Electronics & Gadget Gift Guide 2011
By Andrew Lau • Page 1 of 1
Last Updated: December 08, 2011
Which gadgets are hot for the 2011 holiday season? Is it tablets? Cassette players? Walking clocks? Read on to find out which gadgets are in demand this year!
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The Mega Discounted (sub $200 or $300) Tablet
It's not the Apple iPad, but with some huge deals like the HP TouchPad clearout earlier this year and the significant discount on BlackBerry playbooks recently, many shoppers out there are flocking to inexpensive tablet options.
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Apple iPad 2
Surprise. This one is the Apple iPad. It's certainly not what'd we'd call cheap, but the iPad 2 is a hit and remains in demand. With Apple behind it, it has an extremely large app base and the best selection of games.
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Air Swimmers (Remote Control Shark & Clownfish)
It's a remote control flyin shark or fish. That might not sound like the greatest thing ever, but once you see a video of it in action you'll probably want one. Badly.
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Canon Powershot ELPH 300 Digital Camera
While there's a freshly released Canon ELPH 310 out there, the ELPH 300 has been on sale for $149.99 to $189.99 this holiday season. It's a great choice if you want a high quality point and shoot camera but you're not willing to break the bank!
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IPS Panel LCDs
Higher quality LCD monitors are becoming more and more affordable. For 2011-2012, manufacturers are producing many more IPS LCD panels (which offer superior colour reproduction and viewing angles). It'd be nice to find one of these under the tree this year!
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Mechanical Keyboards
Mechanical keyboards are getting a lot of attention nowadays from gamers, gadget gurus, and people who spend a lot of time typing. They have different a different tactile feel than membrane keyboards (which is what you will find in the vast majority of keyboards these days) and most will have a more distinctive clicking sound. The sound made by most mechanical keyboards can be described as soothing and addictive, or outright annoying.
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e-Readers
Sure, e-Readers have been around for a few years now, but technology has settled down. There are people out there who want a multifunction tablet that can do it all, and there are people out there who want a reader that is lightweight, makes reading heaps of text easy on the eyes, and can go weeks without the need to recharge. For the latter, the latest iterations of e-Readers like the Amazon Kindle and Kobo e-Reader are streamlined and affordable.
60" and bigger HDTVs
Apparently, a lot of people asked for major renovations last year and got their wish! How else would you explain the influx of HDTVs that are 60" or bigger? We've seen some good deals already so far and big, big HDTVs should be very popular for Boxing Day, too. Some 60" HDTVs are within striking distance of the $1000 mark. Will we see the magical $999 number at Boxing Day? Only time will tell!
Nintendo 3DS
Initially the 3DS didn't appear to be selling quickly, but with a price drop from Nintendo and a some big titles released in time for the holidays (Mario Kart 7 and Super mario 3D Land), the Nintendo 3DS is picking up steam.
Ultrabook Laptops
Ultrabooks are Intel powered laptops with form factors similar to the MacBook Air. Specifically, these are 11.6" and 13" laptops that pack SSD drives, have 5-8+ battery life, and weigh less than 3lbs. There are Ultrabooks available from Acer, Asus, and Toshiba on the market and more manufacturers are expected to release products soon. They're sleek and will fit under a tree very easily!
