D-Bone
Nov 27th '06, 10:22 AM
Tis the season for holiday shopping guides. Many sites are putting up their guides for this year. I'll start a collection of guides here. If you have any other good ones, post a link and I'll edit this post to keep them all in one place.
Happy Shopping!
2006 Videogame Gift Guide from 1up.com
With two new console launches and hundreds of new games for the existing platforms, 2006 is undoubtedly one of the biggest years for games, ever. Not surprisingly, it's also one of the most troublesome in terms of buying gifts - with so many great games and consoles on the market, finding the right one is more difficult than ever. But that's where we come in. We've put together a complete gift guide to help you find the perfect game or console for that gamer on your list (or even just you). We've compared the platforms, compared the games, and have even included ESRB ratings (the game industry's content rating system) as well as our own notes to parents. Plus, we've included links for you to buy everything on Amazon.com. It's the most comprehensive guide for games this holiday season, and we hope you make good use of it. Good luck with your shopping!
http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3155369
Anandtech: Holiday 2006 Shopping Guide: CPUs
It's that time of year again where everyone is thinking about the various gifts they might want - both to give and to receive. Figuring out which computer parts make the most sense to buy can be difficult, even more so for the less technical people out there. What's the difference between dual core and single core processors? What about the new quad core offering? Is it really worth spending two to four times as much money to get a high-end processor instead of one of the cheaper models? And what about the potential for upgrades? These are all important questions, and similar questions arise for practically every single computer component.
http://www.anandtech.com/guides/showdoc.aspx?i=2876
ExtremeTech's Holiday Buying Guide
At lunch today, my wife hit me with one of the questions I dread most every year. "What do you want for Christmas?" Whether you celebrate Hanukkah, Christmas, or some other holiday, or simply look upon the season as a fun time to give and receive gifts, finding the right gift is almost always a frustrating exercise. What, exactly, do you get a tech geek who seems to have every last tech gadget, game, software package or obscure T-shirt?
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,2061070,00.asp
Ars Technica 2006 Holiday Gift Guide
We're deep into the annual, holiday-inspired consumer purchasing frenzy wherein we all go frantically searching for that perfect gift for friends and loved ones. Sometimes it's easy to find that perfect something for that perfect someone; other times it can also be an exercise in frustration, to say the least. That's where the Ars Gift Guide comes in. Whether you're shopping for another technologically inclined person, the technology-impaired, or just contemplating how best to treat yourself, we've got you covered. As we did last year, we have pulled together the best hardware, software, games, gadgets, books, and DVDs into a one-stop shopping experience. With few exceptions, we here at Ars have actually used the products that we're recommending, and we've used them for more than the five hours it takes a reviewer to churn out 2,000 words. In short, we want to do what we can to make your holidays truly happy.
http://arstechnica.com/guides/buyer/holiday-2006.ars
Anandtech: Holiday 2006 Shopping Guide: GPUs
Today we will be taking a look at graphics card upgrades, so before we even get to the recommendations the first thing you need to ask yourself is whether or not you really need a faster graphics card. There are basically three areas that can benefit from having a better graphics card, with the fourth on the way in the near future. Starting with the future, you have Windows Vista, which will require a DirectX 9 capable graphics card at minimum in order to enable the Aero Glass user interface. Vista is scheduled to launch in the very near future, and we will take a closer look at the performance requirements in a separate article. Of the other three areas, one that we won't pay attention to here is the use of graphics cards for professional applications, simply because that is beyond the scope of this article. The remaining two areas of potential interest are video decoding/acceleration and computer gaming.
http://www.anandtech.com/guides/showdoc.aspx?i=2888
Happy Shopping!
2006 Videogame Gift Guide from 1up.com
With two new console launches and hundreds of new games for the existing platforms, 2006 is undoubtedly one of the biggest years for games, ever. Not surprisingly, it's also one of the most troublesome in terms of buying gifts - with so many great games and consoles on the market, finding the right one is more difficult than ever. But that's where we come in. We've put together a complete gift guide to help you find the perfect game or console for that gamer on your list (or even just you). We've compared the platforms, compared the games, and have even included ESRB ratings (the game industry's content rating system) as well as our own notes to parents. Plus, we've included links for you to buy everything on Amazon.com. It's the most comprehensive guide for games this holiday season, and we hope you make good use of it. Good luck with your shopping!
http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3155369
Anandtech: Holiday 2006 Shopping Guide: CPUs
It's that time of year again where everyone is thinking about the various gifts they might want - both to give and to receive. Figuring out which computer parts make the most sense to buy can be difficult, even more so for the less technical people out there. What's the difference between dual core and single core processors? What about the new quad core offering? Is it really worth spending two to four times as much money to get a high-end processor instead of one of the cheaper models? And what about the potential for upgrades? These are all important questions, and similar questions arise for practically every single computer component.
http://www.anandtech.com/guides/showdoc.aspx?i=2876
ExtremeTech's Holiday Buying Guide
At lunch today, my wife hit me with one of the questions I dread most every year. "What do you want for Christmas?" Whether you celebrate Hanukkah, Christmas, or some other holiday, or simply look upon the season as a fun time to give and receive gifts, finding the right gift is almost always a frustrating exercise. What, exactly, do you get a tech geek who seems to have every last tech gadget, game, software package or obscure T-shirt?
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,2061070,00.asp
Ars Technica 2006 Holiday Gift Guide
We're deep into the annual, holiday-inspired consumer purchasing frenzy wherein we all go frantically searching for that perfect gift for friends and loved ones. Sometimes it's easy to find that perfect something for that perfect someone; other times it can also be an exercise in frustration, to say the least. That's where the Ars Gift Guide comes in. Whether you're shopping for another technologically inclined person, the technology-impaired, or just contemplating how best to treat yourself, we've got you covered. As we did last year, we have pulled together the best hardware, software, games, gadgets, books, and DVDs into a one-stop shopping experience. With few exceptions, we here at Ars have actually used the products that we're recommending, and we've used them for more than the five hours it takes a reviewer to churn out 2,000 words. In short, we want to do what we can to make your holidays truly happy.
http://arstechnica.com/guides/buyer/holiday-2006.ars
Anandtech: Holiday 2006 Shopping Guide: GPUs
Today we will be taking a look at graphics card upgrades, so before we even get to the recommendations the first thing you need to ask yourself is whether or not you really need a faster graphics card. There are basically three areas that can benefit from having a better graphics card, with the fourth on the way in the near future. Starting with the future, you have Windows Vista, which will require a DirectX 9 capable graphics card at minimum in order to enable the Aero Glass user interface. Vista is scheduled to launch in the very near future, and we will take a closer look at the performance requirements in a separate article. Of the other three areas, one that we won't pay attention to here is the use of graphics cards for professional applications, simply because that is beyond the scope of this article. The remaining two areas of potential interest are video decoding/acceleration and computer gaming.
http://www.anandtech.com/guides/showdoc.aspx?i=2888