February is upon us.
That means Valentine’s Day is coming. Yup, everyone’s favorite, perpetually-sentimental and highly-commercialized celebration for lovers is here again. Get those credit cards ready and pull out the checkbook – with so many cool things to do and fly gear to get, you’re gonna need them.
Well, maybe not. Just because everyone you know is spending more than their paychecks can afford doesn’t mean you have to get in on the same boat. Lavish gifts are nice, but many can be just as meaningful without going overboard on the expenses.
A bundle of flowers and a box of chocolates may be trite, for instance, but they remain as effective for showing your affection as they did many years before. Similarly, these tech gifts won’t go near the cost of a pair of diamond earrings or a week-long cruise, but they’ll play a meaningful token of your feelings if you play your cards right.
1. The Apple iPod Nano is hardly an imaginative present. If you can get it in her favorite color and fill it up with her favorite love songs, though, it becomes a significant gift that can make for your soundtrack of romance on that special night.
2. The Jawbone Prime is about as stylish as Bluetooth headsets get. With a texturized finish and the best noise-cancelling technology around, it’s a great way to wish them safe driving while you whisper sweet nothings on the phone.
3. Netflix is currently offering a monthly subscription of $8.99. How about spending Valentines curling up on the couch, sipping a bottle of wine and watching something scary (so she snuggles up with you even more) or your favorite romantic comedies on Blu-ray? Sounds like a fun night in with potential for a very happy ending.
4. The Amazon Kindle 2 is as perfect a gift as you can get for the lady who appreciates a good book. Make sure to throw in electronic copies of her favorite hardcovers while you’re at it. Oh yeah, maybe add in the latest bestselling romance title in there too, so you can read something together while cuddling up by the fire.
5. The Polaroid PoGo brings instant photographic prints to the digital age – and your lady’s purse. That way, you can both pose in front of the cheesiest Valentine store window you can find and get an instant printout that you can keep close to your heart – right in your shirt pocket.
We would like to think we know what guys want (but if we are way off, do let us know nicely!) – fast cars, funky jeans and…uhm…cool robots. If that’s a little out of your spending limits, though, these tech gifts should work out really nice.
1. A Sony Playstation 3 should be the ultimate tech gift for the man in your life – it’s under $300 and lets him get rid of a whole lot of aggression. That way, he can be the cute puppy you need him to be when it comes time to drive you around, carry your shopping bags and bring your cat to the vet.
2. The Klipsch Image S4 headphones makes an excellent replacement for any of those godawful bundled earbuds that came with his favorite music player, whether it’s an iPod Touch or a Chinese import. Perfect for your rugged dreamboat, it’s got that thudding bass to keep him pumped and an excellent build to withstand his reckless ways.
3. The miCoach pacer gives fitness the technology edge it deserves – a fitting gift for your tech head of a lover who spends all day in front of a screen. This fitness tracker provides audio feedback during workouts as it keeps track of his vital stats, doling out specific information that he can share with you over the web. Yep, you can actually catch him if he’s skipping sessions at the gym!
4. The Sony Bloggie Cm5 HD Camcorder will make a terrific new gear for your video-blogging hunk of a man. Be his biggest fan by giving him the gift of 1080p and make beautiful home movies together.
5. The local IMAX is a great way to enjoy a Valentine’s Day movie. We’re not sure about the chances of finding a romantic comedy title on immersive 3D, but a nice two hours of hair-raising entertainment may just be what the love doctor ordered for the coolest couple in the world – you two, of course.
Don’t be afraid to leave us some of your Valentine’s Day suggestions down below in the comments either.