Best Tech Gadget Gift Guide

Yay Holidays! Need some gift inspiration for your loved ones? We got you! Check out our recommended tech gift buys for 2016.

 

*Google Home. $129.99

 

 

Google’s foray into a home assistant is budget friendly, and  super handy. Have it do the dirty googling for you, stream music, and manage your tasks and smart home features with this voice activated speaker.

 

On the other side of the home assistant scale, we also have:

 

*Amazon Echo or Amazon Echo Dot. $179.99 / $49.99

A bit more expensive, or waaaaay less expensive if you consider the Echo Dot, the Amazon Echo (Alexa) has been around for a while now, and is very well respected as a fantastic addition to people’s homes for playing music, providing information, controlling smart home features, reading the news, setting alarms, etc.

 

The Echo dot is smaller, and isn’t actually a speaker – so you’ll need to connect it to one via bluetooth or 2.5 Stereo cable. Apart from that, it’s a standalone device that still does all of the above.

 

 

*Know someone who enjoys music? I’m guessing you probably do. It might be you. These are pretty much the most highly recommended headphones. Bose QuietComfort QC35 Wireless Headphones $349 from Amazon

Noise-canceling headphones, wireless, over-ear headphones with long battery life, and a niiiice sound quality. Pricey but worth it.

 

 

*MacBook Pro with Touch Bar and Touch ID. From $1,799

The all-new MacBook Pro with Touch Bar and Touch ID is sleeker, lighter, more powerful and feature a great new keyboard,  trackpad, beautiful display and great battery life.  Available with 13-inch and 15-inch display, it features the Touch Bar, which delivers relevant shortcuts and tools for the apps that are in use.

 

 

*The RC Lamborghini Veneno from Hammacher Schlemmer. $99.95
This is the RAD AF remote-controlled replica of the exclusive Lamborghini Veneno Roadster.

Whaaaaaa.T

1:12 scale model faithfully reproduces the original from its aerodynamic hood to its bucket seats and gear shift in its “cockpit” interior. The iconic Lamborghini bull adorns the hubcaps and hood, the LED head- and taillights illuminate, and the exterior is painted the same “Rosso Mars” shade as the full-size version. You know you have someone in your life who’d want this.

 

* GoPro Hero5 Black $399.99 from BestBuy, REI, B&H, other retailers.

If you’re looking to splash some cash this Christmas, and you have an ACTION JACKSON amongst your loved ones, look at the GoPro Hero5 Black. It’s pretty much the premium adventure camera, with voice control, 4K video capture and electronic image stabilization to avoid shaky footage. Plus, you can use it in up to 33 feet of water without any additional housing.

 

 

* Roku Ultra. $129 from Amazon $129.00

The Roku Ultra is prettttttuy sweet guys. It delivers 4K content with HDR support for beautiful vision, and it offers more than 3,500 channels, with a remote that has both voice search and a headphone jack for private listening.

 

 

 

* Bluetooth shoe warmers from ThermaCell

Gettin cold, huh? We all have that someone in our lives whose little toesies are always shivering, and this is the answer they will thank you for. Bluetooth Shoe warmers. Check them out.

 

 

* Trip on a spaceship with Virgin Galactic $250,000

A gift of making someone into an Astronaut? Yes pelase, on both sides of the gift giving. Very expensive, and with no set date, this one is a little out of reach for most of us, but if you’re reading this and it seems like it’s in reach for you… do it. Just do it. Give someone the gift of being an astronaut. Kind of. 

 

 

* Sony Playstation VR. Best Price we saw was $399 with free shipping from Walmart

VR might just be the way of the future, and man, it’s fun. Someone in your life WILL appreciate this. Guaranteed. This is the standalone device, but you can also get the $600 bundle from Amazon that includes the VR headset, camera and two PlayStation Move motion controllers.

 

 

*Google Cardboard $15

On the cheaper scale of Virtual Reality, someone in your life will also definitely appreciate this, because it’s amazing. A little harder to source content, but there’s great games and 360 videos out there. You just need a smartphone.

