Holiday Guide 2007 - Computer Hardware and Slingbox

Computer Hardware

If you're in the market for some nice new computer hardware, then this Christmas is full of possibilities. If you want a new graphics card, both nVidia and ATI have recently released new cards. The new nVidia 8800 GT delivers the best bang for the buck this Christmas. The 8800 GT falls between the GTS and the GTX as far as performance and has a $250 price tag. The downside to this card will be finding it. ATI's new cards are the HD 3850 and HD 3870. These will fall closer to the $200 price range, but will have watered down performance.

This isn't the only exciting thing about graphics cards. If you have lots of money, you will be able to pick up 3 cards and run them in 3-way SLI and up to 4 in quad crossfire.

Slingbox

This has been out for a while and has been a hot seller before. The whole idea is slowly growing. The ability to watch TV on nearly any device that can be connected to the Internet is the next big step for computer connectivity. The first generation Slingbox was expensive and hard to configure. The new models are easily configurable and are reasonably priced now. I didn't pick one up last Christmas, but I think if there are any good deals I might pick one up this year. I would still love a built-in DVR, but that might be a ways off.

Conclusion

Christmas is just around the corner and it's time to start shopping again. I've gone over some great gifts that will surely be the hot products this Christmas. I hope these ideas make your shopping a lot easier. And hopefully the gifts you get for your friends and family will be exactly what they wanted.