By Randall Hull
Tech Talk
This biweekly column offers solutions to personal technology problems submitted by readers. Neither the author nor this newspaper endorses products or companies mentioned.
Q: Hey Tech Talk, what great technology gifts do you recommend for the holidays?
A: Hate in-flight movies? Pack the $890 Toshiba SD-P1500 portable DVD player in your carry-on. CNET rated it 8 out of 10 for its excellent picture quality, 8-inch diagonal 16:9 cinema format screen, smooth picture in zoom modes, plus full suite of video and digital audio outputs.
Attention James Bond, Casio’s new Wrist Camera is a digital watch and digital camera all in one. The digital camera stores 100 pictures with a 120×120-dot (24,334 pixels) resolution in 16 grayscale monochrome. Just aim, preview the image you want, then press the shutter button. View your pictures on the watch or transfer them to your PC in BMP or JPEG format. Strap it on for $200.
The $300 Audiovox CMP-3 cell phone with built-in MP3 player is another two-in-one gadget. You get 180 minutes of talk time, wireless Web access, numerous features, a speakerphone and music all in a stylish silver package.
Just want music in your ear? Get the $395 Apple iPod. This elegant, 6.5-ounce, portable MP3 player holds 1,000 songs and automatically syncs to Apple’s free iTunes via your Mac’s FireWire port.
For a Windows compatible MP3 portable check out Archos’ Jukebox 6000, a compact, 12.3-ounce HD-MP3 recorder that holds 100 hours of songs. Priced at $350, it offers easy-to-use controls, digital inputs and outputs, and real-time MP3 recording from your PC.
Like to trek but have no sense of direction? Find your way to eTrex, a $114 GPS receiver that uses 12 satellites to compute your position yet fits in the palm of your hand. Store up to 500 user waypoints and reverse navigate back home. Compute your speed, time of sunrise/sunset and more. eTrex is waterproof and will run for 18 hours on just two AA batteries.
How about GPS for driving? The $799 Garmin StreetPilot III offers voice-prompted turn-by-turn directions to your destination and a full-color LCD display that shows the nearest exit, gas station or ATM. Miss a turn and it plots a new route automatically. StreetPilot is small enough to fit on your dash and doesn’t require monthly service fees, installation costs or external processors.
If you need to yak with your troops in the outback, pick up Motorola’s compact, 5-ounce TalkAbout T6220 FRS two-way radio. It fits nicely in your pocket, clips on your belt and costs only $70. It sports a range of two miles, and its features include a backlit LCD, channel scanning, an Eavesdrop Reducer Code and an eight-channel NOAA weather receiver with weather alert. So you won’t upset the wombats, it comes in three environmentally friendly colors: Ever Green, Advantage Timber and Graphite Black.
Please keep questions to 100 words or less. Send to: Tech Talk, Town Crier, 138 Main St., Los Altos 94022 or e-mail: techtalk@latc.com.
Randall Hull is a Los Altos resident and owner of The Br@nd Ranch, an advertising and marketing agency.
