December 6, 2006

The consumer electronics market is filled with items that are ideal for holiday giving. Here’s a few of our picks:

Add surround sound speakers to that special someone’s PC using the new Logitech X-540 Speaker System (www.logitech.com, $99). The speaker set is a powered 70 watt 5.1 surround sound system with acoustically matched front and rear, left and right and center channel speakers, subwoofer and wired remote control ready to go out of the box. The satellite speakers use dual drivers for a fuller sound. For true surround, your computer’s sound board needs to support 5.1 surround to match the speaker system’s front, rear, center and subwoofer inputs. Ours does, and the system sounds great when playing DVD movies and some games. Don’t have a surround sound board or playing movies or games without 5.1 surround? Then engage the Matrix button on the remote and the system sends matrixed signals to the center, rear and subwoofer channels and the sound comes to life. The remote control also has volume, bass, and power controls and a handy headphone jack. The center channel speaker features an adjustable bracket that allows it to sit firmly atop your monitor.

A gift that will add to the enjoyment of viewing DVD movies on the PC is PowerDVD 7 Max (www.cyberlink.com, $60), which improves picture quality, supports 5.1 surround sound and offers a host of other features, such as remembering recently played discs and offering to resume where you left off or doing a picture capture of your favorite scene.

A "sound" gift idea for the lady in your life is the Steffi Thomas Interchangeable Headset (www.steffithomas.com, $65+). The headset uses a microphone and an earpiece on separate, fully-adjustable flexible booms. These attach to a fashionable headband, and the headband coverings are offered in a variety of styles, colors and a danglie if you like. Very chic.

A gift that will check out the health of your car is CarMD (www.carmd.com, $90). This device plugs into your car’s OBD2 connector (available on most 1996 and later vehicles) and logs the car’s computer readings. Plug the device into your computer, log on to CarMD’s Web site and download the car’s codes for a diagnosis of problems and much more information.

Sonos Digital Wireless Music System (www.sonos.com, $1,200) plays music wirelessly from your PC to anywhere in your home. The unit offers solid, clean sound and individual control of each stylish satellite amplifier-speaker unit from a wireless remote control. Create playlists on your PC and select playlists or individual selections from PC or remote. Up to 32 satellites can be controlled.

Business people will welcome the CardScan (www.cardscan.com), $159+), a compact scanner and companion software that scans business cards directly into an easy-to-use contact management database. The program supports synchronization with Outlook, PDAs and smartphones. On-line backups, updating and access to the database via the Internet make the CardScan a useful, time-saving tool.

Graphire4 (www.wacom.com, $99) is a graphics tablet that substitutes for your mouse in drawing, photo editing and other programs, providing a fun and natural way to use these programs. Add Serif

PagePlus 11 (www.serif.com, $129) for doing page layout, and you have a cracker-jack combo for all your personal, organization and/or business printing needs, such as cards, newsletters, brochures and more.

RealFlight G3 (www.greatplanes.com, $199)is a radio-control (R/C) model flight simulator, sure to please the R/C enthusiast and is fun by itself or for learning or sharpening your R/C skills. The program comes with an R/C controller customizable to various brands. Fly 44 different models, including helicopters, from 15 different airfields. Many others available as options.

Nancy Drew: Danger by Design (www.herinteractive.com, $20) is the fourteenth in the Nancy Drew PC game series. This game takes players on an interactive journey through the streets of Paris searching for clues to solve the mysterious behavior of a famous Paris fashion designer. Hours of interactive fun and engrossing puzzles.

ProShow Gold 2.6 (www.photodex.com, $70) is terrific for dealing with the problem of how best to share your digital photos (or scanned print photos). This full-featured program makes it quick and easy to create a slide show from digital or scanned pictures. The many features allow a wealth of creativity, such as adding transitions, music, narration and more to your shows. Share the show on disc (including an auto-play format), on the Internet or via e-mail.

Fritz 9 Play Chess (www.viva-media.com, $38) is a gift that can be used over and over again to help any chess player hone skills by playing against the computer, analyzing moves, watching how the champions play and analyze their strategies and more. Several modes of play are available, each adding additional fun and interest.

DiscEraser (www.disceraser.com, $13) Simple and useful. Permanently destroy data on your CD/DVD with a few quick strokes.

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