keyboard sold separately

iPad
Price: $549-$879

First, let’s start with the big ticket item for this year’s guide: the Apple iPad. As many of you know, this wonderful piece of technology is great for any person that loves their technology.  This little “do-it-all” is great for travel with wifi or 3G connection, the business person that needs to stay informed with their apps, or even for a student to take notes or work on assignments on the move.  The great thing about the iPad is the fact that it can be used as an e-reader with the help of many applications and can also be used for playing games. The iPad comes in a number of gigabit sizes ranging from 16GB up to a 64GB. The price of the iPad is determined by gigabyte size as well as the connection function. The cheaper versions of the iPad only have wifi connectibility, while the more pricey models have both wifi and 3G.

Available from the Apple Store

Able Planet Noise Cancelling Headphones
Price: $149.99

These headphones are a great gift idea for the music lover or gamer on your list. With noise cancelation technology, they can take people further into a different world than ordinary headphones. They are lightweight, cute, comfortable, and foldable for easy storage. They feature Linx Audio for great sound, in line volume control for ease of use, and come with adapters to make them usable with several different devices, as well as a soft carrying case and the necessary AAA battery. What’s more, this is a gift you can feel good about because 10% of the purchase price for these headphones goes to support breast cancer research.

Available from AblePlanet.com
GA Review by Dawn

CM4 Catalyst Case - PAX 2010 Edition

Catalyst DSi Case from CM4
Price: $19.99

As a gadgets editor, it wouldn’t be a holiday guide if I didn’t recommend some form of gadget protection. This year I’m recommending the Catalyst DSI case from CM4. This sleek and sexy case is a very classy way to protect a gaming machine that provides endless hours of entertainment. The case itself, is an Aluminum frame tightly wrapped in soft-touch fabric gives many of us older gamers an option for protection other then those in your face Nintendo characters in bright flashy colours. As well, the DSi can be played while it is in the case which gives the player extra grip.

Available from from CM4
GA Review by VioletZombie

The Flip UltraHD

Flip HD Camcorder
Price: $149.99-$249.00

I believe that every family should have a camcorder, I honestly do. I think it’s important to capture those special moments within a persons life: first steps, first throw or even first temper tamtrom. You can keep it all on film. The Flip HD camcorder is a wonderful addition to any family or to give to a friend who is always putting up videos. The camcorder itself comes in three main types; SlideHD, MinoHD and the UltraHD, with the UltraHD and the MinoHD available in 4GD and  8GB while the SlideHD is only available in 16GB.  These camcorders are easy to use and make uploading videos a breeze with the build in USB  connector. No longer will you be searching for those messy cords. What makes the SlideHD different then the MinoHD and the UltraHD is that the SlideHD can slide out to reveal a larger screen were you can watch back your movie.

Available from TheFlip.com

Microsoft’s Xbox Kinect
Price: $149.99

In terms of game gadgets for this season, the Kinect will be the hot item for your Xbox 360. The whole concept of Kinect is that you are the controller, no stick to waggle or balance board to stand on. As you move and play, the image upon the screen will do the movements that you are performing. The way that Microsoft is promoting Kinect is that it is full body gaming, where facial, voice and skeletal recognition will provide gamers within an involving experience. There will be 15 games available specifically for the Kinect, updates for several existing games to work with the Kinect and several more on the way for the holidays. As a warning for parents that aren’t familiar with the new Xbox hardware – you do need to have an Xbox 360 in order for the Kinect to work.

Available from Amazon.com

XG Pink Plaid Noise Canceling Headphones

Let me start out by saying that I have never had a really great pair of headphones in my life, never tried out anything with noise cancellation, and truly didn’t know what I was missing. So, needless to say, I was extremely excited to try these out. Let’s get the technical stuff out of the way. These Able Planet Noise Canceling Headphones feature:

• Award-Winning Patented LINX AUDIO® a Hear the Difference® technology
• Frequency Response: 20Hz – 20,000Hz
• Sensitivity at 1 kHz: 115 dB (Off); 121 dB (On)
• Plug: 3.5mm

When I opened up the box, of course I wanted to see how noise-canceling they really were. So I put them on with no music (delighted to see that they came with the required AAA battery) and flipped the switch on. I was in the kitchen preparing dinner, so the exhaust hood was on as well as the microwave and some music from the other room. These sounds all disappeared. My first thought was, “Woah,” it was like a comfortable little noise vacuum around my ears – like I had just formed silence-enhancing bubbles (that’s really the best way I can describe it). Then my husband started talking, mind you his voice is easily projected. I could hear him pretty clearly. So my silence-enhancing bubbles were more like clarifiers, getting rid of all the white noise. Mind you, this was without music, so I wasn’t disappointed. This would actually come in handy later.

