10 Great Gifts for Geeks: Black Friday Edition
If you're an IT pro, you undoubtedly have at least some geek in you — or you have a geek in your life. From MacBooks to motorized pool floats, these 10 gifts are sure to please any geek.
November 24, 2022
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Redesigned around the all-new M2 chip, the latest version of Apple's ultra-thin MacBook Air is its best ever, sporting 18-hour battery life, weighing less than 3 lbs. and just 0.44 inches thin. With a choice of four exterior finishes, the notebook also offers a degree of personalization (our vote goes for the elegant Midnight hue), and a bright, colorful 13.6-inch display.
Sometimes you just want the world to go away while you find your groove, right? Sennheiser's fourth-generation wireless headphones will help you do just that, with a minimal design aesthetic, excellent active noise-cancellation, and an impressive 60-hour battery life. The built-in EQ, presets, sound modes, and a Sound Personalization feature help you tailor the audio to your individual hearing.
Great Scott! Of the hoary old holiday traditions, perhaps none is more sartorially significant than the ugly holiday jumper (sweater), which has been given the necessary nerdy update over at Just Geek. Fans of the adventures of Marty McFly and Doc Brown will find this to be the perfect warm weather accessory, which features iconic references to Back to the Future, including the time-traveling DeLorean.
The capacity for human invention is truly astounding, and what is billed as "the world's first motor-driven dinosaur" has been an adventure 65 million years in the making. Good to know the imaginations of the people over a Sharper Image haven't yet gone extinct. This heavy-duty PVC T-Rex is equipped with a 66-watt, three-blade propeller and joystick controls, so poolside paleontologists can zip around — at a top speed of 3 mph, admittedly not raptor-fast — quoting Dr. Malcolm while sipping margaritas in the sun. Life finds a way.
Can you handle the double-dip overload of nostalgia with this Lego set that lets you build back the original Nintendo game console complete with ancient looking television (remember when TVs had antennas???)? With 2,646 pieces, this set is sure to keep the recipient occupied for an hour or more as they snap together the authentic reproductions of the original console, controller, and Game Pak cartridge.
Is there a scruffy-looking nerf herder in your life who could use some help with seasoning? Star Wars merchandising team to the rescue, please. Sporting stainless steel and ceramic mechanisms inside and durable ABS plastic exteriors molded to look like your favorite Jedi weapon, fans of Skywalker and Vader can add some zest to the holiday platter. Batteries not included, natch.
Combining the top features of its fitness and outdoor watches, Garmin's rugged Fenix 7 multisport GPS watch blends design and performance, with up to 18 days between charges in smartwatch mode. Sporting a large 1.3-inch display, the watch offers new training tools, GPS improvements, and a brand-new touch-screen feature, as well as the five physical buttons of previous Fenix watches.
The metaverse may have come in for a bit of a bashing lately, but for those devoted to the cutting edge, VR headsets offer a fully immersive glimpse of the future. The Meta Quest 2 boasts a lightweight design, relatively low cost, and an intuitive user interface, and offers 1832x1920 resolution per eye. The special edition package comes with the Beat Saver game, a redemption code for Resident Evil 4.
An ideal gift for the underlit geek in your life who's always making video calls, the Litra Beam desktop key light boasts TrueSoft technology to help you achieve professional lighting effects or even delve into the realm of the Old Masters with "Rembrandt" mode. The slim, minimal LED light lets users swiftly swap between lighting techniques to express different moods, adapting to the needs of a YouTube video, streaming on Twitch, or popping into a Zoom meeting while working from home.
They often say gift cards are the last resort of the uninspired holiday shopper, but we must respectfully disagree as we round off this top 10 list of gifts for geeks, as one year of Disney+ grants the recipient access to everything related to Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars — not to mention National Geographic. With the universes of said franchises expanding at light speed, a subscription all but guarantees untold hours of hardcore entertainment in various realms of geekdom.
About the author
Nathan Eddy is a freelance writer for ITPro Today. He has written for Popular Mechanics, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine, FierceMarkets, and CRN, among others. In 2012 he made his first documentary film, The Absent Column. He currently lives in Berlin.
They often say gift cards are the last resort of the uninspired holiday shopper, but we must respectfully disagree as we round off this top 10 list of gifts for geeks, as one year of Disney+ grants the recipient access to everything related to Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars — not to mention National Geographic. With the universes of said franchises expanding at light speed, a subscription all but guarantees untold hours of hardcore entertainment in various realms of geekdom.
About the author
Nathan Eddy is a freelance writer for ITPro Today. He has written for Popular Mechanics, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine, FierceMarkets, and CRN, among others. In 2012 he made his first documentary film, The Absent Column. He currently lives in Berlin.
The Black Friday shopping bonanza is fast approaching, and with it comes the avalanche of discounts and deals for gadgets and gear. For the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, indicators are also suggesting that previously snarled supply chains have finally untangled to the degree where desired items are actually obtainable again.
At the same time, a mixed economic outlook and slowing consumer spending mean retailers are looking to move a larger supply of goods at discounted prices. With an estimated $1.2 trillion to $1.8 trillion in built-up savings yet to be exhausted, however, holiday shoppers find themselves in a sweet spot with extra cash to burn and sufficient supply.
With technology cycles still refreshing rapidly, you can bet that the newly updated model of your favorite notebook/smartphone/tablet is outfitted with a faster processer, slimmer profile, or higher-resolution camera, making them perfect gifts for geeks in 2022.
To name just one vendor, Apple has refreshed both its MacBook Air notebook and the iPhone and debuted new Apple Watch models and the AirPods Pro 2.
There's no better time than on Black Friday, the traditional kickoff to the holiday season, to start thinking about a gift for the geek closest to your heart — or at least in the near vicinity of it.
To help you out, we've compiled a list of the some of the top gifts for geeks out there in 2022, priced to fit a variety of budgets and ranging from high-tech workhorses to more fabulous flights of fancy.
The following is a list of 10 items that could be perfect gifts — or stocking stuffers. Almost all the items serve some practical purpose, though we reserve the right to dip into the occasional flight of fancy and frivolous fun.
Without further ado, we present our suggestions for the ultimate geek gift guide.
About the Author(s)
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