How to Buy Gifts for the Tech Enthusiast in Your Life

[apiltch]

Buying tech for enthusiasts is tough. We'll walk you through some good dos and don'ts.

How to Buy Gifts for the Tech Enthusiast in Your Life : Read more

 

[littlejimm]

I would highly contest #4 as that is personal preference. I personally prefer a paperback to reading off a screen any day of the week when I'm specifically trying to learn and focus on something

 

[sskoic]

I would recommend some cleaning tool / wet tissues instead of micro SD cards...

 

[bluemax2006]

I think a lot of the issue involved is getting to know the person you are buying a present for. That way you know if the screen or software or air duster will work. In general, this is a good list. I second SSKOIC's advice of recommending a cleaning tool / wet tissues.

 

[ynhockey]

I disagree that someone can't have too many Micro SD cards or cables/adapters. I have too many of both and have given some away occasionally. Plus, to me either of these seems like a really cheap gift. Even if you get some super-expensive golden audio cable or whatever (why?), it just feels like an underwhelming present. IMO if you want a tech gift at a low price point, get software (esp. games on Steam). There are discounts on good software/games everywhere and all the time.

 

[ET3D]

I disagree with a lot of what was said (for example, I don't want hardware branded clothes / hats etc.), but my main issue with this article is that it looks pretty pointless, because, after all, it's on Tom's, so the people who read it are tech enthusiasts.

Frankly, as a tech enthusiast, I prefer not to get tech gifts. The gift card idea is probably the best. If you insist on giving me something techy, give me some cute, cool tech that's unrelated to PCs.

 

[wikiwikiwhat]

Gift card to microcenter or electronic Fry's

 

[hoofhearted]

beer

 

[cryoburner]

I would highly contest #4 as that is personal preference. I personally prefer a paperback to reading off a screen any day of the week when I'm specifically trying to learn and focus on something

While I kind of agree that a physical instructional book may be preferred in some cases, I would also kind of agree with the article that they might not be the best option as gifts, especially if the person buying the gift doesn't know exactly what the "tech enthusiast" would find useful. Unless the person buying the book is already somewhat knowledgeable about the subject, and has a good idea of what they are interested in learning about, it could be easy to end up getting something that's not a particularly good fit.

Overall, I found the advice in this list to be fine, though I'm not sure one can never have too many cables, adapters and so on. I'm sure that Type-C USB adapters may be really useful eventually, but as of now, USB-C is still pretty uncommon. And devices tend to come with the appropriate cables, so most will likely end up with a pile of them laying around.