My Recommendations

The wedding month is upon us and whether or not you’re going to take a chance and fly there, max your credit card out on gas to drive there, or just stay home, you’re going to need to buy a wedding gift. There are some great gadget gifts in all price ranges that will make any newlywed’s life more fun and fulfilling.

Gadgets That Capture Memories
Camcorders and cameras make great wedding gifts. A new camcorder should last a newly married couple well into the child rearing years. The latest crop of camcorders include some reasonably priced handheld camcorders and some consumer-friendly high definition camcorders that can fill the wide screen of an HDTV set.

The Canon Vixia HF10 has a 12X optical zoom with image stabilization and records to a flash memory card in AVCHD format. The Sony HDR-SR1 records 7 hours of 1080i video on a built-in hard disk and gets good ratings. Flip Video’s $179 Ultra took the camcorder market by storm with their very user-friendly flash-based camcorder that holds 1 hour of very good quality video and fits in your pocket or pocket book.

There are so many compact digital cameras to choose from the task of selecting a good camera for newlyweds can be difficult. We recommend features like optical image stabilization and face technology that make it easier to take good pictures. The Sony DSC-W170, is a fun new camera that performs some very cool image editing right on the camera. The "Smile Shutter" works with the face technology to detect "smiling" faces. The Canon SD1100 fits easily in a pocket or pocket book, offers 8 MP resolution, image stabilization and new face technology.

Digital Picture Frames
Just remember, you’re not losing a daughter or son….on second thought, just in case you do end up seeing less of them, there are a couple of ways you can stay in the picture and one of those is to literally put you and the rest of the family on a digital picture frame. Digital photo frames look great on a mantle or bookcase and won’t break the bank either. The Kodak SV1011 is a 10 inch digital photo frame that has built-in WiFi that can be used to manage the photos. The Pandigital PAN80-2 is an 8 inch 800 x 600 pixel frame that can store 128MB worth of images. You upload images using the card reader or USB connector.

Personal Navigation Devices (GPS)
Helping the newlyweds find their way in life may be more than should be expected from you however, a GPS for their car or outdoor adventures might be just the thing to help point them in the right direction. The Garmin nuvi 260 has text-to-speech (TTS) and a large 3.5 inch display and sells for under $300. The TomTom Go 920 is a popular GPS that has Bluetooth built-in for hands-free phone calls.

HDTV
HDTV sets are not cheap but they can be a very sensible gift in times of high travel costs when taking a vacation at home becomes more common. Don’t forget how great the Summer Olympics are going to look in high definition. If you can’t swing an HDTV set by yourself, get a few other friends and relatives together and buy the newlyweds their first HDTV set. The Syntax Olevia 747I is a 47 inch LCD TV that does 1080p and gets very high ratings and very good reviews. The 42 inch Vizio VU42LF, does 1080p and can be purchased for well under $1000.

Roomba Vacuum Cleaner
Some people treat these little creatures like pets. The iRobot Roomba 4150 is the entry level Roomba vacuuming robot but for less than $200 it could go a long way toward matrimonial bliss.

Gadget Gift Card
Why not let the newlyweds have the pleasure of selecting a gadget for themselves. Just get a gift card from your favorite gadget seller like amazon.com, Best Buy or Circuit City and let them pick out their own gadget.


The wedding month is upon us and whether or not you’re going to take a chance and fly there, max your credit card out on gas to drive there, or just stay home, you’re going to need to buy a wedding gift. There are some great gadget gifts like, camcorders, digital cameras, GPS, HDTV etc will make any newlywed’s life more fun and fulfilling.

Okay, so what else is new, you’ve waited until the last minute and are starting to feel guilt pangs for not getting the old man anything for Father’s Day. Not to worry, because there's still time to get a great gift. Here are some recommendations for gadget gifts that will make any Dad happy.

Digital Photo Frames
Digital picture frames make great gifts. They’re not all that expensive and go great on a desk at the office or the hotel night table. You can buy an 8 inch frame or even a smaller one to take on the road for under $200. The Pandigital DPF802 is an 8 inch 800 x 600 photo frame that gets good ratings and sells for around $150. The Kodak SV811 is a similar frame that sells for a little over $100. The Westinghouse DPF 0561 is a smaller 5.6 inch photo frame that can be purchased for around $80. For the ultimate in portability load up a keychain photo frame with some pictures of the family and gift it to Dad. The Tao 1.4 inch Digital Picture Keychain holds 56 photos and costs $29. It has a rechargeable battery.

Noise Canceling Headphones
For the frequent flier Dad, a noise canceling headphone is always an appreciated gift. Put one of these headphones on and the roar of the jet engines vanishes, replaced by the soothing music from your MP3 player. The Bose QuietComfort 3 headphones get good ratings from users and experts. These Bose headphones are light and small but aren’t cheap at around $350.Sony's MDR-NC500D are even more expensive at around $400. Sennheiser makes the popular Sennheiser PXC-300 which sells for around $200.

Slingbox for Sports Fans
If your father is a huge sports fan and doesn't already have a Slingbox then maybe you should consider getting him one of these devices that will let him watch whatever is on the TV at home on his computer at work or wherever he is. You can get a Slingbox AV for around $100 or move up to the Slingbox Pro version which supports HD for under $200.

GPS for Joggers
The Garmin Forerunner 205 is a GPS device that you wear like a wristwatch. It tells you how far you ran and how long it took. Serious runners rave about this GPS device. You can buy the Garmin Forerunner 205 for around $180. Amazon is taking pre-orders for the Garmin Forerunner 405 which is supposed to ship any day and sell for around $300. It looks more like a real watch and has a touch screen bezel which makes it easier for runners to control.

Watt’s What
Last but not least, here’s a gift for the technically savvy Dad that could help save the environment too. You plug anything into this wattmeter and you can tell how much power it’s using. It’s especially interesting to see how much power some products use even after they are turned off.