Macteens Holiday Gift Guide 2007

by Daniel Hollister • 12/17/2007 at 01:34 AM

It’s that time of year again. Yes, the holidays—a time to shower yourself… er, your friends and family with some great new tech toys. Here at Macteens, we love tech toys. A lot. Here are our top picks—the best of everything for your wish list. Or, if you’re really nice, these are the things you might buy for the Macteen in your life.

Best MP3 Player - Apple iPod Nano ($149/$199, Link)

It probably comes as no surprise that we’re recommending an iPod, but why the Nano? Truth is, we’ve never seen anything quite as versatile as Apple’s current iteration of this model. The Nano holds a decent amount of music, plays your videos with shocking quality and detail, and is almost as portable as the Shuffle. While you won’t get as much storage out of this as you would a Touch or Classic, 8GB is nothing to sneeze at—especially considering its tiny size. At $199 for the 8GB model and $149 for the 4GB model, this is your best bet for anyone who doesn’t need to have their entire music and video collections at their side at all times.

Best Headphones: Sony Fontopia MDR-EX51LP ($39.99, Link)

Good sound is a necessity these days. For those of us who prefer to venture from the white iPod headphones Apple has delegated to us, finding a great pair can be daunting. Look no further than the Sony MDR-EX51LP’s, a great pair of in-ear headphones. Unlike most in-ear headphones, the Fontopia’s are extremely comfortable and come with three different sizes of ear cushions. Audio is balanced, the quality is great, and bass—the biggest complaint of most inexpensive pairs of headphones—is deep and vibrant. There’s also some sort of magic in the cord. No matter how long you use the headphones; how many times you wrap up the wire; how you stuff it into your bag: the cord remains undamaged and straightens right out. Magic! For the price, there is absolutely nothing better. These guys sound better than most pairs of $100 headphones we’ve tested. Get them.

Best Still Camera - Canon 400D ($529.95, Link) + Canon 50mm lens ($74.95, Link)

Let’s face it, Canon makes the best digital SLR’s and lenses around. The 400D is no different. This camera, referred to generally as the Rebel XTi, sports a self-cleaning 10.1 megapixel CMOS censor, a bright 2.5” LCD screen, 9-point autofocus, and all the features you’d expect from a great SLR. Like the other cameras in the Rebel line, the body is plastic as opposed to magnesium, but it feels sturdy and the 400D has a better shape and grip than its predecessor.

One of the best parts of using a Canon SLR is being able to use Canon glass. We’re recommending the body-only version paired with the Canon 50mm f/1.8 prime lens. At only around $70, this is an absolute steal, as most lenses in this caliber are in the $250-350 range. With the conversion rate, this lens functions as an 80mm lens on the 400D, great for amazing portraits, headshots, close-ups, etc. For the beginner who wants to start taking truly professional-looking pictures with gorgeous depth-of-field, this is the setup to get. In addition, its f/1.8 aperture makes it great for concert photography and other places where light might be scarce. Do yourself a favor and pick up these two items. Your photos (and those who view them) will thank you for it.

Best Video Camera - Canon HG10 ($799, Link)

Can you tell we like Canon? Seriously though, the HG10 is an amazing new little. Canon kicked off a revolution with the release of the HV20, the first consumer 1080p camera on the market, and now they’ve done it again. The HG10 is smaller than the HV20, yet has virtually the same optics and the same glorious 1080p resolution. The HG10’s main appeal lies in the fact that it does not record onto MiniDV tapes but onto an internal 40gb hard drive in the high-quality AVCHD format. Say goodbye to inferior compression and waiting for tapes to capture. You can record about 5 hours on the internal hard drive at the best quality before needing to offload it. For $799, there’s nothing better. Enter 2008 with a camera that truly represents the cutting-edge of consumer technology.

