2009’s Top Holiday Gadgets

Check out some of our favorite gadgets for the upcoming holiday season.

High-Powered Netbooks

• The generous 12.1-inch screen on Lenovo’s S12 already makes it a bargain at $450, but users who crave more power will be able to pick one up with Nvidia’s Ion graphics chip (which boosts game playing and video watching capabilities) at the end of October for $550.
• Originally slated to be the first Ion-powered netbook on the block with a summer launch, Samsung has bounced the release date for the 11.6-inch N510 back to late October to coincide with the launch of Windows 7. However, power comes at a price: The system somewhat edges out of netbook territory with a rather steep $600 SRP.
• HP’s Mini 311 1000NR offers the same oversized screen of similar Ion-powered offerings from Lenovo or Samsung without the oversized asking price. The 11.6-inch netbook debuted in September for a humble $400.

Check out our feature: 2009’s Hottest Holiday Tech Trends.