by Chris Ware on Nov 15, 2010
Looking
for the inside track on what is sure to be this season’s
version of the Zhu-Zhu Pet, Tickle Me Elmo or a Cabbage Patch Kid (for
those of us that remember the 80s)? Well go look someplace
else folks, because here at Ten Ton Hammer we are all about gamers,
geeks and gadgets. Here are some of our favorites, from the
ultra-cool to the ultra-quirky, all broken down by price range.
href="http://www.thinkgeek.com/caffeine/candy/e59b/?pfm=homepage_Featured_3">
style="">Caffeinated Marshmallows
style="">
href="http://www.thinkgeek.com/caffeine/candy/e59b/?pfm=homepage_Featured_3">
– What
stocking would be complete
without some sweets? And when it’s a gamer’s
stocking you should
probably throw
in some sort of caffeination as well. Enter Stay Puft –
Caffeinated
Marshmallows which satisfy both needs and have the whole cult movie
mojo working
as well. A must have for the LAN party enthusiast.
style="">
style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">$19.99
href="http://www.gadgetnation.net/">
style="">Gadget
Nation
style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">
–
Ever wonder what happened
to your middle-school science teacher? During his quest to cure that
male
pattern baldness he inadvertently created a ridiculous but popular
gadget. If you want to know the rest of the story and
indulge yourself in how some of our most beloved gadgets made their way
onto
our TVs, check out this fun coffee table book. Perfect for the mad
scientist
hiding inside us all
style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">. $19.99
style="">
Keep reading on the next page for more great gift ideas.
href="http://shop.steelseries.com/us/index.php/steelseries-6gv2.html">
style="">SteelSeries 6Gv2
– The launch
of StarCraft
II has reintroduced
us to the
concept of Actions Per Minute.
Pro
players
and enthusiast alike are all striving to increase this number and many
have
found the precise nature of a mechanical keyboard to be vastly superior
to the
mushy feel of newer style models.
style="">
Plus
you can take a bath with them.
style="">$99.99
href="http://www.coloud.com/">
style="">Coloud
Headphones
style=""> – Going
for fashion over function isn’t always a bad thing. Coloud
headphones
bring a
visual flair to your dome with styles ranging from Hello Kitty to Star
Wars.
More collections are being added all the time, with the NHL being the
most
recent. Perhaps the puckhead on your list would appreciate this
addition to
their iPod (Go Red Wings) .
style=""> $40.00
.
href="http://www.booqbags.com/iPad-cases/boa-folio-iPad-folio"> style="border: 2px solid ; width: 200px; height: 212px;"
href="http://www.booqbags.com/iPad-cases/boa-folio-iPad-folio">
style="">iPad Folio
style="">
– Have an Apple
fanboy on your list this year? My
condolences. But
let’s see if we can work through this potential tragedy
together. Booq,
purveyor of amazing portable electronic bags and cases, has come to the
rescue
with this stylish and functional case for the iPad – it even
has a
convenient
iPhone pouch to complete the look.
style="">
style="">$89.99
href="http://www.levelupgear.com/products/default.aspx">
style="">Levelup Console Storage
style=""> – Console
gamers need some holiday
love too, and most of them are notoriously messy. Killing two birds
with one
stone is a console storage device from Levelup products. With room for
the
console, games, controllers and obscenely large input devices for
blossoming
rock stars – these handy devices are more efficient than
Rosey the
robot maid.
$69.99 – $89.99
href="http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/rc/e592/">
style="">R/C Millennium Falcon
style=""> – The
coolest spacecraft to ever grace
the silver screen is now yours to command with this remote control
Millennium
Falcon. Leave it to the folks over at ThinkGeek to find the most
kickass R/C
toy ever, a must have for the Star Wars enthusiast.
style="">
P.S. Han shot first.
style="">$49.99
Read on for even higher priced fun!
style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">
href="http://www.boxee.tv/buy">
style="">Boxee
– Merging television with the interwebs is a booming
business, but getting it set up can prove to be either frustrating or
frustratingly expensive.
