(ARA) – Sure she smiles politely every time you give her flowers or a new bracelet, but instead of offering her the same old gifts this year, score big with a present that will really knock her socks off. Forget flowers, scented candles or even trendy fashion accessories – this year’s high-impact gifts blend technology’s fun and practical sides.
Give the woman in your life a gadget that will make her life easier or inject some entertainment into her day. Whether that lady is your mom, wife, sister or girlfriend, brighten her holiday with a present she is sure to enjoy and appreciate for years to come.
Fortunately, you don’t have to spend a bundle to snag her a great piece of technology. From MP3 music players to solar device-chargers, here are four items you can typically find for less than $100:
MP3 player
Everyone wants to take their music, videos and photos with them wherever they go, and MP3 players are perfect for on-the-fly multimedia enjoyment. New players like the Sansa Fuze+ from SanDisk are easy to use and come loaded with great features such as large, bright LCD screens, touchpads for easy content navigation, microphones and recordable FM radios. The Fuze+ comes equipped with a microSDHC slot, perfect for playing preloaded slotRadio cards or microSD cards loaded with your own music library. The slotRadio cards come preloaded with up to 1,000 songs in genres including ’80s and ’90s, classical, health and fitness, rock and more.
The Sansa Fuze+ is compatible with most major media formats including AAC/M4A (DRM-free iTunes songs) as well as Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems; so your special lady can enjoy virtually any type of content. Available in red, white, black, blue and purple, the 4 and 8 gigabyte versions sell for $79 and $89, respectively (a 16GB version goes for $119). Visit www.sandisk.com to learn more.
Fitness tracker
She works hard, plays hard and gives every workout 100 percent. She would probably love to know exactly how much benefit she’s getting from her workout. An array of palm-sized devices is available to help her track her personal fitness level. Some measure and record calories burned or miles walked. Others check and record heart rate, blood pressure, body mass index and other health indicators. Look for one that will monitor the fitness measure most important to her.
Solar chargers
Who hasn’t been caught with a dead battery and no charger? Virtually all our favorite gadgets, from smart phones to GPS devices, have their own charger. And all those chargers need a wall outlet to plug into. A solar charger offers a greener, easier solution to the lost charger dilemma. These devices are designed to use the power of the sun to power up a variety of different kinds of devices. Before you buy any charger, however, be sure it’s compatible with the device she’ll need to charge. Some work with just one or two type of devices from a few manufacturers, while others are more versatile.
Universal remote
You might remember when these units first appeared on the scene – it was around the time that we started connecting multiple devices to our TVs. Suddenly, we had a remote control not just for the television or the VCR, but for the DVD player, surround sound system, Internet device and more. Even someone with multiple college degrees could be forgiven for having a hard time keeping track of all those remotes, or knowing which remote controls which device. Universal remotes used to be somewhat less than universal, but advances in the technology have made it easy to find remotes that will work with multiple types of devices from a variety of manufacturers.
With a little online research and some creativity, you’ll be able to give her a technology gift that she’ll appreciate and use all year long.
