Greetings and welcome to the 2011 list of “top 10 gadgets I want for Christmas – and maybe you would too?”. This list also exists for 2009 and 2010, in case you want to check’em out for any ideas that might still be gadget worthy.
Before we get on with this list for 2011, I just quickly want to touch on some of the recommendations from last year, which I’ve had a chance to play around with since then. First there’s the Kata DR-467i camera bag which I didn’t get for Christmas, but I purchased it during Summer. It’s quite a nice bag and it has become one of my two favorite bags. If you’re a camera geek, you’ll know that “one bag to rule them all” is simply not possible. One bag for each application, and this back pack is great for having a good amount of gear with you, while also having room for a tripod and feeling comfortable on your back. I highly recommend it, and at $72 from Amazon, I think it’s decent priced as well.
Second, there’s the Eye-Fi Pro X2 8GB SD card with a wireless radio transmitter in it, so it can connect to your wireless network. During Christmas last year, this baby would cost $140!! Now, it’s priced at just $79. I do own it, and I don’t use it as much as I had hoped for. It drains the camera battery much faster. But, it does have some greatness to it and if you need a SD card that will wirelessly empty itself, or just transfer every photo your computer/iPad as you take them, this is a good option – and for $79, it’s not that bad anymore.
Third and finally, I also want to give my recommendations to the Sigma 70-200mm f2.8 lens for DSLR which was priced at $799 but it’s now at $869 due to the price increased a while back. It’s just such a great lens for a decent price, great value for money. It doesn’t beat the Nikon or Canon versions of 70-200mm f2.8 on build quality and image quality, but in terms of value for money, this is a sure winner.
Now let’s see the top 10 gadgets I wish for Christmas 2011.
Cheapest items first…
Logitech Harmony 300i Remote Control ($28)
This Logitech Harmony 300i will control up to 4 A/V devices, meaning you can replace four remotes on your table, with just this one. Your wife/girlfriend will love you for it. Logitech’s Harmony online database has over 225,000 devices registered, so chances are your A/V devices will be there as well, so you can tell this remote what you own and it will be able to control them. Or perhaps you want the big brother with a color display, then go for Logitech Harmony 650 at $59.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 ($52)
Possibly the game of the year. Millions of gamers worldwide eagerly awaits the release of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 (including yours truly) – and now it’s here! You can get it for PS3, Xbox 360, PC, Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS – so there’s plenty of options. It’s one of the best FPS games out there, and it sold more than Battlefield 3.
Sony Wireless Stereo Headset for PlayStation 3 ($99)
Technically, this Sony Wireless PS3 Headset is stereo, but with virtual surround. I don’t actually want this for Christmas, as I already have it and I love it – which is why I’m recommending it! The comfort is amazing and the sound is just perfect. It also comes with a built-in microphone, if you’re feeling chatty. Only downside is the battery capacity could have been bigger, if I play a few hours in the evenings, I usually have to recharge it after 3 nights. But I just connect it to a USB cable when I’m not playing, so it’s always charged and ready.
Kindle Fire ($199)
Being an iPad user myself, it was a tough call to include the new Kindle Fire on this list, instead of iPad 2. But, iPad 2 is not new anymore and it’s nice with some competition for the iPad. Kindle Fire has a really, really great price, and lots of potential. It’s a cheap way for people to get into the whole idea of reading books etc. on a tablet.
OWC 120GB SSD Mercury Extreme Pro 6G 2.5″ SATA ($264)
This is a super fast SSD drive for your laptop computer, it’s not one of those old and slow spinning drives. If you’re looking to get into SSD and you own a MacBook Pro, this OWC 120GB SSD Mercury Extreme Pro is a good drive – and it’s good value for money as well. Whether you have a Mac or not, an upgrade to SSD will give you a huge performance speed boost. Applications launch much faster and in general everything just runs faster – you really don’t know what kind of a bottle neck a single spinning hard drive is, until you’ve replaced it with SSD. Obviously, if you’re low on memory (RAM), I’d probably recommending upgrading there first. But if you’re maxed out with memory and you would still like more speed, you owe it to yourself to seriously look into SSD.
Synology DiskStation DS411J 4-bay NAS ($359)
If you want a good NAS, with great value for money and still great performance, consider the DS411J from Synology. This device was actually reviewed on TechPatio not long ago: Synology DS411J review. With a NAS (Network Attached Storage), you can have hard drives attached to your network so all computers in your house can connect to them and share stuff – or you can even connect to them from the outside, so if you’re visiting family somewhere, you can log onto your NAS at home to download photos from your latest vacation.
