The Gift that Gives

It has approached us once again. The sun rises a little earlier each day. The temperature slowly escalates, and before you know it we are here again. I don’t mean the beginning of 100 degree weather. I mean graduation season. There are a few gift options that can help make them successful in the real world or college life.
I have divided my list into two categories. The first are practical gifts the graduate can functionally incorporate in to their post graduate life. The other category focuses on items that are higher in fun content than in practical productivity applications. Let’s take a look at the practical items first. The iPAQ from HP and the PalmOne are two of the leading personal digital assistants on the market. They can help recent grads adjust to the next stage of their lives by helping them to organize their tasks. Another PDA option that I happen to prefer is the Blackberry from RIM. Blackberry has combined PDA functions with a telephone and other operations. I have had several and they are very useful.
The next practical item is a thumb drive or a pen drive. Thumb drives are removable storage devices that fit into the palm of your hand and plug into the USB port of your computer. They also come in various sizes ranging from 32MBs to 4GB. A 128MB thumb drive can be purchased for about $20. The Digital Pen from Logitech is also a useful gift. This digital pen can allow users to download to their computer all of the information that they have written throughout the day. This can be a real timesaver. Another perennial favorite gift is a laptop. The price for laptops has dropped below $1000.
The fun category is topped by the iPod shuffle, one of the hottest items on the market. They are priced just under $100. If your grad already has an iPod or another MP3 player, you may want to consider MP3 accessories like rechargeable batteries, voice recorders, or FM transmitters. Next on the list is the new Xbox 360 or the Playstation Portable. This will help the new grad unwind from a difficult day. If they are not into video games, a gift that is sure to please is a flatscreen high definition TV. A 19 inch HDTV will set you back about $1000. If you have a larger budget, you can always upgrade to the plasma TV set.
If none of these fit your needs or the needs of the grad, you can consider paying the grad’s internet service for a year. I would suggest the same for their cell phone service, but that could get ugly quickly. Another option is to take the easy way out and but a gift certificate. You can find many of the items listed in this article in local stores, but I find that prices are normally cheaper online. Here are some places to start your search:
www.pricewatch.com
www.pricegrabber.com
www.nextag.com
www.froogle.com