When the holidays roll around, full of tinsel, glitz, and mall Santas,
that annual question pops up every time: What do I buy? Gift lists chock
full of gadgets are usually a safe bet, leading to that iPod mini for
the cousin who lent you money for college, or maybe an Ogo for yourself.
But what if you had loads of cash? Maybe you found yourself with
Microsoft stock after the economic turnaround and invested the returns
in Google. Then it's time for some serious shopping. We don't pretend
that the average consumer can afford gifts on this scale (goodness knows
we can't), but like that Lamborghini in the showroom, they're sure fun
to look at. Here's a gift list that would make any techie swoon:
Atlantic Technology
System 8200 speakers
Ka-ching: depending on components, from $7,000 to $20,000
On your journey from childhood home
to dorm room to real-world apartment or house, you probably picked up
some speakers along the way. In many surround sound set-ups, this means
there's a ragged collection of old and new subwoofers, speakers, wires,
and stands. Then there's the System 8200 THX Ultra II certified series
of speakers. Watching "Star Wars" on THX? There can be no greater geeky
goal. The system includes everything you'd need to trick out a room for
amazing sound, including a few three-way satellites, a PedWoofer compact
Servo-controlled pedestal subwoofer, and a dedicated external amplifier
for the PedWoofer. And of course, it comes in a variety of finishes, to
match your decor.
VirtualGT
Personal Racing Simulator
Ka-ching: $15,000
Spending half the
day in front of a flat-panel playing "Need For Speed Underground 2" or
"Star Wars Battlefront" is a worthy pursuit. But sometimes, don't you
just yearn for, well, more? Something more authentic, more hands-on?
Here it is: the VirtualGT personal racing simulator. Forget having to
wait at GameWorks for those kids to run out of money just so you can hit
the track. Now, you'll own the track. Each hand-crafted VirtualGT has a
comfy racing set, five-channel audio system, strategically placed
vibration transducers, and a high-definition video display in your
choice of LCD, plasma, or CRT. You'll have your pick of more than 180
cars and 19 different tracks, and you can tweak car specs with the touch
of a button. Vroom.
Hasselblad H1
digital camera
Ka-ching: $6,000
Tired of the
digital-camera deluge yet? It seems everyone has gotten into the
point-click-download world in the last couple years, and the result is
utter confusion once you hit the electronics store. But perhaps you
yearn for a higher-quality camera, one that seems beyond the reach of
the everyday rabble, and isn't thrown in with the jumble of other
digital cameras. If that's the case, you're looking for Hasselblad. The
darling of professional photographers, Hasselblad makes cameras that
take striking magazine, news, and gallery photos. Though it's only
started to dabble in digital products, the H1 is quite an initial entry:
It has a 90-degree reflex viewfinder, multishot optimization, and a grip
display that shows all camera settings and a detailed histogram of your
exposure. It'll make your kid's birthday party look like a modeling
shoot. Your holiday photos were never so dazzling.
Sony
61-inch XBR plasma TV
Ka-ching: $20,000
What collection of pricey
tech toys would be complete without a plasma TV? After a hard day of
spending money on racing car games, it's time to nestle into that home
theater and watch some bad movies on a very, very good screen. The Sony
XBR has been called the Ferrari of plasma TVs and a piece of visual art.
So, what could be better for watching "CSI" in hi-def? Sony aimed to
build a better plasma TV when it developed this beauty, and the result
is fairly staggering. It features a plasma display element different
from others of its ilk, and the engineering is unique--it uses a media
receiver box that does most of the processing. It's 61 inches in
diameter, a statistic that pretty much speaks for itself if you're used
to a standard 25-inch living-room TV. It's also got a bunch of other
frills for better picture and movie resolution, such as Digital Reality
Creation and CineMotion technology. But forget all the terminology; just
sit back and watch.
Future Home Media
Private theaters
Ka-ching: Depends on set-up, but major
If you don't want to bother putting together your own expensive
speaker and plasma combination, don't worry. After all, the digital
revolution has changed the way people work, sure, but also how they
play. The result is a company like Future Home Media , a creator of
private home theaters so good that its Hollywood client list is highly
confidential. As for the company's services ... oh, where to begin?
Private-theater design and installation, home networking, integration of
entertainment and computer systems, THX surround sound calibration, home
monitoring from anywhere in the world, and of course, 24-hour support.
As you can imagine, multiroom systems aren't a problem, and the company
can set it up so you can create a central music server or Internet radio
that can be piped throughout the house. It even designs the system so
that you select music simply by reaching out a single, pampered finger
and touching a CD cover image on the screen. Now, that's how to be home
for the holidays.
