Passé though the example may be, putting technology to the ultimate usability benchmark, The Mom Test (
can my mom use this without any help or training?), may mean you've got an especially discerning technology customer on your hands this holiday season. We won't try to pretend gadget shopping for mom is easy; in our experience, many moms simply don't want to load up on toys that run on electricity. (Imagine that!) But if she's of a certain generation and needs a gentle push into your gadget-filled world, check out some of these baby-tech-free suggestions. Of course, none of them are as obvious or easy as a box of fair-trade organic chocolates, a bouquet of flowers, and a call from her little sweetiepants (read: you).
$0 - $100
Zen Stone Plus or iPod shuffle - We won't presume she's into managing her music via drag and drop or iTunes (that is, if she's moved over off of CDs at all yet), but it's hard to deny the simple utility of these little buggers. They're absurdly easy to use, go anywhere, and are too cheap not to buy. And if she's not into iTunes, well, good for her -- you can get an 8GB Zen Stone Plus for only a bit more than Apple's aluminum-clad player (when they're back in stock, anyway).
$70-90 - Buy from
Creative or
Apple
Cheapy photo printer - We're not saying it has to be the $80 Canon Pixma MP210 listed above or anything, but your mom might miss having paper prints of her photos when you pry that familiar analog camera from her clutching hands. You can send her to the local drug store to do her digital photo printing there, or you can show her how it's done at home by hooking her up with something she can use herself. Brownie points for you if you select one that has networking (for the rest of the family), and an integrated media reader so she can print without having to even use her computer.
$70 and up! Buy 'em anywhere
Verizon Coupe - Your mother may not need all that texting, videoconferencing high speed wireless that we know and love, but get her to put away the Zack Morris-edition cell with Verizon's simple Coupe. You'll have an easier time explaining how to set up the In Case of Emergency buttons than why this phone is named the "coupe", but she'll appreciate the simple, slim design and you'll appreciate the low cost. Of course, if your mom is too old even to appreciate this, you can always go with service on
Jitterbug.
$39.99 w/ contract -
Buy from Verizon
ThirstyLight - We all know who killed Mom's Umbrella Plant when she went on vacation last year, and her Peace Lilies the year before that. To stop history from repeating itself, again, grab a bundle of these ThirstyLights. Since plant evolution hasn't progressed to the point of monitoring water saturation once per second, all you have to do is keep an eye out for the blinking LED as the "Drypoint Digital Circuit" tells you when there's too much water or not enough.
$9.95 each, less in bundles -
Buy from ThirstyLight
$101 - $250
Everex gPC - The Everex gPC obviously isn't the rig we'd pick for ourselves, but for our mom's more basic online needs (email, browsing and the occasional Flash game), this VIA powered PC will suffice. And that same mom who got after us for leaving the lights on in an empty room and the fridge door open will appreciate that this "green" PC is a real power-miser. So what if it's ugly? "If those people won't be your friends because of how you look, they wouldn't make good friends anyways."
$199 -
Shop for Everex gPC
Plantronics Voyager 855 - Like most people, she probably has no clue what A2DP actually is -- but that shouldn't stop you from giving her options. The Plantronics Voyager 855 helps (un)hook her up not only with a solid Bluetooth headset, but the ability to pop on the earpiece cable get wireless stereo Bluetooth. Really, though, we'd just suggest you take it slow and show her the latest in hands-free calling before graduating to the next geeky level. (Or you can just step it down a notch and keep things simple with a Voyager 815 or Discovery 655.)
$125 -
Shop for Plantronics Voyager 855
XtremeMac Luna Alarm Clock - Your mom woke to the reveille of your early morning screams for years. And while she might not mind the clamoring of children on Christmas day, the rest of the year she deserves better. The stylish Luna alarm clock will let her wake (or fall asleep) to whatever tunes she wants from her iPod; or she can use large button on top to enjoy a well-deserved snooze. But if you really want to give her sleep / wake cycles a hand, check out the next up.