After this little experiment, I looked at the headphones themselves and saw some great things. Firstly, the pink plaid not only makes them super cute, but also stands for breast cancer support because 10% of the purchase price for these goes to breast cancer research. Then I refolded them into their compact travel position. This is easy to do and sort of even puts them in a protective pose, which is great for transporting. The line is detachable and has its own volume control, ramping up the convenience factor for use and travel. The detach-ability also allows for adding the optional microphone to make the headphones a complete headset for gaming, skyping, voice recognition, etc. I have only used the mic a couple of times, but like the headphones themselves, it is easily adjusted for position and comfort. It’s pretty noninvasive and stable and delivers nice clarity.

The headphones come with some adapters to make them usable with several different devices, such as A/V receivers and I believe airplanes (the 2 pronged type). Also included in the package is a soft carrying case, which is just a little drawstring bag. To be honest, that was really the only thing I didn’t care for with these headphones. Surely there is something better to store them in, or at least it could be more custom to the size of the folded up headphones. The bag was way too big. So a little side story, I put more things in it and used it more like a little purse. one of those things was a banana, which I left in there even after I took out the headphones… needless to say I don’t have the carrying case anymore, but I don’t miss it.

Finally, I started listening to music at lunch in the cafeteria of the hospital. With the noise cancellation on, I was taken to a whole different place. The music sounded incredibly clear and felt like it was surrounding me, creating my environment rather than just contributing to it. It was awesome. So, I turned off the noise cancellation. That made the music much quieter and made me much more aware of how much noise is in my life. That sounds dramatic, but that’s really how it felt. When I turned them back on, it was like I was giving my ears a much needed vacation from the stressful assault of the constant, tedious everyday noise. I loved it. That means there really isn’t any point to listen to music (or anything else) without the active noise cancellation, which is only slightly disappointing.

I have gotten compliments on them wherever I have used them, including the hospital, gym (great for making you feel like you’re in the zone when you can’t hear anyone else or the machines), even on the airplane. I was sitting directly over the wing and couldn’t hear anything the captain was saying over the loudspeaker until I put the headphones on and paused the music. The noise cancellation got rid of the engine sounds and I could hear the captain clearly and translated for the lady sitting next to me. Talk about unexpected uses.

All in all, and without much to compare them to, I would say these are fantastic headphones for a multitude of reasons. They are cute, compact, comfortable, lightweight, convenient, user friendly, versatile, adaptable, and help out a good cause, making them a purchase we can all feel good about. I love these and would absolutely recommend them to anyone who likes music, gaming, great auditory experience, or even hearing what the captain has to say on the plane. I feel like they will last a long time. Note – they also come in red, white and green (only the pink pair benefits cancer research).

Look for them in this year’s upcoming GamingAngels Gadgets Holiday Guide!

Review units for both headphones and mic provided by Able Planet did not affect the outcome of this review.

“We designed this innovative new headset specifically with PC gamers in mind,” said Able Planet’s chairman and CEO Kevin Semcken. “Gamers tend to spend significant periods of time playing online games and such extended play of rich multimedia sounds puts a cumulative strain on the ears this can cause hearing loss and fatigue.  Our technology minimizes this risk so that users no longer have to turn up the volume just to be able to drown out background noise.”

With this in mind I definitely wanted to try out the headset! It’s a decent looking headset with an adjustable mic, and it even comes with it’s own USB adapter which I don’t really see come with many headphones. So I eagerly popped open the package, connected the headphones to my Mac and proceeded to fire up WoW to test out the headphones. Over the next week I was able to get a good feel about this headset.

I can say that on the first day I could really tell that the sound quality was better than what I was getting from my usual headset. The ambient noises from the game sounded clearer and I didn’t have to have my iTunes volume as high as I usually did.  The microphone also seems to work quite well and projects clearly as I received comments from my guildmates that I sounded a lot clearer in vent. So I have to give it an A in the sound department as it has lived up to what it has promised to be and then some!

The area where I was a bit disappointed in was in the comfort levels. The headset has rather small earpieces and even after breaking them in for a few days, I have to take them off regularly as they begin to squeeze my ears a bit too much. Not good for when I want to play for an extended period, do a raid, or just sit in vent and talk with my guildmates. In this area they may want to take a page from other gaming headset makers and work on the comfort level. Most of the gamers I know who would use a headset like this tend to play for several hours at a time, and when you’re going to be wearing something on your head for that long you want to make sure that it’s comfortable.

But all in all I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the headset. I’m glad to see that a company is making a good headset that also improves sound while trying to prevent long term hearing loss. Even with some issues in the comfort level, if you’re looking for a new headset, I recommend taking a look at Able Planet’s! It’s also an added plust that this headset will work on both PC and Mac systems. The PS500MM retails for $99, so it’s relatively competitively priced against other manufacturers, and it can be found on their site or Amazon.

Headphones provided by Abel Planet.