 

 

* Nintendo NES Classic Edition $60 Currently sold out at BestBuy and… well, most places. Good Luck!

 

 

The NES Classic Edition includes 30 classic games like Super Mario Bros., Mega Man 2, Donkey Kong, Legend of Zelda and Pac-Man. Old-school controller is also included, as well as a newer-school HDMI cable. Weeeeee all the way back to the eighties!

 

 

 

* Spectacles by Snap

 

 

From SnapChat, these funky glasses capture 10-second circular videos which you can then share in Snapchat. A friendly light on the glasses shows friends that you’re recording, and the Spectacles charge in the included case.

Because of marketing, these are only being sold in ‘bots’ – traveling vending machines. These are placed in a new location about every 48 hours. A countdown will generally start on the Spectacles website 24 hours before the location is unveiled and there’s no clues before then as to where it will drop.

OR visit the pop-up store in that Snap recently opened in New York City at 5 E 59th St across from the Apple store. The location is open Monday through Friday from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. and on the weekends from 6 a.m. to 12 p.m.

 

 

*The 8,000 Stars Home Planetarium. from Hammacher Schlemmer $129.95

This desktop planetarium projects an accurate view of 8,000 stars and simultaneously plays music from your smartphone. Its built-in LED illuminates the ceiling and walls of a room with an accurate view of 61 constellations as seen from the Northern Hemisphere while a built-in Bluetooth speaker connects to a paired iPhone or Android device and plays one’s preferred ambient star-gazing soundtrack. The planetarium’s whisper-quiet motor simulates the turning of the Earth by slowly moving the image and can be sped up or slowed down with five variable speeds and accurately aligns with every day of the year.

ISN’T THAT THE RADDEST THING YOU COULD EVER IMAGINE?

 

 

* The Child’s 3D Printing Pen. $99.95

Have your kid create three-dimensional works of art with harmless warm thermoplastic that hardens within seconds.  The pen is powered via the included micro-USB cord and is ready to use in less than one minute. Includes eight color plastic packs (192 strands), eight stencil discs, and a project book.

 

 

*The Levitating Bluetooth Speaker. $149.95

Sure, there are a lot  of awesome sounding speakers out there. But this one floats. 

It also delivers impressively robust audio from its full-range 5-watt driver when paired with a Bluetooth- or NFC-enabled device up to 30′ away. Volume is controlled from your device and LED-lighted rings on the base and speaker add a mystical glow.

 

* Lastly, if you’re thinking of buying a loved one a new iPhone, we’d recommend the iPhone 7 Plus. And then, get them to sell their stinky old iPhone to us so it’s like a double Christmas present. Really. A new iPhone and cash. Wrap these with some friends and family love and you’ve got yourself a rockin’ Christmas!

 

 

Happy Holidays to everyone!

 

 

Christmas Gift guide Part 3 – Tips & Tricks for buying tech this Christmas!

 

 

 

 

We told you we loved Christmas right? We also really like deals. Deals, tips, tricks, writlefifers, all of it. This is why we now proudly present the Christmas Gift Guide Part 3 – Tips & Tricks for buying Tech this Christmas!

 

( See our other Christmas Guides, Part 1 -Comprehensive Holiday Tech Gift Guide and Part 2 – The Really Really Expensive Gift Guide.)

 

 

According to Macrumors, Apple now has an official policy on price matching, which allows specialists to price match iPhones, iPads, and Macs, giving up to 10 percent off on products without authorization. Specialists are also allowed to give business customers up to 20% off a non-Apple accessory when purchased with an Apple product via special order.

Apple also has free shipping now through December 22nd.

 

If you’re thinking of buying that special someone a Smartphone this holiday season, you should get yourself along to Whistleblower – a fantastic tool that you can use to compare cell phone plans online, and see which one is best for your needs and your budget!