$150 -
Shop for XtremeMac Luna
Sleeptracker Pro - It's your call whether the Sleeptracker (and the new Sleeptracker Pro) is the real deal or simply SkyMall snake oil, but you might consider making mom a guinea pig -- it's for her own good, after all. She's supposed wears the watch to bed and as it collects sleep data (which she can later sync with PC-based sleep history software) it decides the optimal moment to ring the alarm in the morning, waking her during light sleep and not a deep REM cycle (which is likely to leave one feeling cranky).
$180 -
Shop for Sleeptracker Pro
Noteworthy mention: Mobile Edge Komen laptop tote
$251 - $500
Apple iPhone - If she's ready to make the jump to a smartphone, but isn't so stoked about the concept of learning Windows Mobile or some other nefarious mobile OS (and really, who is?), the iPhone should do the trick. It's a snap to set up and use, and your mom might be browsing the mobile internets before New Year's.
$399 - Buy from
Apple or
AT&T
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T2 - With a pocketable design, variety of colors colors, and some user-friendly specs, this is the ultimate mom cam. She won't have to worry about memory cards thanks to the 4GB of built-in storage, and the "smile shutter" face detection and 2.7-inch touchscreen should make it a snap to use.
$319 - $399 -
Shop for DSC-T2
Canon DC-210 - If she just wants to shoot footage and store it for posterity -- none of this fancy editing stuff -- then she'll probably love the DC-210. Granted, it only shoots standard def video to mini DVDs, but the price is hard to beat and if you pre-record some footage of yourself she'll be all the more stoked. Moms love that stuff.
$300 - $400 -
Shop for DC-210
BlackBerry Curve - You might need to do some taste recon to see if the BlackBerry Curve fits your mom's sense of style, but it's hard to argue with the functionality here. The keyboard will make it easy for her to text her modern friends and email the slower ones, there's WiFi for faster browsing, and the GPS will put her one feature up on her iPhone-toting friends. Some moms we know swear by this thing -- but be warned, others wouldn't touch any gadget like this with a ten foot pole.
$199 - $249+ plan - Buy from
AT&T or
T-Mobile
$501 - $1000
PhotoVu 1965W - We know it's taken you longer to wean mom off traditional photo prints than it took to wean you off mom, but you can't blame her, she knows what works. But maybe a digital frame will do the trick. With WiFi and RSS feeds, you can set this up to keep track of your Flickr feed, meaning she'll never be without a fresh shot of your smiling face on this 19-inch screen. Overprotective mothering was never this easy.
$899 -
Shop for PhotoVu
Blendtec Connoisseur - Will it blend? You're damn right it will. Any other blender would be a helplessly cliché mom-gift and should be avoided at all costs, but Blendtecs speak to one's soul. Plus, the mental image of mommy dearest blending up
iPhones and
Gibson X-Plorers (and advising the neighborhood children not to breathe the smoke) is too good to pass up.
$799 -
Shop for Blendtec Connoisseur
Dash Express - This one won't be in-hand until early next year, but it's worth pre-ordering for mom just the same. The built-in internet connectivity, via WiFi and cellular, allows her to track down nearby restaurants, look up theater showtimes, see local gas prices, and even check on traffic. It won't change the world, but with all the niceties of an internet-connected GPS device on her dashboard, your mom won't want to go back.
$599 -
Pre-order from Dash
Panasonic HDC-SD7 - If your mom has an HDTV and a desire to store and edit video on the computer -- hell, even if she doesn't -- the HDC-SD7 as as straight forward a way to archive full 1080p HD home video as you're likely to find. The unusually minuscule camera stores footage on standard SDHC cards so it's a snap to pull video down to her machine, and the 3CCD sensor ensures she doesn't have to be Julie Taymor to capture quality video. Just don't be mad if she ends up just sticking clips on YouTube, though, at least you tried.
$769 - $879 -
Shop for HDC-SD7
$1000+
Samsung Bordeaux LCD - Everybody watches TV, so why not let your mom do it with a bit of panache, courtesy of a Bordeaux LCD from Samsung? The 720p resolution will be plenty, and with displays ranging from 23-inches to 40-inches -- and some of the sexiest looks in the industry -- you can match one of these to any room.
