Guy's Christmas Shopping: Portable perfection

By Guy Cocker on 15 December 2005, 12:26pm

With a measly £910 left to spend on my Christmas wishlist, I thought I should look back at the year and pick out the gadgets that have really made 2005 for me. And by sheer chance, the toys I've found myself playing with the most are all handheld gadgets. I don't think I've read a book all year!

First came the PSP -- Sony's definitive handheld games console, which I bought from the USA back in March. While the Xbox 360 didn't have any killer games at launch, the Sony PSP came with Lumines -- a puzzle game that ended up being one of my favourite games of the year. Then, just in time for Christmas came Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, which was every GTA fan's dream -- a living, breathing city in the palm of your hand. Now the new Sony PSP Giga pack is out too, so you can get the essential 1GB Memory Stick Pro Duo card at a reduced price. While movies are a pain to convert to the PSP video format, you can still put plenty of music on there, as well as all the downloadable extras for Wipeout Pure.

When the iPod nano launched, I admit I was agog at the impossibly small MP3 player. But the measly 4GB storage wouldn't be enough to hold my huge collection of cheesy pop tunes. So I waited for the long-rumoured video iPod to arrive, and when cheeky little Steve Jobs unveiled the new model in October I was among the first to buy one. True, I very rarely use video playback on the device, but only because Apple hasn't sorted out TV programmes for us Brits yet. No, the attraction of the new iPod is its gorgeous black finish, its slinky new body and its longer battery life. And, of course, it comes with iTunes -- the best music software around. Someone may well usurp Apple in the MP3-player market next year, but for now the iPod is as essential to the gadget fan as oxygen.

I do love watching video on the move though, and that's why I have to have a dedicated player. While the Archos AV500 isn't perfect (it has an atrocious interface), it's the best portable media centre out there. Sure, the 30GB hard drive might be comparatively small, but the brushed metal finish, gorgeous widescreen display and support for DivX and Xvid video formats makes using the AV500 a great experience. It's also simple to set up recordings from your Freeview box because you schedule everything on the AV500, and an infrared sender controls the actual box. If Archos sorts out the interface on its next model, we could be looking at the perfect portable media centre.

I hope you find at least one of these products under your tree on the 25th and if you have any other suggestions then let me know via the Comments section. Merry Christmas! -Guy Cocker

Archos AV500: £350 from Play.com
Sony PSP Giga Pack and GTA: Liberty City Stories: £235 from Play.com
Apple iPod (video, 60GB), plus £15 of iTunes credit: £315 from the Apple Store

Guy has already bought these items:
Arcade Mania 150-in-1 Games Cabinet
InFocus ScreenPlay 7205

He has nothing left to spend before Christmas Day.
Click here to find out more about Crave's Christmas shopping spree.