Jon Chase
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Gift Guide: Leica M9 Digital Rangefinder Camera
The Leica brand has represented the ne plus ultra of photographic excellence for nearly a century, and continues to burnish its impeccable rep with its new M9 ($7,000). As beautiful a piece of gadgetry as any we've come across, the M9 is somewhat of an oddity in the digital realm: it's a rangefinder camera (meaning you don't see through the lens to focus), is essentially all manually controlled (including focus) and is the smallest camera around to pack a full 35mm CCD image sensor. That giant sensor also explains why the M9 can capture positively massive (and gorgeous) 18.5-megapixel images -- which, at about 36-megabytes (MBs) a snap, also means you might want to look into a new hard drive before you get snap happy. Nicely, the M9 can also accommodate any existing M-series lenses dating back to 1950s, a further enticement for any film Leica enthusiasts who are still sitting on the digital bench. Any devout shutterbug would kill or die to have one (and considering its $7,000 price tag, it'll surely cross some minds), though casual shooters who aren't comfortable messing with ISO, aperture and shutterspeed settings should likely opt for a DSLR with more automatic controls.
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Stymie Thieves by Password-Protecting Your Laptop
At a minimum, you should have a non-guessable password -- one with a combination of words and numbers -- for logging in to your laptop. Disable auto-login for all accounts, and require a password to wake your laptop from sleep or standby. If you're on a Windows machine, go to Start/Control Panel/Power Options and make sure to check the box for "Prompt for password when computer resumes from standby." For a Mac, go to System Preferences/Security and check the box beside "Require password to wake this computer from sleep or screen saver." Then, get in the habit of closing the lid of your laptop every time you physically leave it, even if you think it will just be for a few seconds. That's time aplenty to have your stuff swiped.
Gift Guide: Grado iGi Earphones
Grado iGi Earphones (Media Hound, Under $100)
To the audio obsessives who consider the quality of their sound gear a way of life, the mere mention of the name Grado elicits the kind of response usually reserved for Santa or, well, Steve Jobs . Since most Grado headphones are priced in the relative stratosphere, its new iGi model ($89) is a welcome entry-level sampler for the iPod generation. As with all in-ear models, they offer the side benefit of blocking out virtually all outside noise mostly because they're inserted deep into your ear canal -- like you-better-pay-for-dinner-and-a-movie-first type of intimacy. The iGi's don't compare with some of Grado's more legendary over-the-ear models, but you'd be hard-pressed to find better quality sound from such a reliable brand at anywhere near the cost.
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Gift Guide: Joby Gorillamobile for iPhone
Joby Gorillamobile for iPhone (Media Hound, Under $50)
Joby first earned fans several years ago when it essentially invented its own market: low-cost, flexible but durable mini tripods for cameras. And Joby's done it again by extending into the iPhone accessory market with the $40 Gorillamobile. Put any iPhone 3G or 3GS (sorry first genners) into the included soft case and then snap it into the ...Gift Guide: JVC HD Everio GZ-HM400 Camcorder
JVC HD Everio GZ-HM400 (Creative, Under $1,000)
If you aspire for your homemade movies to be more 'American Beauty' than America's Funniest, you'll need to forgo the raft of pocket-sized but underpowered HD camcorders and opt for a higher-end model. Which is where's JVC's newest Everio, the GZ-HM400 HD camcorder steps in. Able to record both crisp 1080 at 60fps HD video, as well 600fps ...Gift Guide: Sony Vaio X
Sony Vaio X (Gadget Head, Under $2500
While seemingly every other company out there is scrambling to put out their latest low-power, low-feature, low-cost netbook, Sony opted instead to pull out all the stops for its newest Vaio X, a full-featured sub-notebook that also happens to be insanely, runway model tiny, thin and light. Like not much thicker than an iPhone (.55 inches to be exact) ...Speedy Hard Drive = Speedier PC
Other than adding as much RAM as possible, a quick, relatively cheap way to gain noticeably better performance from your aging PC is to upgrade the hard drive to a faster model. The faster a hard drive spins (measured in revolutions per minute or rpm), the more quickly it can access data and pass it back and forth to the processor. For desktop computers, you should get at least a 7,200 rpm ...Donate Old Cell Phones to Help Others
Rather than sell or recycle your old cell phone (or throw away, God forbid!), consider donating it to one of the many charitable organizations that put them to good use. Hit charityguide.org for a list and description of places that accept used cell phones. And as always, make sure to delete all personal information from your phone before putting it in the mail (including the memory card). ...
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