Father's Day: Electronics gifts for every e-dad

[ Photo courtesy of Duncan Rawlinson via Flickr. ]

If your dad has been sending signals, subtle or otherwise, about his need for a cooler digital camera, a lighter laptop, or a GPS to rid himself of those infernal maps that never fold up right, Father’s Day is your chance to shine.

As we did for mom on her day, we’ve picked some e-toy categories that we think our diverse group of dads would like to get. We’ve also recommended a model (or sometimes two) to buy in each category. These selections aren’t definitive; we’ve added links to our full Ratings (available to subscribers), where you’ll find many other recommended models.

The artsy type. For serious photographers, an SLR camera is the best choice. They are large and heavy but are more versatile than point-and-shoots, allowing a savvy shooter to capture images in a range of light conditions and styles. Not for amateurs.

• Recommended: Canon EOS 40D Digital, $900. For the price, this camera’s excellent image quality, large LCD viewer, and ability to snap 6.5 frames per second make this advanced SLR a great deal. Full SLR camera Ratings

The snap-happy photographer. If dad is content to take photos of soccer games and family vacations, a simple, compact point-and-shoot camera makes a good gift. They don’t have the complexity of an SLR, but a casual photographer would probably be grateful for that.

• Recommended: Canon PowerShot SD1200 IS, $230. This subcompact is a great value given all of its attributes: face detection, sharp image quality, a short next-shot delay, and excellent dynamic range (so it can handle a wide variety of shooting situations). Full point-and-shoot camera Ratings

The business-traveler. If he always seems to be working on a plane or train, consider getting dad a netbook. These utilitarian mini-laptops don’t have the power of their larger cousins but are great for basic tasks like word-processing, e-mail, and Web browsing. Many are so small they’ll slip easily into a satchel.

• Recommended: Acer Aspire One AOD150-1165, $350—and also available from AT&T for $100, if you commit to a two-year data subscription. This model has long battery life, but a smaller keyboard than most. (Most netbooks have fairly cramped keyboards.) Full netbook Ratings

The hapless navigator. For dads who can’t tell north from south, a GPS unit is a fine choice— especially if he’s about to take a vacation to unfamiliar territory. True, more cell phones are acquiring GPS capabilities, but the screens on most are smaller than on GPS units and many impose an ongoing monthly GPS fee that can really add up.

• Recommended: Garmin Nuvi 760, $250. This low-priced model offers many of the features of more expensive units, like Bluetooth connectivity, an MP3 player, and a trip computer. Full GPS Ratings

The voracious reader. For fathers who always seem to have a book or newspaper in hand, consider an e-reader. They’re expensive, but they offer the convenience of having a novel, magazine, and morning newspaper all in one console.

• Recommended: Amazon Kindle 2, $359 or Sony Reader PRS-700, $349. Both use e-ink technology, making reading on screen easy on the eyes. They are both fine devices but differ in some ways. See our previous reviews of the Kindle and the Reader.

The jogger. An MP3 player makes a good exercise companion. Dad can burn his Beatles CDs, load them to the player, and be off and running.

• Recommended: iPod Nano, $150 (8 GB). Easy to use and small enough to strap onto an arm. The headphones sound very good. Full MP3 player Ratings  —Nick K. Mandle

Comments

[Nick Mandle, Asst. Editor, ConsumerReports.org]

Image attribution fixed. Thanks for the great photo, Duncan!

- Nick Mandle, Asst. Editor

[Duncan]

Hi there,

Thanks for for using my photo in this post!

If possible please attribute it to Duncan Rawlinson and link to me @ TheLastMinuteBlog.com as per my request here:
http://flickr.com/people/thelastminute/

Take care!

[Tanner Huisman]

I bought my dad a Blu-Ray player and Star Trek: The Original Series Season 1