$699 - $1399 -
Shop for Bordeaux LCDs
Apple iMac - If you're mom's already well entrenched in a PC kind of lifestyle then she might be a bit resistant to the idea of a Mac, but any way you slice it these are some pretty friendly, easy to access machines. You can hand deliver it running a copy of XP or Vista (her choice), and when she's ready to try out OS X she'll already be set up with everything she needs to manage her iPod, jump on the internet, and even use iWork '08 to design a Keynote presentation describing her favorite child. Hope that it's you.
$1,199 - 2,299 -
Buy from Apple
Ford with Sync - Do you have any idea how painful childbirth is? Stop screwing around and buy that woman a car already. And if Ford is her type of horseless carriage, make sure you toss Sync in there, which will help her pair her Bluetooth phone and media players with minimal hassle. Which, of course, means she'll just get that much more mileage out of the rest of those gadgets you like to push on her, despite her continued protests.
$395 + cost of Focus, Edge, or Lincoln MKX - Buy at your local dealer
Did we miss something good? Let us know in comments what that she really wants, maybe we'll find some place to work it in.
posted Dec 17th 2007 5:28PM
I'm getting my mom a digital camera and a digital picture frame. (December brings both Christmas and her birthday, after all.)
I'm looking for an easy to use point-and-shooter, but I can't quite afford the T2 (as nice as not every having to worry about memory cards would be). Any suggestions for something in the under-$200 price range?
Canon Powershot A series has some amazing low-end cameras.
Check out the Casio Exilim. The picture quality is average for the price range, but its size, design, price and ease of use are outstanding.
I personally find the canon a-series to pretty ugly. They supposedly take great pictures and all, but I wouldn't wanna get my mother something like that.
Instead, I'd say to take a look at the Sony W90. You might have to look around to get it for under $200, but its a really nice, stylish camera. Costco has it for $200.
I recommend the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T70. It is usually in the $200 range, but sometimes it is $199 on sale.
The canon powershots are GREAT. And yeah, I've heard the Sony cybershots are pretty good too.
I would suggest check woot.com because they have some pretty cheap good camaras. like an 8 mega pixel polaroid for $79. its a deal a day site so you will have to check back.
Get her something with fast focus times. My mom has a decent camera, and all she cares about it that it takes forever to focus. That makes her lose precious shots of the grand kids!
If you get a Canon Powershot (highly recommended) make sure it has optical image stabilization. Makes the point-and-shoot image into a much in focus point-and-shoot image.
Hi I found a cheap 8Mp camara from walmart. it cost $29 with $.97 shipping.
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?dest=9999999997&product_id=6528325&sourceid=22737466602582118136
I hope this helps.
In my opinion, the Canon Powershot A710 is one of the best point-and-shoots available. It is easy enough for my mother and sister to use, it uses AA batteries so you don't need to get expensive battery packs, it can be customized a lot (also custom firmware), and it has 6x optical zoom with image stabilization.
It is sort of big, but it's very good.
It's unfortunate the the ThirstyLight is sold out, and for some reason the Blendtec Blender links to a Google shop page for "warmrails alexandria".
I think you forgot to include the wonderful eee pc.
It's perfect for moms.
It was mentioned in our first gift guide, for him.
My mother is a woman, funnily enough. And when I let my mother at the Eee, she said the keyboard was the best on a laptop that she had tried(beating MacBooks and Vaios.)
First of all - ewww... Ford... (cue patriotic flaming). Second, the ThirstyLights have been out of stock for like a month now and they are the only place that sells 'em (please correct me if I'm wrong). Thanks Engadget for reminding me of my laziness of buying stuff at the last minute (I hope they make more of them).
Oops, I guess Cyantre beat me to the punch. Sorry.
Patriotic flaming? What's there to flame? Most American cars are made with foreign labor, because it's cheap. Most foreign cars are made by American workers, because foreign manufacturers know that Americans like cars built by American workers.
Yay, no flaming!
Not to mention foreign cars actually run, run longer and carry a decent resale value.
Strangely enough, my mother can't use windows, only Linux (yeah, we trained her) so an ipod won't work too well.
But I'm surprised you guys didn't mention the centro, it's a good simple phone and attractive enough that mothers would use it.
Man, how did you do it?
