Geek gift ideas under $1,000 (2009 holiday season)

By Alvin Alexander. Last updated: June 4, 2016

If you're willing to spend up to a thousand dollars or so on your favorite geek, first of all I have to say that's pretty darn generous of you. And second, here are some more geek gift ideas: gifts I'd be happy to receive for this 2009 holiday season.

Geek gift idea: E-readers

I was lucky to have my hands on the first version Kindle, and I really liked reading on it. They did an excellent job. A woman who works at the auto service place I go to from time to time has a newer Kindle ($259 at Amazon), and she absolutely loves it as well. I haven't seen the Kindle DX yet, but I'd be happy to find the Kindle 2 or Kindle DX under my Christmas tree.

The Sony e-readers also get excellent reviews. Unfortunately I haven't played with one yet, but from what I have seen, I'd like the Sony Reader Touch Edition.

Geek gift idea: Netbook computer

I was looking at laptop computers for a friend recently, when I ran across the Dell Inspiron Mini 10v netbook computer. Generally I don't like the idea of netbook computers, but when someone comes out with a system for under $300 that gets a good review, okay, I'll give it a try.

(I also just read a good review about the ASUS Eee Netbook, which is close to $300 when on sale.)

At $300 I can almost think of a device like this as being disposable. What I mean is that I worry about my MacBook Pro a fair amount. Wherever I go, you'll find my MacBook Pro close behind, but with a netbook, if someone breaks into my apartment and steals it while I'm gone, it's not a huge loss. It's really a commodity at under $300.

With such a small device, I can see keeping it in the living room, and surfing the web while watching tv.

Geek gift ideas: iPhone 3G, or an Android-based phone

If I didn't already have an iPhone, and someone was willing to buy me one, heck yeah, I'd take one in a heartbeat. I wrote a long time ago that an iPhone changes how you use a telephone in your life. Even just using the basic built-in apps, the iPhone has blown away any other smart phone on the market.

I don't have an Android-based cellphone (and I don't need/want two cellphones), but if for some reason somebody couldn't buy me an iPhone, an Android-based phone would be next on my cellphone wish list.

The demos I've seen don't look nearly as impressive as the iPhone, and I've read that v1 of the Android OS is a little slow, but I'd still make the sacrifice, lol. A few of my friends now have Android-based cellphones, and they really seem to like them.

The Motorola Droid seems to be the hottest Android-based phone right now, and while I thought their ads of bombing the U.S. were pretty dumb, if someone else is paying for everything, okay, I'll take one.

Geek gift ideas: Playstation or Wii

I'm not much of a video game player, but sure, I'd take a PlayStation 3 or Wii if someone really felt like they had to get one for me. I know I'd play Madden Football; I really enjoyed playing that on a friend's system recently. Unless they have specified a preference, I don't think you can go wrong with a Playstation or Wii as a geek gift for 2009.

Geek gift: Roku + Netflix subscription

I've written here before that the Roku/Netflix digital video solution is getting a lot of buzz from friends right now ( my Roku Netflix review). I won't argue with anyone who wants to get me the high-end Roku digital video player ($129) and a one-year Netflix subscription ($8.95/month, maybe more).

Geek gift: Large screen HD television

What good would a Roku/Netflix subscription be if I didn't have a large, flat-panel HDTV to watch it on? I'm partial to Sony here, and this Sony BRAVIA 40-Inch LCD HDTV would be a great gift for anyone.

Other "geek gift" ideas

I've looked at gift catalogs and online stores for the better part of two days now, and this pretty much completes my list. Unless someone wants to be me a new MacBook or MacBook Pro , I'm pretty happy with all the other geek gift ideas I've written about over the last few days.

My "geek gift ideas" collection

Before wrapping up my series of geek gift ideas for 2009, here's a link to the geek gift articles I've written over the last few days:

I don't know if it shows, but you'd be amazed at the time and research I put into writing this "geek gifts" series of articles. (I look forward to getting back to writing about things like Java, Ruby, Perl, PHP, and Linux!)

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