For my personal guide, I’ve opted for a mix of the fun and the functional – ranging from action cams and drones to backup drives. Mix-and-match to the personalities of your lucky gift recipients as appropriate …
Action cams – Garmin Virb/Elite, GoPro Hero/Hero 4 Black: from $99 to $499
The video camera built right into the iPhone is an extremely capable one, but if you have loved ones who like nothing better than downhill mountain bike riding or ski stunts, they probably won’t want to strap their iPhone to their helmet.
The good news is that there are a huge number of action cams out there designed to attach to anything from a ski-pole to a motorcycle, and the technology is improving so rapidly you can pick up slightly older models of top brands from around a hundred bucks.
It’s a similar story with the ubiquitous GoPro cameras, which offer almost infinite mounting options. The top-of-the-range Hero 4 Black records in 4K at 30fps, or 1080p at 120fps, and has built-in WiFi and Bluetooth for remote viewing – a generous gift at $499.99. But drop back to the older GoPro Hero – still with a respectable 1080p 30fps – and you can pick one up for just $129.99.
The Garmin Virb is available for $99, the Virb Elite for $249.99. The GoPro Hero is $129.99, while the Hero 4 Black is $499.99.
Drones – unmanned flying fun for all: from $50 to $1160
If there’s one gadget category that has really, uh, taken off this year it’s the drone, or quadrocopter.
Designed to be easy to fly thanks to on-board GPS and a whole bunch of automation, a key appeal for many is the ability to use most of them as camera platforms to capture video footage from a unique perspective.
There are drones at every price point, though generally you’re going to get what you pay for in terms of video capability and flight time – two critical criteria.
Cheap-and-cheerful: Hubsan H107L for $44.99, saving $9. Low-cost with camera: Hubsan H107D for $156.85, saving $93. Mid-range with camera & wifi streaming: DJI Phantom FC40 for $449.95, saving $200. High-end with 1080p, 3-axis gimball & 25-minute flights: DJI Phantom 2 series from $1039 to $1299.
Speakers – bicycle & desktop: from $95 to $500
If you have people on your gift-list with cheap speakers, buying them quality ones is likely to be something they’ll appreciate every time they press the play button.
The ultimate desktop speakers, offering true hifi quality and room-filling sound, are Bowers & Wilkins MM-1. You get the sound fidelity you’d expect from Bowers & Wilkins, including a built-in analogue-to-digital converter – the speakers are connected via USB rather than plugged into the headphone socket. It’s hard to find them for less than list price of $500, but just like Apple refurbs, you can pick up as-new B&W recertified speakers with the standard two-year warranty for $100 less.
Bicycle: Scosche Boombottle from $95, saving $55. Desktop: Harman Kardon Soundsticks III for $159.75, saving $50. Ultimate desktop: Bowers & Wilkins MM-1 for $499.95, or recertified for $399.99.
The gift of peace of mind – backup drives: from $60 to $300
As the old saying has it, there are only two types of people: those who have experienced the pain of data loss, and those who are going to do so. If you know anyone who doesn’t backup their Mac, do them the biggest favor you can and buy them a backup solution.
Macs make it incredibly simple to create automated backups: if you don’t already have a backup, the moment you connect an external drive, it will ask you if you if you want to use it for Time Machine backup. Say yes, and OS X will take care of the rest. A 1TB drive will backup any standard Mac, and you won’t save much by going smaller than this.
You can buy cheap but reliable 1TB drives from as little as $60 for something like the Western Digital Elements. Mac owners tend to appreciate style, however, so if you can run to $100, you can buy them something more in keeping with a Mac: the beautiful Lacie Porsche Design P’9223.
Low-cost option: WD Elements 1TB for $59, saving $22. More stylish option: Lacie Porsche Design P’9223 for $99.99, saving $40. Stylish and fast: G-Technology G-Drive for $189.95, saving $30. Fully automated backup via WiFi: Apple Time Capsule 2TB for $277.99, saving $20, or 3TB for $359.99, saving $39.
The gift of paperlessness – Fujitsu ScanSnap portable scanner: from $209 to $247
Finally, a scanner might sound even less exciting, but making the switch to a paperless life was one of the most liberating things I’ve ever done. I no longer have a filing cabinet cluttering up my office, all my paperwork instead sitting in neatly-organised folders on my Mac. Laying my hands on anything I need is just a few trackpad taps or a Spotlight search away.
If you want to give the same gift of paperlessness to someone in your life, there’s little point in buying them a sheet-fed scanner – which they’ll need only for the initial batch-scanning of existing paperwork. Far better to help them borrow or rent one of those, and to buy them the scanner they will want on a day-to-day basis: something compact enough to take up next to no room on a desk.
I started out with the ScanSnap S1100, which is the wired version, while the iX100 which I reviewed in September is the latest wireless version which also scans to iOS devices.
The S1100 is available for $209 with free shipping, while the iX100 costs $247.14 plus $5.99 shipping.
