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Christmas is without a doubt my favorite time of the year. Although skinny, I am built for cold weather and enjoy having to layer up to go smoke a cigarette. December is also the best month for NFL football: a time where teams are competing for that precious playoff spot. Finally, and I'm surprised my greedy ass isn't mentioning this first but who doesn't LOVE getting gifts?!
For the record, however, I just want to mention that I love giving Christmas gifts much more than receiving them. ahem...
moving on.
The topic of giving and receiving came up during a conversation in the car with my smokin'-hot ladybird Rosemary. She knows that I would love to go underneath the tree and find new computer components from Santa, but because she is not savvy in the ins and outs of computer hardware how could she possibly know what to get me? She can't get a salesman to help her out and truthfully i don't blame her. Don't worry, N8TECH is here to help. Tonight we'll go over a few DO'S and DON'TS when it comes to shopping for your significant other.
More after the break.
I'm sure the first thing you are thinking after reading the amazingly clever intro is "don'ts? You mean to tell me I could screw this up?" to which i reply yes AND no. Big help I know...but let me explain. You see I'm not going to tell you to just go out and buy the latest and greatest thing like the new ASUS Shinggiey-mabob version 5 or tell you to buy the first external hard drive with the largest amount of storage on it. No, that would be too easy. We are going to dive deeper and help you find the gift that is going to make him or her actually think you knew what you were doing!
Not to say that you don't. Dang you, stop being so sensitive.
The most important thing you have to know when it comes to shopping for a gift is who you are shopping for, so before you buy consider the following:
The persons' level of skill when it comes to computers. Are they newbish? Know enough to be dangerous? Can they take apart a PC blindfolded? Getting someone a component for their rig that is above their skill level could make for a disastrous Christmas.
They may already have what you are planning to get them. A common mistake when it comes to Christmas. These things cannot be avoided from time to time but we can make sure to do our best to be original. This is why I suggest avoiding easily acquired items like external hard drives, USB thumb drives, PC RAM, etc. . This may require a little investigation or snooping on your part. Lucky for your the person you are buying for has no idea that N8TECH has equipped you with a mighty sword with +10 geek-telligence.
Now that you have done your homework it's time to get down to it.
NEW MONITOR
I know, you probably thought of this already. Well it's a good place to start. I bet that During the course of a relationship between monitor and owner, the phrase "I wish I had a better monitor" has been said at least once. Getting someone a new monitor is almost like killing 3 birds with one flamethrower. Purchasing the right monitor will allow for it to double as a TV or DVD player, it gives the new owner the option of setting up two monitors at once depending on the nature and condition of the old monitor (two words: command center) and can improve the quality of game play or viewing without even opening the computer case!
Some monitors come with cable TV inputs, but i suggest staying away from them. First it adds anywhere from 25-50 dollars to the price of the monitor. Also most cable and satellite companies these days require you to use some sort of digital cable box and/or converter to use their service which gives us better input options and by options i mean one choice: HDMI. The more HDMI inputs you have on the monitor the better. The second consideration is price. I suggest not spending anywhere over 175.00 American on the monitor. For that price you can get a decent 21-23 inch wide screen monitor with one HDMI input but going higher than 23 inches will raise the cost significantly, so I say stay within that range.
NEW CASE
Computer cases ARE the computer. Nobody but the devoted, hardcore enthusiasts care about what you got underneath the hood. 95% of human beings care more about what it looks like. Thats why buying a new case makes for a clutch Christmas present. They are really easy to find and there are approximately ten bajillion different types of cases out there all at different prices so the sky is the limit.
A few suggestions to those who are thinking this option is the way to go: Please consider the person you are buying it for. Getting a case that looks like a salvador dali painting come to life for a conservative person may cause it to be returned. The same goes the other way too, so consider the person who is receiving it.
Another thing to remember is that there is no such thing as a case that is too big, only a case that is too small. Large cases improve airflow and allow for expansion so don't be afraid to go out and get a large case (just make sure that it fits in the place you want to keep your desktop).
Lian-Li and Coolermaster are my personal suggestion: both make stylish cases that are well built and will last much longer than most if not all the parts that are inside the case. These cases, however, carry a hefty pricetag, anywhere from 100.00 to 200.00. If that is within your price range though I suggest Lian-Li. They carry slick looking cases made from solid aluminum which aid in the cooling process.
GRAPHIC CARDS
if the recipient of this gift is the gaming type, wants to set up multiple monitors or just wants to brag, than buying a video card is the perfect gift. This takes a little more skill than just a monitor to install and configure right but for the money it can really boost the performance of your pc.
Price, however, cannot be the deciding factor when it comes to buying a card. a NVIDIA 8400GT and a NVIDIA 310GT could cost the same price because of who made the graphics card, when the card was made, and the quality of the board and components it was made with. I'm sure this sounds wickedly confusing, but fear not. At the time of this article (December 2k10) there is a card out on the market that is perfect for you...
How do I know that? Well that's because I bought it for myself.
Take a look. I encourage you to look around, do some price hunting and discover a card for yourself. In all seriousness though why do all that when I just told you I did it for you!
images and link provided by http://www.newegg.com. go buy from them.
FAN CONTROLLER
Add a touch of awesome to your PC by adding a fan controller. These devices normally go for under 75.00. They look awesome and get a lot of "ooh's" and "ahhs". I've never really bought into the idea of fan controllers, especially because of their software counterparts not costing 75.00. Those, however, require fine tuning and don't look nearly as awesome as this
See what i mean? These are some of the many gifts you could get for that special someone in your life. Something they would definitely not be expecting. I hope that this gift guide helps you surprise someone with something they were not expecting. Thanks for reading and keep coming back to N8TECH for more guides, commentary, oh and EAGLES FOOTBALL YEARRRH
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