With the 2016 holiday season in full swing, buyers are often tasked with making frantic, last-minute shopping decisions. We know how hectic that can make things, and last week we published our list of five tech items for less than $20 to help make your gift giving a bit easier. This week we are back with five items over $20 for those higher up on your “nice list”.
Without further ado, we present the TechInThe21st “Holiday 2016 – Tech Over $20” guide. Take a look!
Amazon Prime Subscription – $99/year
If you don’t know what Amazon Prime is, we are going to presume that your current residence is located under a rock. Sorry, but this service is just so prevalent and has had such an impact on our shopping that we don’t know how we lived without it. Offering free 2-day shipping on millions of items, access to thousands of streaming movies and TV shows, over two million songs, thousands of books and magazines across multiple devices, and much more, Prime is one heck of a deal. It gets even better if you are a current student, as you get a free 6-month trial, and then a 50% discount afterwards.
Link: Amazon Prime Subscription
Corsair Harpoon RGB Gaming Mouse – $30
Corsair recently released their budget-oriented Harpoon RGB gaming mouse, and it is amazing. Coming in at just $30, the Harpoon RGB features RGB lighting, a 6,000 DPI optical sensor, and a low weight of just 85 grams. The Harpoon RGB is fully compatible with the Corsair Utility Engine (CUE), which allows for customizing not only the RGB LED under the Corsair logo, but also every button function, profile management, and DPI settings. The slight contour of the mouse is very comfortable, and the textured rubber side grips provide just the right amount of traction for keeping the mouse in place. Take a look at Corsair’s promotional video for the Harpoon RGB below.
Link: Corsair Harpoon RGB Gaming Mouse
NZXT HUE+ – $60
Looking to add a little color to your latest PC build, but you don’t want to commit to a single color scheme? Then look no further than NZXT’s HUE+. The HUE+ offers full control of four included 10-LED strips via their CAM application. By utilizing CAM, users can customize the 40 RGB LEDs with many preset modes or by creating their own. With room to expand to up to eight strips (80 LEDs), the HUE+ can also take control of NZXT’s new AER RGB fans. Check out the video below which really shows off the HUE+’s capabilities.
Link: NZXT HUE+
CanaKit Raspberry Pi 3 Model B Complete Starter Kit, 32GB Edition – $75
Last week we listed the Raspberry Pi Zero as a great way to get started with the Raspberry Pi ecosystem for just $5. This week the Zero’s big brother is on our list, with much beefier specifications to go along with it. The Pi 3 Model B offers a 1.2GHz 64-bit quad-core ARMv8 CPU, 1GB of RAM, a full-sized HDMI port, four USB ports, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.1, and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). While it is a step up in many ways from the Pi Zero, we have found the Pi 3 Model B to be much easier to get up and running with due to its larger HDMI port and built-in NIC. Our purchasing option of choice is the CanaKit Complete Starter Kit – 32GB Edition, as it includes not only the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B itself, but many other additional accessories like a case, power adapter, 32GB MicroSD card, HDMI cable, and more.
Link: CanaKit Raspberry Pi 3 Model B Complete Starter Kit, 32GB Edition
HTC Vive – $800
Stepping things up just a tiny bit from last week’s recommendation of Google Cardboard is the HTC Vive. Topping the price charts of our guide, the $800 Vive is often considered to be the best consumer-based VR experience available. Offering immersive, room-scale VR experiences, the Vive can instantly whisk you away to another world. A world where you feel like you are actually there, and not just staring at a monitor. The two included wireless controllers offer haptic feedback for added immersion, and a multitude of buttons for navigating these new digital worlds. With a vast library of games and applications via Valve’s Steam platform, the Vive offers everything from simple 3D art applications that will steal hours of your day, to first-person zombie shooters that will leave your palms sweaty and your heart racing.
And while nothing can substitute actually experiencing the Vive’s VR offerings, we think that Valve does a great job of showing just how great the device is in their video below.
Link: HTC Vive
We hope to have given you a few ideas for the holiday gift giving season with our list of five items over $20. And while our $800 HTC Vive suggestion may be a bit out of range for all but the most serious of gamers, the $99 yearly subscription to Amazon Prime gives you access to millions of products, including most of our suggested items.
If something along the lines of $20 and below is more your style, be sure to check out our list form last week, as it has some really great ideas as well. Either way, we hope you have enjoyed the read.
Happy Holidays!
