Network Computing is part of the Informa Tech Division of Informa PLC

This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726.

The Ultimate Holiday Gift Guide: Page 4 of 30


Courtesy of Apple. Click image for photo gallery.

Even so, the nano may not represent iPod nirvana. Many buyers have complained about easily scratched screens. And a member of the Best Buy Geek Squad admitted to us that there have been a lot of returns because of reliability issues. She didn't recommend it for runners.

But as this year's hot holiday gift, the $249 iPod nano 4MB is absolutely sure to please. If J.D. Power did initial buyer satisfaction ratings on MP3 players, you can be sure the iPod nano would top its list. And it continues to have the user interface to beat among all MP3 players.   more info>




Portable Audio/Video Player: Creative Zen Vision 30GB
If you're finding the hype around the new video-playing Apple iPod a bit hard to take, Creative's Zen Vision portable audio/video player will feel like a breath of fresh air on a smoggy Los Angeles freeway.


Courtesy of Creative.
Click image for photo gallery.

Look beyond the colorful 3.7-inch, 640 x 480-pixel screen, the easy-to-navigate interface, and the ability to store close to 15,000 songs, 120 hours of movies and videos, or tens of thousands of photos, and you'll find one heck of an advantage over Apple. Instead of closing off its digital borders and allowing only proprietary formats, the $399 Zen Vision allows you to transfer and play a host of different video formats, including AVI, DivX, MPEG, and WMV9 on the video side, and MP3 and WMA on the audio side.


This is a real alternative to the iPod — one that doesn't force any unwanted compromises.   more info>



Portable Game System: Nintendo DS


Courtesy of Nintendo.
Click image for photo gallery.

Every now and then, gamers have to leave the warm glow of the PC or TV screen and venture out into the world — and we all know that lame cell phone games just won't cut it. The Nintendo DS offers an impressive list of highly rated games that make those family parties a little less painful. Don't be fooled by its touch screen and built-in Wi-Fi; this baby's strictly for gaming.

The system's dual screens, voice-recognition capabilities, and 3-D graphics (surpassing those of the Nintendo 64) are resulting in some innovative new games such as Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney and Nintendogs as well as putting a new spin on classic games with Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow and Tony Hawk's American Sk8land. Some titles, such as Mario Kart DS, let you play online as well.


The DS, which can be found from $130 to $220, even has a second cartridge slot that lets you play GameBoy Advance games from holidays past — which, by the way, would make excellent stocking stuffers. – Justin Launderville more info>