I'm trying to get rid of windoze, but it's just too hard because of the older ones of the family
@DarkLightConnection
It's easy. Just start before your mom has a computer. Buy her a computer, Install Linux on it. Show her how to use it. Most distros you might be considering for a mom-pc aren't really any harder to work with than Windows -- they're just different. If her first PC runs Linux, she'll think that's normal, and have no Linux-specific troubles.
Is me the only one who thinks it is too late to buy gifts?
And that is that i'm Mexican, American like to buy even sooner than us :-|
I don't know what you're talking about, early for me is on the 24th, more often though morning of the 25th.
When you click on the image of the Blendtec Blender, you get a Google Products search for a towel warmer. Will the Blendtec blend a towel warmer?
Yes.
Glad to hear it.
Not sure how that happened, thanks!
umm...my mom wouldnt kno what the hell to do with an iPhone lol
My parents are nearly 60, living in post-soviet country and getting with iPhone quite well :|
how do u know my mom isnt 92?
I had my iPod next to my laptop and my mom tried to use it as a mouse, suffice to say, I don't buy her tech gifts. My grandmother is a techie though so it was an HDTV and TiVo for her.
Damn, I wish I was your grannie!
Hey, why not add appletv and a powerbook, and you've got all Apple products covered!
Or Macbook Pro...
Powerbooks are the old models.
I have the XtremeMac Luna Alarm Clock! I can honestly say it's fantastic, picked it up cheap at amazon.co.uk a while back.
yes, that one too :)
No Zunes? The Zunes are a pretty good buy, especially the old ones that work just as well as the 2nd gen.
The new ones are pretty great, and most people I hear have been raving about them. But of course, iPods and iPhones will always dominate these 'gift guides'. But I think Zunes pretty worthy enough to put up on one of these gift guides.
Though I can't help but notice 3 Apple items listed already...
Everyone just click on his post history he such an obvious shill for microsoft.
@bigpana
Yeah that "Engadget staff" sure is biased!!!
@BigPana:
Wow, you weren't kidding! He MUST work for micro$oft. Do they hire people just to post on blogs to promote their products? That would be a pretty sweet job actually...
@Michael:
How do I get your job?!
Still use the "$" in place of an 'S'? Wow, like most companies don't make actually make a profit, do they?
I can ask the same for you. Does Apple pay many Apple fanboys to go around PC articles and suggest they 'buy a Mac'? Or are those jot cleverly designed bots? Because I find a LOT on the internet for a not so big community. It's like everytime somebody has this small PC problem, they immediately suggest a Mac. It's SO annoying.
FYI: Believe it or not, I actually use a Mac and a PC. It's true. There are things I like about OS X, and things I love about Vista. I actually have a life you know.
I was just pointing the # of Apple items, because as usual, they're dropped into these gift guides a lot, when there's obviously other things to consider.
Thye're are dropped in because they are the good products. You don't see engadget dropping the Apple TV on every list. If Engadget were really "bias" they wouldn't put the shuffle next to the zen.
Dude you're so painfully obvious...at least have different screen names...
I love how he used "like" for MacOS and "love" for Vista
I agree there are much better things than Apple's, but Microsoft's are not these things...
Sweet Jesus!
I would consider myself a MS fanboy with an open mind. I mean I love vista, have my own 80GB zune (engraved of course), use windows mobile, and im writting this post in IE7. But come on...all this guys has ever posted about is how much he loves everything about microsoft! I mean EVERY single post of his is how Vista is Great on his sony (hehe...i have vista on my sony...and it sucks, vista only weeks magic on my 5K home built machine), Live Maps are better than google maps, MSN video is great...blah blah blah.
I have to agree with the other poster that this guy has to work for microsoft...and to be honest, its people like him that just ruin these sites.
Yeah, engadget is somewhat baised towards apple, but they do still report on the zune and all. People like michael should be banned from posting...just the same as apple only posters should be banned.
All that said...I love my Zune! :D
Yeah it's so funny! Even programs I've NEVER heard of, I do a quick google search, and surprise, surprise, it's by Microsoft.
@DarkLikeConnection:
Overall, I prefer going to Vista, or Windows to be particular, over OS X, because I still kind of like the way it operates better. It's not uncommon.