Best Monitor - Dell UltraSharp 2407WFP-HC ($699, Link)

What? There’s a Dell on the Macteens gift list? Believe it or not, this is the absolute best deal in monitors. Utilizing a comparable panel to that of Apple’s own 23” Cinema Display, this Dell 24” monitor provides users with a great picture for $200 less. While you may not enjoy the design very much, the monitor makes up for it by having multiple inputs, an adjustable stand, picture-in-picture capability, and many other features.

If you want to spend even less money, you can get away with purchasing this monitor’s little brother, the E248WFP, which costs only $469—half of what Apple’s equivalent monitor costs. Beware, though. While this monitor is excellent, it lacks the versatility of the UltraSharp and the panel has viewing angle issues. We’d all love to be using Apple displays, but until Apple ups their game and lowers their prices, go for the Dell.

Best Speakers - Audioengine A2 ($199, Link)

As our Macs inch closer and closer to our living room stereos, the need for high-quality multipurpose speakers is increasing rapidly. The Audioengine A2 is a two-piece speaker system that fits this niche well. They take inputs via RCA or 1/8” mini jack and pack 60W of power. Built with great tweeters and subwoofers, audio quality sounds great, is very balanced, and the bass is great. You can turn these suckers up pretty high without any noticeable loss in quality. As far as design goes, the A2’s are simply gorgeous. You almost want to set them up somewhere other than your desk, just so they get the attention they deserve. While they’re a bit pricey at $199, there is absolutely no two-piece speaker system that looks or sounds this good. The A2’s are for true audiophiles, and are sure to please.

Best Microphone - Blue Snowball ($99, Link)

Whether you’re a novice podcaster, aspiring singer or simply want to chat with your friends, the Blue Snowball has got you covered. Like everything Blue makes, the Snowball is sturdy and very well designed. The microphone’s patterns make it suitable for all sorts of applications, and the quality is incredible for the price. It connects to your Mac using USB, and is supported under OS X for use without any extra software. The Snowball comes with a tiny mic stand for your desk, and several other accessories are available from Blue. This is the best mic for the price, and it’s versatile to boot.

Best Software - Pixelmator ($59, Link) and Final Cut Express ($199, Link)

There’s nothing better than Final Cut Pro for video editing, but as Apple has been showing us lately with many of their products, they’re totally content giving us consumer versions with just as much power—just lacking a few of the extra features none of us really need anyway. Final Cut Express 4 is one such example. FCE4 borrows from its bigger brother some of the best features, including the open timeline and support for the newest HD codecs. You can also import projects from iMovie, making the transition for budding editors that much easier. At $199, Final Cut Express 4 is a true bargain. It’s perfect for your editing needs, whether that you’re cutting up your family’s Christmas morning footage or splicing together your new TV pilot for that pitch meeting at NBC you have next month.

We gave a pretty good review to Pixelmator when we reviewed it a couple of months ago, and now with the 1.1 update, we love it even more. Since it relies on your graphics card for most of the computing, Pixelmator is the fastest image editor you will encounter for some time. The 1.1 update fixes lots of bugs, adds tons of filters, and supports more file formats and graphics tablets. While it won’t be taking over Photoshop’s professional market anytime soon, there’s no better graphics app for quick edits and most consumer purposes.

Best Accessory - Rain Design mStand ($44.91, Link)

The mStand is a gorgeous stand for your precious laptop. It matches the MacBook Pro’s aluminum body and simple, elegant design. Unlike many stands, the mStand is not only solid in construction, but makes your laptop feel safe as well. The stand has rubber feet on the corners as well as a metal lip in the front to stop your poor machine from falling off. Despite it being aimed at MacBook Pro users, the MacBook models look great on it, as well. For anyone looking for a stand, whether it’s for ergonomic reasons or to raise the monitor so you can hook up your own keyboard and mouse, the mStand is a great value and the best stand we’ve seen.

Happy Holidays!
These are our picks for the holiday season. While it’s been suggested that we recommend cold hard cash as our true pick for teenagers who never know exactly what they want, the old adage – that it’s the thought that counts – still stands, and the fun is in the surprise. The above products represent the absolute best of what we have seen this year, and we know that you (or the recipient, if you’re nice like that) will enjoy them.