"Gifts and Gadgets" Part 1 - Desktops and Laptops
Monday, December 10, 2007SUSIE GHARIB: It's that time of year again -- time to hit the stores in search of the perfect gift for your loved ones. And as always here to help, our tech guru, Scott Gurvey, analysts have said this holiday season the hottest gifts are anything with a plug. Tonight we kick off our series "Gifts and Gadgets" with Scott's look at the latest and neatest computer gifts.
SCOTT GURVEY, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: Computers are flying off the shelves this season. It appears many of us put off the purchase, waiting for Microsoft's Windows Vista and Apple's Leopard operating systems to ship. So says editor Lance Ulanoff of "PC Magazine."
LANCE ULANOFF, EDITOR, PC MAGAZINE: People finally reached the breaking point where they want more power, they want more performance. The operating system has been on these PCs for a while, it's kind of baked in. There's a lot of great choices and people are ready to get something new and try something new.
GURVEY: The one piece form factor has been especially popular, led by the Apple iMac all-in-one units. Best Buy manager Shawn Blyden says the iMac is a big hit this season.
SHAWN BLYDEN, MANAGER, BEST BUY: It's sleek, it's cool, but the technology in it is fantastic. The new operating system, Leopard is just blowing people away. The new iMac is just very, very good.
GURVEY: You should consider buying a notebook instead of a desktop. Notebooks now have the power needed for rich multimedia and gaming applications. Todd Bradley, VP for personal systems at Hewlett-Packard, says notebooks are outselling desktop units for the first time.
TODD BRADLEY, VP, PERSONAL SYSTEMS, HP: Clearly we're seeing a market that's in transition. More and more people are buying notebooks. Our notebook business in the quarter we just announced grew at a little bit over 60 percent. So that broad penetration of notebooks is occurring.
GURVEY: You'll find notebook computers from $500 to $5,000. It all depends on what you need. And don't forget the accessories. To join in on the video messaging revolution, you'll need a webcam, which costs as little at $30. Microsoft has entered the field with its life-cam line and product manager Elaine Ansell says they are great for letting her children see their grandparents.
ELAINE ANSELL, PRODUCT MANAGER, MICROSOFT: They'd fly out every so often, but the way they can see them every weekend is we got on the web cam and they could see them take their first step. We opened their Christmas presents that way. It's just a neat way that, it's the next best thing to being there in person.
GURVEY: You probably know that virtually any computer now doubles as a DVD player. With the pinnacle PCTV HD, it can also be a television receiver. Installation of this USB device on a Windows Vista system was simple and the computer was able to find both standard analog and digital high definition stations using the small antenna included. I was surprised to find the $130 device so easy to use. The hardest part in installing it was opening the blister case that it came in without shredding my fingers. Why do they use these things? Tomorrow, we'll take a look at some the latest gifts and gadgets in computer software. Scott Gurvey, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, New York.