@West Hubbard: Dude, I'm exactly the same here. I admit, I do get overboard with some of what I say, but you should really see how some Apple/other fans will say ANYTHING, even if it's not true, to make a point. At least what I say is considered true.
I really do think Vista works well on my Vaio. For real. I have several friends too with Vaio computers, and those who have Vista say it runs well. Maybe its just you. Users have different opinions. I think Live Maps does a bit better in the area of imagery than Gmaps, but I like Gmaps for other stuff as well. Personally, I don't really like MSN Video that much, it used to be good, but there's too many ads now. But there were some other things I liked about it too. So I'm a half n' half. Besides, its rather nosy to poke into peoples' comment streams. I mean, you must have a life, right? No offense, but there's better things to do than to check a commenter's comments.
@BigPana: Of course you've never heard of them, you have a strong dislike for all thing MS, while me, being open minded, knows a lot about whats available out there. I prefer that.
@West Hubbard:
Ok, I think you got me all wrong. No, I do not work for MS. Same as most Apple fanboys, don't all work for Apple (though sometimes you have to wonder...), and all other fanboys aren't deeply affiliated at all with what they like. In fact, I'm quite sure MS employees don't even use all things MS. I read things across the blogosphere, and I know that. And I don't even consider myself a fanboy, I just simply post whatever I think I like is right.
And there's never anything at all I can find in my comments that is completely untrue. As far as I know, I state FACTS, and NOT lies. You can't say the same for others.
My point is, is that comment was meant to say that with the Zune winning many people over, I'm quite surprised that I really didn't see that on any of the guides, and I thought that was rather strange.So I just merely pointed that out. Sheesh, that's all my original message meant. So don't call me a shrill when I'm not.
what the...?
only because he s pointing the finger on the many apple products? you've got to admitt, there ar pretty many of'em. shure enough i'm no win freak (nor an appleist) but still, i think it don't always has to be apple to be good
ummm...since when did the 8310 with AT&T come with Wifi?
None of these look like they came out in the past week or two.
So why don't you post the gift guides BEFORE Hanukkah next year? Is there any reason not to?
Where is the logitech harmony?
Everyone just click on his post history he such an obvious shill for microsoft.
How about a Gift Guide for the Girlfriend?
Would The Gift Guide for Her ( http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/26/engadgets-holiday-gift-guide-for-her/ ) be sufficient?
lulz, we had to retrain my stepmom when we got a new stove because it had buttons instead of knobs. and she couldn't turn on the tv for two months cuz we had DirecTV and you had to push 3 buttons :D
Meh, I just got my mom a toaster.
you can not go wrong with a digital picture frame for mom. especially if you scan one of those shoeboxes full of family photos in mom's closet and scan them in and load them on the frame.
@DarkLikeConnection:
Overall, I prefer going to Vista, or Windows to be particular, over OS X, because I still kind of like the way it operates better. It's not uncommon.
@West Hubbard: Dude, I'm exactly the same here. I admit, I do get overboard with some of what I say, but you should really see how some Apple/other fans will say ANYTHING, even if it's not true, to make a point. At least what I say is considered true.
I really do think Vista works well on my Vaio. For real. I have several friends too with Vaio computers, and those who have Vista say it runs well. Maybe its just you. Users have different opinions. I think Live Maps does a bit better in the area of imagery than Gmaps, but I like Gmaps for other stuff as well. Personally, I don't really like MSN Video that much, it used to be good, but there's too many ads now. But there were some other things I liked about it too. So I'm a half n' half. Besides, its rather nosy to poke into peoples' comment streams. I mean, you must have a life, right? No offense, but there's better things to do than to check a commenter's comments.
@BigPana: Of course you've never heard of them, you have a strong dislike for all thing MS, while me, being open minded, knows a lot about whats available out there. I prefer that.
What ever happened to the Black Friday giveaways? I never saw an announcement who won the larger stuff.
Ok! Now this series of gift guides is so!!! engadget!!!! Well done! ;)
I got my mom an eye.fi so I can finally see some of the pictures she takes of my kids. This was the perfect mom gift, in my opinion.
I'm just giving my mom money, she can buy whatever she wants with it.