Samsung Galaxy S II GT-I9100 smartphone ($569)
I was debating whether to include the new iPhone 4S here, or the Samsung Galaxy S II. I think the Galaxy S II is interesting and it has a huge 4.27″ touch screen and 8 megapixel camera. It offers some nice competition to the iPhone, so this year, I’m going to include an Android smartphone. Next year, it’ll hopefully be iPhone 5 🙂
Sony NEX 7 24.3MP Camera ($1399)
This Sony NEX 7 camera with interchangeable lenses is not yet widely available, but I think it’s an interesting camera and one that I think many potential DSLR buyers might consider buying instead of a DSLR. It’s not yet able to compete with DSLR in terms of autofocus speed for one, and also I believe it lacks a bit in terms of controls on the camera. Still, this is a very interesting camera. Biggest downside is the megapixel count, I mean, come on Sony, who needs 24 megapixels?! I can’t even begin to imagine how slow it must be to process 24 megapixel RAW files on most computers…
Samsung PN59D7000 59″ 1080p 3D Plasma HDTV ($1687)
What’s that I’m hearing, you think 59″ is too big for a TV? Well, I’m here to tell you it’s most definitely not. It may sound like a lot, and seem like a lot at first, but trust me, it doesn’t take more than a few movies or TV shows and you’ll be fully adopted – and dependent – on watching your TV on a big screen. This Samsung also offers 3D, if you’re into that. Samsung “D” is their newest series, although the Samsung PN59D7000 is not the biggest and best of them, the D8000 probably is, at 64″. But it’s a lot more expensive, so in terms of “value for money”, this D7000 at 59″ is a clear winner. It also comes in a LED version, but personally, I’d recommend the plasma version (nice deep blacks and less “input lag” when you’re playing FPS games from PlayStation, Xbox etc.).
Bose Lifestyle V35 home entertainment system ($2969)
I heard this system, or perhaps the V30 (can’t remember), once in a Bose outlet and I was blown away. Other home entertainment systems can blow me away too, but this one was pretty cool. The speakers are wireless and the system will automatically adopt the sound if something is placed in front of one speaker etc. It’s quite intelligent. I’m sure there are better deals than what Bose Lifestyle V35 has to offer, maybe one of their smaller versions, but if I could walk into a Bose outlet and pick any home entertainment system for free, I’d go with V35 🙂
That’s it! Now, what do YOU want for Christmas?
Now it’s your turn – leave a comment below and let the world (and Santa Claus) know what your gadget wishes for this year’s Christmas might be – it doesn’t have to be something from the list above.
My personal top 6. I’d do a top 10 but I just have these 6 that I really want.
1) HTC EVO 3D Smartphone
-Was thinking of the Nexus Prime but since the EVO 3D is getting ICS…
2) Asus Transformer Prime Tablet
-Definitely a must have
3) Samsung T27A950 Monitor
-Need a new TV, and a new monitor at the same time can have both with this model that has an in built TV Tuner. Perfect for my room.
4) Sony BWU-300S Blu-ray recordable/rewritable drive
– Having a few Blu-ray disc but having no Blu-ray drives made me wonder why I bought the discs in the first place.
5) Nikon D5100 DSLR
– Most of my cameras are either still SLRs or compact digital cameras from 10 years back. Time for a switch!
6)Creative Sound blaster recon3d fatal1ty professional
– For better quality music and gaming audio on my PC.
That’s an interesting list Kay, some good gadgets on there 🙂
Thanks for sharing.
I want some Bose noise cancellation headphones. So much better than the rest and I can sleep peacefully on airplanes. Would also like the Call of Duty Modern Warefare 3
Briddick, have you read my review of such a pair?
Review: Bose QuietComfort 15 Acoustic Noise Cancelling Headphones
I highly recommend these. Not too expensive, and with great sound and comfort.
thanks Klaus, I hadn’t yet. Great review though. cheers
I would like to have an iPhone 4S mainly due to its Siri feature, I think it’s cool 🙂
The Samsung 59 3D shows us that the prices for not only 59TV`s dropped by much, but also the 3DTV prices, I`ll wait for it to get a bit bigger & cheaper, will sure buy a new LCD for the living room. (or even my room if I manage to get that large TV onto)
I would like to have Call of duty and Samsung Galaxy. Call of duty is being my favorite game since last couple of hours and galaxy suit to be best smart phone in its price range with features it provides.
I’d love to get Samsung Galaxy S II GT-I9100 smartphone this year! This is a great smartphone I think.
All the things listed here is so much expensive. I really like to have this as a present hoping that some of my friends and relatives would give this to me.
