Holiday Gift Guide: Friends

Check out these useful and techie gifts that are sure to surprise your buddies.

Now that you’ve taken care of Mom, Dad and all the other folks that share bits of your DNA, it’s time to turn to those with whom you voluntarily associate yourself: friends. While you might share more common interests and a certain level of tech literacy with them, it can still be tough to nail just the right gift that will put light in their eye, without putting a dent in your wallet. Before you reach for the obligatory gift card, here are a few fun tech gifts that might actually earn you a well-deserved hug.

iRobot Roomba 400, $130

Whether your friend lives in an apartment or a house, chances are he or she spends a small, but valuable portion of the week cleaning it up. Give back some of that time back with a Roomba, which will crawl all over the house doing the vacuuming automatically. Not only has not only fallen in price since its introduction, it’s been steadily improved as well. You can snag a base model for $130 now (and less if you shop around), or spend a little more and move up to a bigger and more capable robot. www.roomba.com

Ooma Hub, $250

Rather than giving an annoying gift that your friend will have to shell out for a subscription to use, why not give them one that will actually let them cancel one of their existing monthly bills? The Ooma hub is a single box that will give your friend a U.S. phone line for life (and unlimited calls within the country) without ever paying again. It even includes advanced features, like checking voicemail online, included in the price of the box. www.ooma.com/

Iomega eGo Helium Portable 320GB Hard Drive, $142

A portable hard drives might make a pretty dry and utilitarian gift for someone who needs to move a lot of data around, but the eGo Helium is one of the most attractive ones out there. With a refined silver case and weight of only 200 grams (hence the name), the Helium is part digital suitcase, part fashion accessory. With 320GB, it should hold enough for anyone, and the USB 2.0 connection ensures fast data rates and almost universal hardware compatibility. Not coincidentally, it also makes a nice complement to any metal MacBook. Check price

Leatherman Serac S1 Flashlight, $30

The new Serac line from Leatherman strikes a nice balance between the affordability of a more traditional Maglite and the pricy styling (and internal components) of Surefire’s triple-digit flashlights. The keychain-sized Serac S1 makes a particularly nice gift, since it’s affordable and easily carried on a keyring. And before you dismiss this one as a man-gift, think of all the times you’ve needed a light just to peek between the seats in your car for a lost item or find something at the bottom of a bag – perhaps a purse? www.leatherman.com

Logitech Comfort Lapdesk, $40

Everybody knows an entertainment addict that stays planted in front of TV with a laptop going for hours at a time. If you can’t free them from that sofa-sized prison and force them out into the sunshine, you can at least make them a little more a little more comfortable with a Comfort Lapdesk, a padded wedge which keeps laptop heat from toasting the thighs and elevates the computer to a more comfortable angle, too. Don’t worry, they’ll still have to get up every six hours or so to use the bathroom. www.logitech.com

Livescribe Pulse Smartpen, $150

Not everyone is ready to give up the trusty pen and paper for a computer alone – but that doesn’t mean they can’t still benefit from going digital. The Pulse Smartpen records everything you write with it, then uploads it to a computer later to store digital, searchable versions of your handwritten notes. It even has a built in microphone to record sound (like a lecture) as you write, and you can go back to listen to it just by tapping the pen on your written words. Check price

Microsoft LifeCam Show, $100

Remember your friend who moved away and seemingly dropped off the face of the earth? Throw him or her a lifeline with the LifeCam Show, an HD webcam that will bring that familiar face back home via Skype or any other videoconferencing software. No more excuses for “catching up” with lame one-sentence e-mails and blurry cell phone pictures. Check price 

RAM Upgrade, $20+

Not nearly as lame as you think! If you know someone still clinging to an older computer who can’t afford to upgrade to a new system, consider figuring out what kind of RAM they need and installing it for them. Not only will it guarantee a nice performance boost, the service aspect makes it feel more personal, and makes you look like quite the computer handyman (or handywoman). Just be sure to know your stuff, and wear an antistatic wrist strap so you don’t accidentally fry the thing in the process. www.newegg.com

Video Games , $50

If you know someone with a Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, or gaming PC, giving a long-awaited video game is a guaranteed home run. Just be sure to research what type of games your giftee likes beforehand. A couple popular titles this year: Grand Theft Auto IV, Left 4 Dead, Prince of Persia, Fallout 3, and Call of Duty: World at War. The best part of this gift, of course, will be inviting yourself over for some two-player action.

Universal Remote URC-R50 Universal Remote, $170 

Your friend already has a 52-inch 1080p plasma, Blu-ray player, cable box, VCR, 500-watt amplifier and 7.1-channel speaker system. How can you possibly contribute to this glorious A/V monstrosity? Add a single remote to control it all. The URC –R50 is not only one of the more advanced models out there, it has one of the most simplified setups we’ve ever used. In our testing, we managed to set up most of our devices in only minutes, and every code is built right in – you should never need to connect it to a PC. Read our URC-R50 review, Check price