Top Ten Electronics Gifts for the Holidays - Part 2

Last week I posted part one of the Top Ten Electronics Gifts for 2009 covering my picks for numbers ten through six. And now we have, live and in color, without further ado: THE TOP FIVE.

Pause for applause.

Cue Queen's "We Are The Champions." Thank you, thank you. Okay, enough with the second stage comedy, let's dive right in.

Kicking things off this week in the number five spot:

5) Green Technology Gear - It seems everyone is hopping on the carbon footprint erasing bandwagon. One of the biggest tech buys this year will be anything promoting power reduction and saving the world from our own wasteful ways. A really cool gadget from Arizona-based iGo is the iGo Green laptop charger. It purports to significantly cut down on unused standby power. 85% is the number quoted by most hands-on reviews. It comes with a USB cable and works fluidly with Bluetooth devices, mobile phones, portable gaming systems and MP3 players. Best of all, they look pretty sweet too. So scoop one up for about $99.99 and save the world. Well, at least until 2012 comes and the reset button is hit.

4) Touchscreen Laptops - Less environmentally-conscious and deep than going green, will be the New Year's trend of no longer freaking out about fingerprints on the computer screen. The big daddy models in this sphere offer multi-touch functionality and intuitive compatibility with Windows 7. (more on that later...) Some must haves for the season are the Acer Aspire AS5738PG, which is affordably priced at $799.99. Tablet designed touchscreens also make the experience more fluid. To learn a bit more, check out Rob Enderle's post at Digital Trends where he breaks down some of the best touchscreens on the market today.

3) Budget GPS Systems - The use of traditional maps is fading away faster than Bret Michael's hairline. So you five guys out there still folding and unfolding with your hazard lights blinking on the side of the road, it's time to let go of the past. Wave hello to the 21st Century! GPS systems have been steadily growing in popularity for the past few years now. Budget systems like Tom Tom ONE will cost you no more than $200. If you are really feeling the crunch of an ever shrinking budget, then older models offering similar functionality can be had for about $100 or less without a significant drop in power.

2) Droids, Droids, Droids (see pic above) - Google Android powered smartphones are coming to take over the world. Sara Conner was right and there is nothing we can do to stop the machines. So the best thing is to reach out and embrace the multi-touch functionality of the highly sought-after Motorola Droid from Verizon Wireless. Boasting a 3.7 inch LCD touchscreen, often seen lit up by an ominous cyclopean red eye, the Motorola Droid uses Google Android 2.0 operating system. Bells and whistles include bluetooth wireless, stereo streaming, a 5 megapixel camera and a 480p camcorder, as well as a horizontal keyboard, MP3 player, voice-controlled Google maps navigation, and a messaging platform that supports, video, picture, text, IM, and e-mail. I hear the iPhone is scared and wants to call Mommy.

And the number one best tech buy of Holiday Season 2009 will be:

1) Windows 7. Initial reviews show it not to be the buggy hatefest-generating disaster that marked past iterations of Windows. You've seen the ads on TV and you're no doubt among the many eagerly looking forward to the chance to upgrade. Windows 7 is being hailed as having an incredible user-interface, great touchscreen functionality, an innovative taskbar, and broad hardware compatibility. Windows 7 is the big bad OS beast in the room stomping out all of the ugly memories associated with the epic disappointment that was Vista. As a result of the good word of mouth from early adopters, many sites are also offering holiday packages to entice users to buy now instead of waiting later.

So that's my list. Keep an eye out for Black Friday sales and Cyber Monday deals to get the best price on these hot products. And remember--it's still a gift if you buy it for yourself.

What gadgets, gear, or various techy doo-dads are at the top of your North Pole bound letters? Bring them to the comments and share it with the blogosphere. I'll see you all right back here next week and on Twitter @SavingsGCapes.