A shopping blog of cool gift ideas

On Tuesday, I had the opportunity to discus travel and summertime gadgets with Leif Iverson of Digital Trends. You can hear our discussion on the Digital Trends podcast. Digital Trends is a great online resource helping tech and gadgets lovers find the latest news, reviews, sneak-peek previews and discussions of the trend-setting technology products.  If you’re living a tech-loving lifestyle, you’re gonna want to bookmark the Digital Trends site.

The podcast basically covered Gifts.com’s summer travel and gadget guide. These are our gift picks that will help get the most out of summer. Some highlights are the digital camera swim mask, the solar LED water bottle cap, and the remote control snack float!

Today the “5 Gs” of Father’s Day gifting is getting an honorary 6th “G”. Gaming is as popular now with the Dad (and the family) as ever. In fact, my daughter and I are having a blast navigating/manipulating the wilderness world that is "Wii Sims Animals"- great game!

And speaking of Sims, “Sims 3”, the latest, (any many are saying the greatest) from the Sims “life simulation” game franchise has just been released. Granted, this one is more suited for adults (not the little ones) but this best-selling title has really outdone itself by using both a familiar Sims game experience and adding exciting, new enhanced game play features. “Sims 3” is right at the top of the “want” list for many gamers.

Yet sometimes for Father’s Day, a gift that the whole family can share or use is often the one that makes most sense. An appreciated pick-up for dad (and the family) would be a Wii remote charger. Putting your game on hold while you try and find a few AA batteries for the remotes is very annoying. With a Wii-mote charging station, that problem is gone. 

Want some ideas for the perfect gift for dad? Go to our Father’s Day page, to find gifts for Dad.

Nyko Charge Station for Nintendo Wii starting at $6.90.

Still need to find gifts for dad? An easy jumping off point is to remember the “5Gs” of Father’s Day gifting. The most popular “G” for Father’s Day gifts is Gadgets. Dads (and guys in general) love gadgets and dad’s big day is a great opportunity to give him a new electronic toy to play with. 

Many dads take on the unofficial role of “family historian”. Dad is often the one taking the pictures and/or filming the videos documenting family history. And while we all might agree that taking these pics and vids can be a minor annoyance at the time, we’re all really glad we’ll have these memories forever. Casio recently lent me one of their latest point-and-shoot cameras. After giving the Casio Exilim EX-S12 a test drive, I feel it’s a great fit for dads (and moms) who need any easy to use camera with lots of functionality. 

The EX-S12 has the classic slim Exilim camera body. The camera has a 3X optical zoom, 2.7 inch LCD display and 12.1 megapixel resolution. The images (and videos) I shot were exceptionally sharp and look great online and printed. 

But possibly the coolest function on the camera is called the “Dynamic Photo” mode. Thanks to a new high-speed image processor, Dynamic Photo allows you to paste videos and still images onto a another still image background to create fun and clever images and video clips. These effects can be created through menus on the camera without the need for a photo or video editing program. That’s pretty cool.

The form and function of this camera make it a perfect gift for dad. I especially like it for the all the brand new dads out there who will want to chronicle all the great moments of fatherhood to come.

Casio Exilim EX-S12 Digital Camera starting at $209.95.

It’s Dads and Grads season here at Gifts.com. So what’s the best way to find gifts for dad or grad? For grads we have our special Graduation page where you can find great gifts for graduates of any age. And if you want to find great gifts for dads, but don’t know where to start, check out our Father’s Day gift page or refer to our “5G’s” of Father’s Day gift guide for great tips. 

One of the five “Gs” of Father’s Day gifting is Gadgets. And like Dads, Grads have their fair share of gadgets too. So here’s a gift idea that’s perfect for both. It’s the iHome iP9 clock radio audio system compatible with both ipod and iphone. I’ve had the iP9 for a few months now and I love it. Two great features I love with the iP9 is waking up to a playlist of my liking from my ipod and having a fully charged ipod (or iphone) when I wake up.

I can’t say dad will now enjoy waking up with this alarm clock, and I can’t promise the grad won’t tap the snooze right through that 8:30 AM Film Crit class. I will bet, however, that the iP9 is sure to be an great sounding and appreciated upgrade over their current alarm clock.

iHome iP9 Clock Radio for iPhone & iPod starting at $85.84. 

