Do you see what I see?

Loads of great gift ideas this shopping season

 

 

1. Root Beer Brewery
Kids and root beer go together like ants and spilled root beer. This brew-your-own kit comes with everything your future bootleggers will need to bottle and label their very own beverage line — just add sugar, and water, and a little more sugar. The best part? It’s caffeine-free.
Leener’s You-Make Kits, $29.95
www.leeners.com

 

 

2. Leapster Learning Game System
With a touch-screen, a silver stylus and a set of games that are heavy on action, the Leapster L-Max handheld game system aims for a nice compromise between education and fun. The activities run over fairly rudimentary lessons, like letter writing. The age range runs from pre-K to fourth grade.
Leap Frog Enterprises, $59.99
www.leapfrog.com

 

 

3. ESPN Better Batter Baseball
Help your preteen slugger graduate from tee ball with this swinging automatic pitcher of sorts, a training aid that keeps kids focused on the ball, less than how far they hit it. When they do hit it, glorious, confidence-boosting ESPN music and sound effects roar from the speakers.
Fisher Price, $39.99
www.fisher-price.com

 

 

4. USB Missile Launcher
Arm your cubicle mates against boredom with these weapons of mass diversion. The PC-only software swivels the USB-controlled desktop missile launcher, firing foam rockets loaded with ex-
treme passive aggression across the workspace.
X-treme Geek, $29.99
800-480-4335
www.x-tremegeek.com

 

 

5. Archos 605
A leap beyond the iPod video but an AT&T bill short of an iPhone, this 30 gigabyte 4.3-inch touch screen comes with WiFi. Optional add-ons include a Web browser, games and an adapter that will let you record TV shows, TiVo-style. Alternatively, you can purchase and watch movies on the go.
Archos, $299.99
www.archos.com

 

 

6. “Lost” — The Board Game
Season four airs early next year, so in the meantime, here’s a fix. This “Lost”-themed board game draws from popular grown-up strategy games like Settler of Catan, but with added “Lost” elements like supernatural setbacks, clashing person­­alities and shifting alliances.
Cardinal Games, $16.99
www.boardgames.com
     

 

 

7. SideWinder
Hand-Powered Cell Phone Charger
Here’s one for that person in your life whose cell phone batteries always seem to be on the verge of death: This palm-sized hand crank powers Motorola, Nokia, Samsung and Sony phones.
Innovative Solutions and Technology, $29.99
www.amazon.com

 

 

8. iRobot Vacuum Cleaner
No, not the Will Smith dystopian film about the fickle hearts of robots — it’s a friendly hand around the house. The cordless, automatic vacuum cleaner takes its time, occasionally gets stuck and misses some spots — but then again, so do most humans.
iRobot, $299.99-$399.99
www.irobot.com

 

 

9. The Grateful Dead Game
Advance around this long, strange board while testing your memory — or lack thereof — regarding the Summer of Love and the jam band that headlined it. The questions range from utterly challenging obscure deadhead trivia to “name that tune” prompts similar to Cranium’s humdingers.
University Games, $29.99
www.hippieshop.com
  

 

 

10. Garmin GPSMap 60CSx Color Handheld GPS
Sometimes you just want to escape from it all — but that doesn’t mean you have to get lost. The Garmin 60CSx is a rugged handheld GPS navigator that’s ideal for hiking, even through heavy tree cover, thanks to a high-sensitivity receiver. When it’s time to return to the urban jungle, this multi-tasking unit is just as reliable navigating city streets.
$482.13
amazon.com

 

 

11. TiVo “Holiday Home” Gift Package
There’s no harsher reminder of the fact that TiVo owners are still in the minority than when you head to the folks’ place for the holidays. You try to pause the game for a much-needed bathroom break to no avail. Instead of passing up the next round of drinks, pass on the DVR love. For the gift-giving season, TiVo has bundled some of their most popular products, like the 80-hour TiVo Series2 Dual Tuner DVR, with gift cards that provide varying lengths of TiVo service.
$149.99 for 80-hour Tuner and $50 TiVo Service Gift Card
tivo.com
 

 

 

12.  Sony Ericsson K850i
No celeb sighting during a night out should have to wait until the next morning (or afternoon, depending on just how crazy the evening turned out) to make it onto your Web site. The high performance K850i,
with Cyber-shot technology that nearly guarantees a perfect pic, includes features for posting photos directly to your blog. Then use the high-speed Internet access to check all the jealous comments left by your friends.
$499
sonyericsson.com

 

 

13.  iRecord
Though it’s sure to make copyright lawyers grimace, with the touch of a button, the nifty iRecord converts any type of video or audio — including cassette tapes, vinyl records and VHS tapes, if you remember those — into the correct formats for play on your iPod or PSP, or storage on a USB flash drive. Exceedingly user-friendly and timesaving (no computer hook-up is involved), your dad’s dusty record collection could suddenly find new life in his brand new MP3-enabled sports car (you’ll still have to deal with his mid-life crisis).
$199.99
irecord.com
 

 

 

14.  Big Ben Moonbeam Alarm Clock
For all of our new-fangled technology, the Moonbeam alarm clock, based on the sleek, original 1952 design, is still the least annoying way to get roused out of bed — with a gently illuminating light. In case you doze off again, the clock is outfitted with a retro bell (no heart attack-inducing buzzers here); the modern version also features battery backup. L.L. Bean exclusively sells the Moonbeam in blue, periwinkle, green, yellow and pink.
$39.50
llbean.com