You’ll never know what Santa Claus might bring this year 🙂
I’d love a Samsung S2 for Christmas this year. It seems I’ll have to settle for my LG Optimus One for now, but next year I’ll get it.
Kindle Fire is one of my favorites in your collection, Klaus. Of course, I wouldn’t say no to the Call of Duty MW3, I would love to have it under my tree this year. All in all, a superb collection of gadgets, I’d like to have about five out of your top ten.
i love Samsung Galaxy S II GT-I9100 smartphone i need it jusssstttt,thanks for good posting
That’s a great wishlist. Samsung Galaxy is a great phone but i feel that you should have picked iPhone 4S instead. Samsung Galaxy has software issues and battery drain really fast due to its fast processor.
I want to have that plasma TV! It saves space since I can hang it up on the wall. Need to work harder for it. To reward myself for that.
Awesome list of Top gadgets….I want two from this
1. Call on Duty one and
2. Kindle fire
thanks a lot for this and Marry Christmas in Advance.
I didn’t know the Samsung Galaxy SII was that expensive! Oh well better stick to the Galaxy Y… Nice list by the way… I already own MW3 and it rocks!
I love these top 10 christmas lists – although it does make me jealous showing a lot of things I can’t afford – maybe Santa will be good to me!
I want HTC HD7 so badly!! I can’t wait:):) What do you think of it?
Samsung Galaxy smartphone is my top fav I am sick an tired of my brick phone, LOL hope Santa is not deaf this yea.
I think the Kindle Fire is the one I would most like to get for Christmas! I will be dropping a few hints to the wife over the next couple of weeks.
Here the writer about some important gadgets to celebrate the Christmas. People can get some ideas to celebrate the occasion properly. In this sense I would say this is an helpful article. Moreover the article is informative too.
I like to owned this amazing Samsung Galaxy S II GT-I9100 smartphone. I’ve been waiting for it to drop at $300+ so I can eventually buy the said item.
Love those e-harmony remotes… I’d also like to get one of those Seagate 1.5 tb usb powered portable drives.
Thanks for suggesting such an interesting list. I would prefer to buy kindle fire for this Xmas. Thanks for the idea:)
I would love that Sigma 20mm lens! So, if you end up with an extra over the holiday you could always send it my way. Great list!
I’m not greedy, I just want to get Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Sony Wireless Stereo Headset for PlayStation 3 which are pretty cheap, but expensive for students like me 😉
I want some Bose noise cancellation headphones. So much better than the rest and I can sleep peacefully on airplanes. Would also like the Call of Duty Modern Warefare 3.
What I want are the Samsung tablet and the TV. I can speak for my entire family. How I wish the you were Santa – and just by making a comment, my Christmas wish will come true!
I have my eyes set on a Kindle Fire and Ipad 2 for this season. There is a contest currently being held on one of the websites that I follow and they are offering an Ipad to the winner. Let’s hope lady luck smiles my way 😉
I desire the Asus Transformer Prime Tablet!!
And I also looking for a Macbook Pro….where is Santa Claus?? 😀
the Kindle is really a great choice, it is on the first place of my list:) The other things on the list are quite expensive, my family couldn’t afford them as a gift for me…
I have asked my dear wife to suprise me with a kindle! Can you help pass this onto Santa?
I’d definitely get the Samsung Galaxy S II, along with BF3, instead of MW3, never nled so much the call of duty franchise 🙂
The Eye-Fi must be mine! Too cool!
I am planning to get a KindleFire & Nokia Lumia 800 this Christmas.
Great post, there is a contest currently being held on one of the websites that I follow and they are offering an Ipad to the winner. Thanks for sharing.
I will be buying my Sony Wireless Stereo Headset for PlayStation 3. Will give you feedback as soon as I have that.
Hi there,
thank you for the comprehensive list of the Christmas gadgets reminding us about the up coming event. If you have direct connection or Santa Claus e-mail address please, let him know that as for me Samsung Galaxy S II GT-I9100 smartphone is definitely interesting and should be considered as a handset competing iPhone which is good for the mobile smartphones fans.
Regards. Tanya
The big think on my list this year is a better tv the one I have is nice enough but there are some options on the new ones that i would really like.
The big think on my list this year is a better tv the one I have is nice enough but there are some options on the new ones that i would really like.
Call of Duty MW3 has grossed over 1 BILLION in sales since it was released. Just a bit of crazy information for you there.
I love this list. Definitely some cool ideas for Christmas gifts!
I am also a user of iPad, but still I want another iPad and this time iPad 2 and if possible iPad 3 ..LOL
Hello…
I want call of duty I am fond of video games.