 

If you use Amazon ( and you should)  you should be aware of a couple of things. Firstly, they will price match on cell phones and televisions within 14 days of shipment of the product.  Click here to see the details. 

 

Amazon also offers 3-months of Amazon Prime Membership for free for parents & caregivers. This includes Free 2-day shipping on qualifying items, 30% off Select Diapers & Wipes which qualify for subscribe & save (15% discount + 15% S&S discount, an additional month of Amazon Prime for each $25 you spend on a single order (up to 1 year total of free prime) and exclusive e-mail discounts and offers.

Click here to check it out.

 

 

College students should also click here to apply for Best Buy’s student discounts, all you need is your student email address ( must end in .edu). With this, you’ll save $50 on MacBooks and receive similar discounts in your email.

 

 

College students also save up to $200 off a MacBook with Apple’s education pricing.

 

You guys should definitely check out the refurbished products on the Apple special deals page here. You can find deals like the iPad Mini Wifi 64 Gb with a 1 year warranty for $419, 13 inch MacBook air for $849, or Apple TV for $75.

 

Target’s markdown day is usually Monday for electronics. Markdowns usually take place every two weeks and items will continue to be marked down every two weeks until sold or the discount reaches 75 percent. Markdown schedule’s might vary from store to store, so it won’t hurt to check.

 

You can get a bunch of sweet Mac applications all in one go from MacUpdate in corroboration with Macrumors. For only $39.99, the bundle includes 10 applications such as iStopMotion 3, Anonymiser, and Backblaze. All up it’s worth a cool $360 clams.  Click here to check out the deal.

 

 

And here’s a couple of specific deals you should check out:

 

iPad Mini and iPad Mini with Retina Display Smart Cover by Apple – 19.99 for blue, 14.99 for all others including Red. Free Shipping. Click here to see the deal. 

 

Pioneer A4 WiFi Speaker w/ AirPlay Streaming $80 + Free Shipping save $120! Check it out here.

 

Get a Apple 15.4″ MacBook Pro for $1549.99 with a discount and rebate at MacMall.

 

 

Happy dealing and Writlefifing and Merry Christmas!

 

 

 

 

Images courtesy of Freechristmaswallpapers & Hqwallbase.com

The really really expensive Christmas Gift Guide (just for fun)

 

 

Welcome to our version of what would you buy if someone gave you $20,000,000 and told you you had to spend it, in a store ( online or real) in 10 minutes.

 

Because we like to think realistically, right?

 

That’s what we thought.

 

So just in case this happens to you, we thought we should make sure you’re prepared!

 

OR if you’re reading this and you are wealthy enough to buy these things for people for Christmas, well, think of this as a perfectly tailored iPhone Antidote Christmas Gift Guide. And can we be your friend?

 

Here’s some of the most outrageous tech things you can buy on the planet. Some of them are less tech, more just cool. We had to share.

 

Enjoy (and, um, you might want to get a tissue for that drool.)

 

 

 

The Flying Car.

 

 

 

 

How else would you get around? A limo? A Bentley? Please.  Reserve one now! 

 

 

 

The Aquaflyer.

 

 

The Flying car of the sea! And a must have, because oh gosh how much fun does this look. Enough fun that it makes you say things like Oh Gosh.

Check it out. $9,999.

 

 

 

 

Your own Private Island. Obviously.

 

 

 

Everyone who is rich and cool has their own private island. Not everyone who is rich has one ( you hear that Kanye?). There’s a bunch you can buy, varying in price from $27613.98 to P.O.A ( Think over 2 Million. At least.)  Check them out here. 

 

 

But then you have the age old question: what would you take to a private island?

 

Uh… How about a hot tub boat?

 

Done! The Hot Tub Boat.

 

It’s a boat AND a Hot Tub. It’s settled then. Check it out here.

 

 

 

Get an Aquarium

 

You can get it to surround your TV or back your home bar. Or YOUR BED COULD BE AN AQUARIUM! That would be so neat, and then you own an entire underwater world. You can call your fish your minions.

