Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Christmas gift ideas: top Christmas gifts for 2013

Christmas gift ideas: top Christmas gifts for 2013

TechRadar's got you covered for gift ideas

Christmas is approaching and no doubt there's a gadget lover in your life that you'll be buying gifts for.

So to give you some shopping inspiration, and help you avoid the busy high street, we've put together the ultimate gift guide with links to buy everything online.

We've got gifts for music and movie fans, gamers, Mac and PC users, gadgets for the kitchen and much more.

So scroll on down through our Christmas gift ideas for 2013 - you may well even find yourself buying a few gifts for yourself while you're at it.

Want something special for the photographer in your life? See our cameras gift guide.

Gifts for movie fans

Husky Union Jack Mini Fridge - £140

Husky Fridge

A fine selection of refreshments is a must for any movie night - preferably in a mini fridge such as this one from Husky, enabling you to just sit back and relax, happy in the knowledge that all your nourishment needs are only an arm stretch away.

Philips 278G4DHSD 27-inch 3D monitor - £258

Philips 278G4DHSD

If you prefer your big-screen kicks at your desk, you don't need that big a screen. This Philips 27-inch monitor is big enough to make 3D movies look stunning just a few feet from your face. It even creates an ambient glow behind the screen as the mood of the movie changes.

Roku 2XS - £65

Roku 2XS

The grown-up Roku is a tiny but brilliant media-streaming box, offering on-demand entertainment from Sky, Netflix, the BBC and more over the internet. Just plug it into your TV, and you'll have access to hundreds of high-quality movies instantly.

Retro Kettle Popcorn Maker - £143

Retro Kettle Popcorn maker

This vintage-style popcorn maker turns out authentic popcorn, just like a real cinema, ensuring a constant stream of snacks to keep your energy levels up for marathon movie sessions.

Sony BDP-S790 4K & 3D Blu-ray player - £200

Sony BDP-S790

Not content with old-school DVD movies? Then Sony's BDP-S790 player offers HD Blu-ray. Need more depth? It's also 3D capable. Not enough? You'll be pleased to know it has Digital Cinema 4K built-in, which enables you to watch movies at four times the quality of Full HD. Amazing!

Toshiba Satellite U840W - £720

Toshiba U840W

Movies at the cinema are shown in super-widescreen, but most home displays aren't the right size, so you don't get the full experience. This Windows 8 laptop has a 21:9 ratio display so you get the entire picture - and you can take it everywhere.

Q Acoustics 2000i Series 5.1 Cinema Pack - £625

Q-Acoustics 2000 5.1 Series

What's a movie without incredible surround sound? Not a proper one, if you ask us. But fear not - Q Acoustics' set of speakers bring the sort of realistic sound that might make your neighbours a little envious.

BenQ W703D Projector - £415

BenQ W703D

Nothing beats the experience of having a massive screen to watch movies on, but unless you want to lose half your lounge to a big black box, a projector is the way forward. BenQ's W703D projector is not only Full HD, but it also offers 3D viewing so you really can have the cinema at home.

Sony VPL-HW50ES - £2,800

Sony VPL-HW50ES

This quiet machine throws images up to 300 inches across, with deep blacks and lush colours. Its Iris 3 technology judges optimum aperture openings, creating a dynamic image with a 100,000:1 contrast range. 3D performance falls a little short of expectations, but two pairs of specs are thrown in to distract you. For 2D, the SXRD light engine and Reality Creation processor keep things crisp. This is our choice for big movies.

Epson EH-TW8100 - £1,900

Epson

This projector's blacks could be deeper, but there's nuance in the shadows and no shortage of detail, even at the maximum 300-inch image size. Indeed, at 2,400 lumens the Epson is so bright you won't need black-out blinds, making it ideal for daytime film marathons.

It's also quiet, particularly in Eco mode, although when you engage 3D it gets noticeably louder. It does, however, deliver clean, immersive active shutter 3D. Glasses cost extra.

JVC DLA-X35 - £2,500

JVC DLA-X35

Packing a killer contrast punch, with image sizes up to 200 inches across, this is a heavyweight in every way. It has unbeatable native contrast - 50,000:1 - with no need for the dynamic iris systems employed by Sony and others.

Blacks are velvety and colour fidelity is superb. The DLA-X35 is 3D-ready, but there are issues with crosstalk. However, for 2D HD projection, it's hard to fault.

Acer K750 - £1,600

Acer K750

It may lack the brightness of rival LCD and DLP projectors, but the Acer K750 will never need a replacement bulb because it uses a revolutionary LED laser light source instead.

Picture quality is good, but you need to be in a very dark room if you want to see images that live up to the 100,000:1 quoted contrast. It's not 3D-ready, but it can handle the third dimension with help from a DLP Link processor.

BenQ W1070 - £693

BenQ W1070

Despite being the cheapest projector here, this 1080p DLP number from BenQ serves up superb images. Output is 2,000 lumens and it musters a 235-inch image from 19 feet.

Images have impressive clarity, motion resolution is good, and while it may not offer the darkest blacks, the W1070 is still capable of a snappy 10,000:1 dynamic range. It's also 3D capable, although no glasses are supplied in the box.


Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/gaming/holiday-gift-guide-tech-and-games-galore-1188394

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