Despite recent figures that show the rate of digital-camera sales growth slowing, digicams are likely to remain a big holiday draw this year. Here, the Canon PowerShot S80.
Digital video recorders like Pioneer’s DVR-810H-S–which retails for $1,199 with the TiVo service–are enticing holiday consumers with the promise of pausing live shows and programming their systems to record TV broadcasts and even skip commercials.
XM Satellite Radio, expected to be a top gift in 2005, wants to see more everyday gadgets designed to accommodate its service to make it easier for new customers to subscribe. In the meantime, for people who do need to pick up a receiver, XM showcases a number of models on its Web site, including this Delphi XM Audio System.