Bringing
power
and simplicity to the people is where Boxee comes in. Networking
powerhouse
D-Link offers up this plug and play box for $199.99 or, for those
do-it-yourselfers, they provide instructions on their site to help you
make
your own – for FREE! $199.99
href="http://www.xbox.com/en-US/kinect">
style="">Kinect
style=""> – Of
all the uses for a human body
perhaps none are quite as
geek-tastic as turning it into a video game controller. Kinect does
just that
allowing you to really interact with your games and end those years of
Wii
envy. I
do shudder
to think what may
become of this technology given the prior track record of some of the
Xbox’s
more risqué titles which earned it its infamous Sexbox
nickname. $149.99
href="http://shop.steelseries.com/us/index.php/audio-us/steelseries-7h.html">
style="">SteelSeries 7H Headset
style=""> –
Serious
raiders demand serious
headsets. SteelSeries raises the bar on performance headgear with their
latest
offering, the 7H. With a list of features a mile long they look great
on paper,
but the real proof is in the ear-pudding. I got to try a pair of these
out this
year at Blizzcon and the results were amazing, even to a hearing
impaired geek
like me. My wife really likes the interchangeable ear cushions that
switch from
sound dampening immersion to hear-through mode to allow interaction
with those
pesky real life people that keep cropping up in my house.
style="">
style="">$129.99
href="http://www.speakal.com/ipanda.html">
style="">Speakal
iPanda
style=""> -
style=""> A
charging dock and
speaker system for your iPod in the shape of a cuddly panda?
What’s not
to
love. Speakal makes several other models in all price ranges for your
favorite
iClone. $119.99
href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824005134">
style="">LG 24” LCD Monitor
style="">
– Life’s
good when you are gaming in
ultra-high definition. This smoking fast monitor from LG can help you
reach
your full gaming potential and at under $300.00 it won’t
break the
bank.
Features include 2ms response time, full 1080p and HDMI output, among
others.
style="">$299.99
Now, if you dare, click on over to the final page for the $300.00 and
over gifts.
style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">
href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150476">
style="">Raedon HD 5870
style="">
– Video card prices
fluxuate more than Oprah’s weight, but
there
are some smoking deals on the market this year. Recent reviews of both
this ATI
card and its GeForce counterpart rate them essentially the same, so
with no
clear cut winner it comes down to personal preference.
style="">
ATI has solved its
driver issues that plagued
them a few years ago and have been cranking out awesome cards ever
since. The
5870 will deliver the kind of jaw-dropping visuals and performance that
used to
exist solely in the realm of $500.00 + cards.
style="">$329.99
href="http://www.originpc.com/thebigo-features.asp">
style="">The Big O
style="">
- Not that big O, get your
minds out of the gutter. This Big
O is
the brainchild of munchies fueled uber-geeks sitting around and
pondering the
question - “Wouldn’t it be AWESOME if you could put
an X-Box 360 INSIDE
a PC?”
The answer comes to us in the form of this monster machine with liquid
cooling,
more fans than Radiohead, and top of line components. Not for the faint
of
heart, or wallet, this bad boy is definitely not recession friendly.
style="">
style="">Base
Price $7669.00
href="http://www.thinkgeek.com/electronics/home-entertainment/d596/">
style="">MiLi iPhone Projector
style=""> – Sometimes
watching movies on your
iPhone is an experience you want to share and, let’s face it,
it’s not
easy to
crowd around that little screen.
style=""> Add
this unfoldable projector unit to your iDevice and project your
awesomeness in
diameters up to 70”. This little wonder also amplifies the
speaker and
recharges the device while its nestled snugly in the cradle.
style="">$359.99
href="http://shopamerica.htc.com/cell-phones/productdetail.htm?prId=37149">
style="">HTC EVO 4G
style="">
– For those of us who
aren’t enamored with Apple and their
shiny
repackaging of old tech and proprietary business model there is the
Android,
smartphone of the people. There are plenty of choices in the Android
market and
most will come down to which are available on your carrier, but one of
the
coolest is the HTC EVO. This 4G capable monster packs a high tech
punch, has an
amazing built in camera and doesn’t need a bulky case to keep
from
dropping
calls. $499.99
w/o contract.
style="">
href="http://www.novelquest.com/emperor.html">NovelQuest
Emperor 200 Workstation
– For the geek who
has everything and the gift giver who has
unlimited
funds, there is the Emperor. Words cannot adequately describe the
awesomeness
that is the ultimate computer desk.
style="">$39,995.00
From all
of us here
at Ten Ton Hammer, have a very happy holiday season.