Being a gadget reviewer and a dad, I’m often asked what would make a good Father’s Day gift. Personally, a day when I get to sleep in and eat a large slab of meat is just fine.

For those of you who want to get dad a gadget, here are some suggestions based on what I use all the time. In other words: These gadgets have staying power.

 

The iPod Touch. I don’t own an iPhone (I like those, too) but the Touch offers everything an iPhone does, minus the phone and monthly service fee. It’s great for playing music or videos and showing off photos, and I use the calendar to plan my day. You can even send and receive e-mails when you’re in a Wi-Fi zone.

Headphones. For about $120 to $150, you can get a fine pair of noise-canceling headphones to improve the sound of any portable music player while blocking the external noise that causes one to crank up the volume. That makes them healthier for your ears, too. Check out Shure’s SE110s and the new QuietPoint model from Audio-Technica.

Car stereos. With so many options today, you may not mind being stuck in traffic. You can plug in an iPod, play a CD, tune in a satellite station or listen to a growing array of HD radio stations. There are good models from JVC, Panasonic, Pioneer, Sony and many others starting around $100.

Also, with a little creativity, one can even access Internet radio feeds. My car stereo, for example, has a USB port. Hence, I can plug in a Slacker portable radio player (also recommended), and listen to Internet-based radio stations I created.

Amazon’s Kindle. As a print lover, I’m still amazed at how much I like this e-reading device. Amazon just cut the price to $359—still too high—but for someone who travels a lot and likes to read, the Kindle really lightens the load.

Portable universal charging devices. This is a booming category, including solar-powered devices like the Solio and USB-based devices like the PowerStick. These are great for road warriors who want to stop carrying several chargers.

The Flip video camcorder. Pure Digital introduced a new model, the Flip Mino, last week that’s smaller and thinner than previous versions. I have yet to give it a full run-through, but these little camcorders are super handy. They plug directly into your PC or Mac and have software for playback, e-mailing and uploading to YouTube built in.

And if all else fails, Dad will gladly take a gift card to pair with that slab of meat.

Thursday update: For those of you who heard me on Spike O’Dell’s WGN radio show this morning, here’s the column on the ESPN universal remote control. It includes a built-in Web browser — very cool.

TAKEN FROM  featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com



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