holidays

Though not the sexiest products out there, printers and peripherals are some of the most useful. These are the types of products that sit in the backdrop of your tech life, unnoticed; but as soon as they're gone, you'll be ready to give your right arm to have them back.

Unless we're talking turkeys, you hopefully won't have to resort to too much dismembering with the list of top holiday printers and peripherals picks we've compiled. And no matter your poison, we've got you covered with a list that includes monitors, storage, input devices, … Read more

Gadgets make great gifts--for the recipients, at least. For the gift giver, however, tech products often mean a sizable bite out of the wallet. It's great to get an iPad--it's decidedly less enticing to pay for one.

Thankfully, there are some great tech gifts you can buy at far more reasonable prices--less than $50, to be precise.

We've scoured the Internet to find 10 worthy gifts that will cost you less than a Ulysses S. Grant. The list includes MP3 players, headphones, one great game for each major game console, and--our current favorite video streamer--the Roku LT (pictured above).

Got a favorite bargain gift that we skipped over? Let us know your suggestion in the comments.

… Read more

You almost can't go wrong giving the gift of music, so take a look at our top audio picks in this year's Holiday Gift Guide.

My opinion is that one can never have too many headphones since each model offers a different sound profile, but check out these alternatives for the audiophile on your gift list.

A good place to start is obviously a portable music player like the versatile Apple iPod Touch, but I also love the Logitech Wireless Boombox for iPad.

It lets you stream music from any device with a Bluetooth connection (most current smartphones, … Read more

If you want to make someone really happy this holiday season, buy him or her a TV.

It doesn't have to be gigantic, and it doesn't have to be 3D compatible or stream video from the Internet. Of course, if it's any of those things the smile on the face of your gift-receiver might get even wider.

Our complete Holiday Gift Guide 2011 collects our favorite TVs of the year in four slideshow-based lists, but the one we think works best for gift-giving is right here:

All of these series of televisions come in multiple sizes, some as small as 32 inches and as cheap as $450, and as the holidays progress, we expect their prices to fall even more. If you decide to pull the trigger, be sure to check out some our holiday-specific buying advice before you commit.

… Read more

CNET's Holiday Help Desk on CNET Live is back for seconds!

Hosts Molly Wood and Brian Tong will take live viewer calls, talk to the chat room, and answer e-mails. And dish out the best tech gift buying advice on the planet. This week's special guests include CNET 's TV Guru Senior Editor David Katzmaier, resident cheapskate Rick Broida keeps bringing us sweet deals, and Woot.com's VP of Retail Sales Darold Rydl joins us to talk about where to find some great deals and how Woot helped to start the craze.

We'll keep you posted … Read more

With all the crazy sales happening right now through carriers and retailers like Amazon.com and Best Buy, it's a prime time to shop for a new phone.

Easier said than done, right? Out of the dozens of excellent handsets out there, how do you begin to choose? You're in the right place. We've broken out some of our favorite smartphones and cell phones by speed and price, and we threw in a few nice accessories while we were at it.

Just keep in mind that the prices reflect the full retail charge, and not the ever-plummeting holiday cost. So enjoy, and happy shopping!… Read more

It seems as if everyone is looking for a holiday gift bargain this year, but the lowest price isn't always your best choice. To help consumers navigate their way through both online and brick and mortar stores, I spoke with PriceGrabber.com President Steve Krenzer.

"The best way to take advantage of the season is to prepare ahead," said Krenzer. "Have a good sense of what your objectives are, what your budget is, what types of items you're looking to buy and what are the must-have features versus nice to have features."

Krenzer said … Read more

In addition to the usual online scams designed to defraud shoppers during the holiday season, several malls will be tracking people via their cell phones.

Beginning on Black Friday, Promenade Temecula, south of Los Angeles, and Short Pump Town Center in Richmond, Va., will be monitoring signals from shoppers' cell phones, CNN reports.

Mall officials say they want to be able to see traffic patterns in the various stores. No personal data will be collected and the information will remain anonymous, they said. Shoppers are given notice by small signs around the malls.

"We won't be looking at … Read more

It's the holiday season, and it's the time of year it's most obvious to us that we just can't be with all of our loved ones and good friends at the same time.

Fortunately, there are other ways to be connected.

Thanks to the Internet, you now can video conference in real time, even when you're driving on the road (make sure you use hands-free devices). Mobile Internet devices, for example, offer you a broadband-like connection as long as you're within the cellular coverage of the provider. And when you're at home, a … Read more