If you’re like me, and I know I am, you wouldn’t dream of leaving the gadgets behind. Behold the Geeks & Beats Holiday Gift Guide 2018, perfect for the person on your list with an on-the-go lifestyle.
HP Spectre X360
Is it an ultralight laptop, or a tablet with a flippable keyboard? Yes. Weighing in at just 2.8lbs, the HP Spectre X360 sports a whopping 16 hour average battery life and enough processing power to effortlessly edit and render 4K video. Worried about prying eyes on the flight to fly-over country? No problem: press F1 to activate privacy mode and the screen darkens to keep private your confidential work.
Price: $1,500 Availability: HP Canada
Epson FastFoto 680
Preserve what’s priceless with this insanely fast photo scanner. Literally 1 second per photo fast. I’ve had a shoebox of photos in the office labeled “to be scanned” since before colour photography. I was not looking forward to the process, and as every year passed, more found photos found their way into the pile. With the Epson FastFoto 680, I cleared out the whole box in less than 20 minutes. It even will auto-colour correct the images and save them to a separate file. Got a description written on the back of that snap? You’ll never lose who’s who because the FastFoto 680 scans both sides, and saves the back scan if there’s something there. And the hopper holds up to 30 photos from wallet sized all the way up to 8×10.
Price: $800 Availability: Epson Canada
Kodak 75 Lumen DLP Portable Projector
Now that you’ve scanned your archive of photos and edited them into your video using the HP Spectre X360, you’ve got to show off your work. Staples Canada is reinventing itself as more than just a paper player. It’s expanding it’s geek cred by promoting the Kodak 75, a pocketable projector that works with all your major entertainment devices. It even sports booming on-board audio. While 75 lumens is strong for a projector of this size, be sure to turn out the lights for that film or business presentation.
Price: $250 Availability: Staples Canada
Ring Alarm Kit – Exclusive Bundle
While you’re away over the holidays, you don’t want to fret about home security. Home Depot Canada has bundled Ring’s popular alarm kit with four door and window sensors, because what’s the point of protecting the front door if you aren’t keeping an eye on everything else? The bundle saves you 50 bucks. Everything is wireless, and tool-less. Mount the door panel at the high-traffic door (I have mine at the kitchen door next to the closet) using the double sided tape. Don’t worry about charging the wireless components: the batteries last 3 years. Download the Ring app to your smartphone to be instantly notified of any trouble while you’re celebrating the season.
Price: $320 Availability: Home Depot Canada and www.homedepot.ca
What is the info about the “old fashion microphone” in the background of the Huawei Mate 20 Pro? Function? Where is it available?
Thought I heard it was “podcast recording”.