Great gadgets and peripherals at budget-friendly prices.

We'd all love to shower our favorite geek with a pile of gadgets this holiday season, but not every budget allows for a Best Buy shopping spree. Here are some affordable gift ideas that are sure to be a hit with your in-house techie.
  • Lite-On 52x CD/CD-RW Drive
    If you haven't jumped on the CD-burning bandwagon, you can do it now for cheap. Lab rat Robert Heron says to visit Pricewatch.com, where he's found this particular Lite-On burner for under $70.

  • Lucent Orinoco's 802.11b PC cards
    The holidays are a great time to go wireless. Heck, anytime is a great time to go wireless. Orinoco's 802.11b PC cards have ports for external antennas, a nice feature you won't find in most WiFi/802.11b PC cards. Proxim is the main manufacturer of Orinoco cards these days. Go for the basic Silver or Gold cards, which run around $70.

  • D-Link DWL-650 WiFi PC card
    Patrick's also had good luck with these $50 D-Link adapters, even though they don't have external antenna adapters. In case you're thinking about using Netstumbler software for you wireless setup, most cards -- not just Orinoco-based cards -- work with Netstumbler under Windows XP.

  • EtherFast Wireless AP + Cable/DSL Router
    Spread your broadband connection the wireless way with this $100 router. Patrick uses this one at home. Provides roaming, best access point selection, load balancing and network traffic filtering.

  • A new processor and motherboard
    Who doesn't crave a more powerful machine? Athlon XP CPU and mobo combos can be had for well under $150 on Price Watch.

  • FujiFilm FinePix A200 digital camera
    This lightweight $140 camera boasts two-megapixel sensor resolution, USB connection, video recording, and PC netcam modes.

  • HP Deskjet 5550
    Get up to 4800-optimized dpi in color with this $149 ink-jet printer that also does well with black text.


Even more holiday gift picks