I probably wasn’t the only one who went to their first cookout of the season over the weekend. I couldn’t be happier that (hopefully) we’ve left all this crumby cold weather behind us. It feels like we’ll be living outdoors for the next five months! You know what that means.  That’s right- grilling season is upon us. 

Here’s a nice little grilling accessory that might be so good, it can’t wait for Father’s Day.  It’s a motorized hot dog cooker. You’d think grilling a dog wouldn’t be too tough right? But sometimes the keepers of the flame get a little carried away and char the dogs over the direct heat of the grill. This gadget both keeps the franks away from the intense heat as well as rotates them for even cooking. I’ll take mine with kraut and mustard please. Great for Grill-Masters!

Motorized Hot Dog Griller starting at $69.95. 

Old technology seems to be having it's hey-day right now, mix tapes are popping up all over the place, retro phones and especially records! Today is National Record Store Day, and if you have a player already go visit your local shop and pick up something old or new, if not check out this awesome travel turntable from Crosley.

The Stack-O-Matic, appropriately named, let's you stack up to six records at a time and plays them in sequential order. It has a retro look but modern features like full range stereo speakers and has the ability to play 7, 10, and 12 inch records. Did I mention it's portable? It's perfect for any family getaway, college dorm or new apartment. If you're a music lover, learn more about National Record Store Day here.

Crosley Stack-O-Matic Travler Turntable starting at $179.99.

The Nintendo DS is the world’s best-selling portable gaming device. So when an updated version of the ubiquitous handheld is released, you better believe it will make the tops of gift lists of gamers both young and old. So what should you know about the new Nintendo DSi?

The DSi is a sturdy yet slightly thinner version of the DS, which boasts a larger and brighter screen and upgrades in both its camera and voice recording functionality, but for the most part the DSi looks very similar to its predecessors. The real upgrade to the console is its access to the newly developed DSi Shop. The DSi Shop is a download hub along the lines of what iTunes is for ipods and the iphone. So with the DSi, gamers will have access to an ever-growing shop of Nintendo and third party games and applications. It is that access to the current and future content which will keep the DSi a very popular gift for months to come. So now you’ve got the scoop on Nintendo’s latest, all you’ll have to ask them is if they want theirs in black or light blue.

Nintendo DSi Console starting at $169.99.

Outdoor spring clean up is a bittersweet task. On one hand, it’s good to know that better weather and outdoor fun is just around the corner, but on the other hand, it’s still a lot of hard work to the yard back into ship shape. One thing that can make it a little more tolerable (or even fun?) is the additional of a new tool to the handyman’s arsenal.

The Black & Decker Alligator Lopper is a no-nonsense tool that will help chop, prune, and clear away months of yard debris. Downed branches, small trees, overgrown bushes are all no problem for the Alligator Lopper. It’s the kind of tool guys look for an excuse to use. He might just end up clearing the trees in the whole neighborhood!

Black & Decker Alligator Lopper starting at $99.00. 

Is your spring breaker planning on spending lots of time at the beach? Hook them up with this super tough digital camera that clips right onto their beach bag like a carabiner. 

The Argus Bean Carabiner camera boasts 5 mega pixel quality so they’re sure to get genius shots for their facebook profile. Hard to break, hard to lose, and easy to use…this is the ultimate Spring Break beach accessory.

Argus Bean 5 Megapixel Carabiner Digital Camera starting at $69.99.

For those of us who have to work at turning our brown thumbs green… technology has finally come to our aid! Enter the Soil and Sun Probe.

This handy little tool will actually analyze the environment you are trying to garden – and tell you exactly what you need to do to succeed. It measures light, temperature, humidity and soil information so you can see what kind of plant would thrive in your chosen location. It even measures the health of your existing plants that are in serious need of some T.L.C. Best of all, you can just pull it out of the ground, and pop it into your computer via a USB port. At last, a gardening tool that is worthy of the 21st century. If this doesn’t get you on the right side of green, it may be time to find a new hobby!

Soil and Sun Probe starting at $59.50.