 

 

 

 

 The 1959 Corvette Billiards Table for $25,000

 

 

Because it’s pretty. And shiny and red and it’s a pool table. Need we say more? We didn’t think so.

 

 

 

 

Why not buy a submarine?

 

Because of all the fishes you can wave to! Think of all the new friends you can make! Like whales! What nice guys those whales are.

$2,000,000.  Check it out here. 

 

 

 

 

How about an Interactive Pool Table System? Not sure what exactly that is? It’s this:

 

 

 

Transform any pool table into a digitally-enhanced video experience. Apparently seen a lot in Vegas, so you know you should have one. Actually, you know you should have a whole pool table room.

P.O.A. Check it out here. 

 

 

 

 

Hart Audio “D&W Aural Pleasure”

Loudspeakers Cast in Bronze, Silver & 18ct Gold. Awesome speakers. Like, really awesome, and covered in precious metals, which is actually how we would like to have everything in our house one day.

 

Bargain price, really, starting at only $65,308.00 for the bronze. Check them out here. 

 

 

 

 

The Dry Water Jet Massager.

It’s like this fancy pod thing that you get into and there’s..dry water? that massages you. It’s like you’re a rapper but the girls are a fancy pod thingy with fake water.  We’re not sure we explained that right, so you should probably just check it out here. It’s $36,000.

 

 

 

 

How about a…. Bewjewled Anti-Aging Human Regenerator?

 

Wha?

 

Yes. This.

 

This machine was on display at the world luxury Expo recently. It’s a blinged out ( think 6880 carats and 172,000 diamonds), human sized machine that a company called System 4 Technologies GmbH made to treat that awful malaise called aging.

 

The machine apparently slows aging using pulses and frequencies that treat silicon and aluminum deposits in the body’s skin.

 

AND it’s only $9.8 million dollars! Check it out!

 

 

 

And finally, a smiling gold plated Christmas kitten drinking some star infused milk.

 

 

Happy Holidays!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Images courtesy of Arabianbusiness.com, Terrafugia.com, Jetlev.com, Privateislandonline.com, Hammacher.com, Acrylicaquariums.com, Damngeeky.com, tritonsubs.com, Obscuradigital.com, Hartaudio.com, & efunlist.com

Score some extra cash for the holidays with us!

 

 

Need some extra funds for the holiday season? It’s a pretty expensive time after all, what with the Furbies and the sparkle lights and the pretty fancy christmas party clothes and all that stuff you have to get for your true love ( I hear turtle doves are particularly expensive this year)!

 

So. That cash.

 

We wanna help!!

 

We’re planning on giving all our loved ones broken, water damaged and used iPhones for christmas (cos we’re cool like that) and we need some more! Can we PLEASE buy that stinky old iPhone that’s just sitting in your drawer?

 

Otherwise, Great Aunt Macy might have to go without and she’ll be so sad. You wanna make her sad?

 

 

We’ll pay you up to $450 clams for that stinky old iPhone, and we’ll make the selling process as easy as that pumpkin pie you just ate!

 

 

Mmm. Pie.

 

All you need to do is fill out an order form to sell your iPhone here, and either a pre-paid box will arrive on your doorstep OR if you’d prefer you’ll receive a label in your email to put on any ‘ol box you have lying around.

 

 

The pre-paid box contains a packing pouch and a pre-paid shipping label (oh, and some little christmas presents, cos we’re cool like that), so all you need to do is bundle up that stinky old iPhone, put it in a post box and we’ll send you a check or Paypal payment in NO time!

 

 

Easy as pumpkin pie and everyone’s happy, even Great Aunt Macy.

 

Thanks guys, you’re the best!

 

Happy Holidays!

 

 

 

P.S. Look out for our tech gift guide for this Christmas in the next few days so you know exactly what to buy with that cash!

 

 

 

Images courtesy of  The Cleveland Leader, Verybestbaking, cashflowlifestyle & freefever.