The Gadget Christmas That Was and Wasn’t

For several years I’ve run a gadget postmortem after our annual Christmas extravaganza. 2010 is no different, except that the gadget volume is noticeably lower. Here’s the tally:

• 1 LG Quantum Windows Phone 7 (dad)
• 1 Samsung Captivate (brother)
• 1 Dual XGPS251 (husband)
• 1 Sony Xplod CDX-GT700HD car radio (me)
• 1 laser light toy (cat)

I’ve had little hands-on time with any of these gifts yet, particularly as my car radio has to be installed before I can use it. However, I can report some initial impressions. My father, a self-professed Microsoft fanboy, is wildly excited about his LG Quantum C900 Windows Phone 7. I’m planning to play around with it later today, but for the few moments I held on to it, I have to say I was impressed with its lightning-fast response times. That’s either a testament to the LG phone, or to the comparative lagginess of my aging Droid Eris. My brother, on the other hand, was not terribly enthusiastic about his Samsung Captivate. A variant of the Galaxy S line, the Captivate is possibly the best Android option currently available on AT&T. Unfortunately, it only has a soft keyboard, battery life is lacking, and my brother found integration with his primary Google apps to be maddening. He’s keeping the phone, with the hope it will grow on him.

We’ve yet to try out the Dual XGPS 251, which I spotted back in November, that will turn my husband’s second-generation iPod Touch into a GPS device – but it should get a workout on the ride back to Philly tomorrow. Meanwhile, the laser light gadget is a hit, but it still plays second fiddle to the new catnip toy.

Most notable this Christmas is how few gadgets were on my wishlist for a change. I’m waiting on a viable Android tablet, which should show up in early 2011, and while I’d like to upgrade my phone, there’s nothing I want to upgrade it to yet. My Slacker G2 music player is a little dated, but I refuse to give up offline station caching and the ability to save songs with my premium account. I don’t need a camera, and my netbook should (hopefully) last until the end of next year. Luckily, CES is right around the corner. Here’s to renewed gadget lust in 2011.