Designtechnica’s 2003 Gift Guide

It is that time of year again when paying attention to what is going on in the electronics industry is about to pay off for you. We have sifted through the numerous tech toys and recommend the best. Read on to see what makes the grade this holiday season.

It is that time of year again when paying attention to what is going on in the electronics industry is about to pay off for you. We have sifted through the numerous tech toys and recommend the best. Read on to see what makes the grade this holiday season.

2003 was an exciting year for technology. We saw mass adoption of wireless technologies both in computer and home theater applications, the prices of our favorite plasma televisions have come down to ranges we are comfortable with, and notebook PC?s have reached an all time low on the weight factor. But now that the holiday season is upon us, you are probably wondering what the perfect gift would be for that special someone. Let Designtechnica guide you as we point out our favorite products from the year 2003.

We will break this guide up by product category and will include several of our favorite products from each category. Feel free to post in the forums with any questions you may have. From all of us here at Designtechnica, we hope you have a safe and happy holiday season!

Computer Hardware and Peripherals
Logitech introduced the Z-5300 speaker just in time. This sweet little system boasts Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, is THX certified and costs a mere $150 dollars. What else could you ask for! Read more

Runner Up: If you already have a killer speaker system, some other cool items we would like to recommend would be the Crucial 9800PRO video card or the Logitech Cordless MX Duo. Both of these products are the best in their class and will give your computer rig some serious fire power when it comes to video games and movies.

Computer Monitors
LCD technology has come a long way and Samsung is at the fore front with it. The Samsung 192T gives you 19? inches of beautiful vibrant images, and deep blacks. It will look great in your office, or anywhere for that matter. Did we mention it works great for games too? Read More

Runner Up: If 19? inches is just a tad too much for you, we recommend you step down and take a look at the Samsung 172X. This slim 17? LCD looks just as great as its big brother at a price you can afford.

Computer Storage
Plextor was the first manufacturer to offer an 8X DVD writer and boy is this thing smoking. Not only is it fast, but its reliable and cheap! The PX-708A can be found for under $200 dollars making it the perfect gift for the cinematographer in the family. Read More

Runner Up: If you need a portable DVD writer to take with you on your wild trips, then look no further than Pioneer?s DVR-S606 DVD writer. This dual format drive looks nice, runs quiet and burns fast. What else could you ask for? If you already have your DVD writer needs squared away but could use an extra hard drive, the Ximeta Netdisk could be for you. This little drive is not only external but it can be used on the home network for all to share.

Notebook Computers
The Gateway 200XL won our hearts over this year and will forever remain a site favorite. With is sleek stylish design, large keyboard and powerful computing, you will want to take this system with you wherever you go. Just make sure you buy the extended battery pack for 5 hours of juice baby. Read More

Runner Up: Cute like a rabbit on steroids, the Sony TR1A is not only one of the smallest notebooks on the market, but the screen on this sucker will knock your socks off. If the Gateway 200XL is still too large for your tastes, the Sony TR1A should satisfy your hunger.

Home Video/Satellite
Every hardcore videophile dreams about owning a home theater projector, but their high prices usually keep us at bay. The Infocus X1may be aimed at the business market, but the home theater crowd quickly adopted it as favorite. The X1 produces high quality home theater quality video, and won?t kill the pocket book. Read More

Runner Up: Philips 34? PW9818 HDTV has more luxuries than a fully loaded Lexus and will make your old VHS tapes look vibrant and young again. But seriously, if you just gotta stay with a traditional CRT television, then this is the set you will want to look at.

Home Audio
Home audio is always hard to recommend because it depends on personal preferences, but we can be almost 99% sure you will be happy with the Axiom Audio Epic 50 home theater speaker system. It sounds simply stunning, and is a bargin. Axiom Audio will even let you try them in your home free of charge. Read More

Runner Up: Kenwood?s HTB-506 is the first home-theater-in-a-box to feature 6.1 surround sound. Get a great receiver and solid speakers for under $500. This is the perfect gift for those just getting into home theater.

Personal Audio
iRiver?s IMP-550 offers an endless amount of options. It reads WMA, MP3?s, regular CD?s and even has a built in FM tuner. You can sort songs by genre, album etc and the IMP-550 will find them and even show you the song name on the backlit LCD. Did we mention this player is only $150 bucks? Read More

Runner Up: You know we couldn?t leave out Apple?s iPod. This is probably one of the hottest gifts this year and we can understand why. Got the cash? Then this is the MP3 player you should be looking at. Wanna stay on a budget? Then check out the Samsung Yepp YP-55V.

More Cool Gadgets!
The SLIMP3 will let you stream music from the internet or your computer to any radio in the house. It comes with an easy to read LCD display, remote control and all the software you need to get going as fast as possible. Read More

Runner Up: The Nokia 6800 is the first phone of its kind to feature a flip out keyboard. Business users will love the ease of checking e-mail and sending text messages. It also comes with a color display and polyphonic ring tones. 

Next year is sure to introduce further advances in technology in the consumer electronics industry. The Designtechnica staff will be there to test these new cutting edge products and recommend the best. It has been an exciting year for our site and we look forward to many more years with you, our fellow enthusiasts.

From the Designtechnica family to your family, we would like to wish you a very loving and happy holiday season.