December 2, 2007
By Jim Harmening
I received an e-mail last week that I should stop kissing the politicians’ butts and start writing about Christmas gifts.
Among the sites where I shop are: buy.com, zipzoom fly.com, windandweather.com, bestbuy.com, staples.com, oldnavy.com, cdw.com, target.com, shopzilla.com, ihome.com and apple.com.
Two portals I use are shopping.yahoo.com and amazon.com. Both portals screen their online store mates to make sure they are “real,” and you can find some good deals while shopping at many stores at once.
But remember, as I found out two years ago, a fantastic deal that seems too good to be true probably is not true. They either will back-order your item forever (while still charging your card) or the store really is a sham. So if you see the Nintendo Wii for $99, don’t believe it.
This is the year of the laptop computer. This may be the tipping-point year where more laptops are sold than desktop computers. Portability is only part of the reason. These computers are powerful, all-in-one machines. The $500 to $800 models are great, but spend a bit more ($800 to $1,000), and you have a desktop replacement.
A few things to make sure you have on your Christmas laptop: Memory (at least 1 GB), hard drive (bigger is better, at least 100 GB), operating system (at least the Windows home premium) and DVD/CD drive (make sure you get the DVD burner). The hard part is making sure you have enough ports – USB & Firewire (IEEE 1394) are a must. A built-in modem, Ethernet network and wireless network connections are on everyone’s laptops, but it is best to make sure. My clients have had success with HP, Compaq, Dell, IBM, Apple and Sony laptops throughout the years.
As for software, the writer (who shall remain nameless) wanted to know about software titles for 2-to-4-year-olds. It’s OK to have your 2-to-4-year-olds on the computer for a short amount of time. There are some great learning games that do shapes and sizes; check out the Dora and Leapfrog titles. For creativity, the Lego Software is pretty cool.
For those parents who want something that will give their young children exercise while playing video games, try Fisher Price’s Physical Learning Arcade System. Make sure you buy the additional game for the system (for ages 3 to 6). You pedal, steer and shoot with buttons on the handle bars. Looks like a tough workout.
As the kids get a bit older, you can get Super Mario DS 64 for the Nintendo DS game systems. For the whole family, try out Master Jin Jin’s IQ Challenge for the DS.
For those of you who read this column regularly, you know the Xbox 360 is my game system of choice. I like it mostly because of the Halo series of games but also because of the excellent graphics and seamless game play. The new Halo III is no exception. It is downright addicting. Most 12-to-15-year-olds would be fine with it, though it does have a bit of harsh language – but nothing I haven’t heard on TV.
The rage during the past few years – for all game systems – has been Guitar Hero. They are on the third generation, so make sure you get Guitar Hero III. Like the Dance Dance Revolution (DDR), the different versions will give you different songs.
But the best new game system for 10-to-15-year-olds is the Nintendo Wii. These games are very interactive, make you move and are a lot of fun. I liked tennis a lot until I hit my daughter on the head with a crushing backhand. No stitches, but I had to forfeit for roughing the other player.
Jim Harmening is president of Computer Bits Inc., an Orland Park computer services company. Send questions to Jim in care of Mary Beth Sheehan at info@bitsmail.com or at www.computer-bits.com. Personal responses are not always possible. Questions may be used in future columns.