That’s it, we caved. It’s the 1st of November and we have published our first Christmas related article. Like it or not, the holiday season is almost upon us and it’ll soon be time to write your list to Father Christmas, pop it in the post and clean your chimney in youthful exuberance. He may have forgotten to get you that pony you wanted when you were in pig-tails, or that remote-controlled car when you were in knee-length shorts, but this year you’ve been extra good and are going to make that jolly old fat-man cough up with some real expensive, recession busting gadgets. So have no fear, I’m here to help you out with my five must have gadgets this Christmas. Enjoy…
Apple 27″ iMac
You aren’t going to get much more expensive than an Apple iMac, 27″ LED display with an i5 (or i7) intel processor. Launched in the middle of 2011 and starting at a credit busting £1399.00, this little sucker is every bit as powerful as it is breathtakingly sexy. Make you big, clunky desktop a thing of the past as everything you need comes fully encased in the massive 27″ monitor. You will also get with it a wireless Apple keyboard and choice of an Apple magic mouse or trackpad. If you have never used Apples Mac OS X before then I would suggest a test run at an Apple store near you, as it can be quite daunting swapping from Windows to OS X.
LG ST600 Smart TV Upgrader
So you’ve got that 2-year-old, 47″ flat-screen, bad-boy full HDTV that you just ‘had to have’. Its been your pride and joy for the past 2 years and you’ve watched endless hours of football and Eastenders on it. But now you have seen that all new TV’s come equipped with internet connectivity, which yours doesn’t. Well don’t worry your pretty little self anymore, as the little beauty from LG has probably just saved you around £600. The LG ST600 Smart TV Upgrader, retail £80, basically turns your HD TV into an internet connect TV using LG’s ‘Smart TV’ platform. You can watch BBC iPlayer, YouTube, Acetrax, Viewster or even play some flash-based games on it. It’s a must have for the gadget-freak on a budget this year and will provide you with hours more content for a fraction of the price of a new TV.
Monster Beats Solo HD by Dr Dre
If you love your music, you will love these headphones. Yes, they are cooler than an Eskimo’s ice-cube tray. Yes, they are worn by any celebrity / athlete seen on TV at the moment. Yes, you could presume that they are nothing more than an expensive fashion accessory. The truth of the matter is that the sound quality on them is truly out of this world. Dr Dre was clearly not messing around when he gave permission for his name to be associated with these over-the-ear, Monster manufactured, headphones. This particular model goes for around £169, which is no small change, but there are cheaper (slightly) models available, as well as in-ear and professional models.
Dyson Digital Slim DC35 Vacuum Cleaner
I know what you are thinking, I do. You are thinking ‘What in the name of all that is holy is that thing?’. And believe me, I too at first though it was some kind of garden lawn strimmer. What it is, in fact, is the latest ingenious design from those smarty pants at Dyson. Yes, it’s a vacuum cleaner, with the capacity of a bag of peanuts, but for god ask look at it! It is ideal for people who live in 1/2 bedroom apartments who want maximise on storage space, as it could literally be hung on your coat rack. Performance doesn’t suffer either thanks to Dyson’s patented Root Cyclone technology. Massive, clunky vacuums are seemingly a thing of the past as this is half the size and weight, which make it ideal for the elderly or if you want to get your 6 year olds to do the house work for you.
Apple iPad 2
How could you possibly have a list of gadgets in 2011 without having Apple’s mighty iPad 2 on it? Starting at a reasonable £399 for the low-end model, it is without a doubt THE gadget to have this Christmas. It could easily replace your laptop, camera, music player and mobile phone if you so desired. It might not be very practical to do so, but the iPad has the function to do all these tasks for you. There are thousands of Apps available at the iTunes store for you to download, with a seemingly ever lasting list of ways to utilise the tablet for whatever your needs are. The only downside to getting one of these for Christmas is that there will probably be a new model out in the spring. So get it on your list, kiss goodbye to your social life, and become one of the millions of people to join the iPad revolution.