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Geek Gift Ideas 2001

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the tis-the-season dept.

Once again its time for Slashdot readers to chime in on what they think would make good gift geek christmas presents. Please put approximate prices in the Subject so Santa can more easily decide your gift ;) I'm still stuck for ideas for a few people yet. Of course I'll have to post my ideas anonymously so people don't know what they're getting ;)

4 of 1,055 comments (clear)

  1. Gamecube + Rogue Leader by Raster+Burn · · Score: 5, Insightful

    A new game console, plus a Star Wars related game... what else could a geek possibly want?

  2. For the knowledge whore by lordbyron · · Score: 5, Insightful

    30 discs of the Complete National Geographic from 1888 to 2000.

    Every article, Every picture, and of course every Cool ass map

    Lordbyron
    www.wylywade.com

  3. Unconventional gifts. by Christopher+Thomas · · Score: 5, Insightful
    I'm sure we'll have hundreds of suggestions for nice hardware in short order, so I'm going to post a few gift suggestions that can't run Linux but still have geek appeal:

    • A good soldering iron, a stack of vector board cards, and a bucket of BJTs, resistors, caps, and LEDs.

      Every once in a while I pull out a soldering iron and rediscover the fun of building widgetry from the ground up. Project books giving an introduction to electronics and a set of simple but neat building block circuits are still kicking around, and would be a useful addition to the pile as well.

    • A very large pile of Meccano or Construx.

      I'll dig out my own pile of each someday. Geek appeal comes from trying to build things that most people would never think of (a working mechanical clock out of Construx was my biggest accomplishment with that medium).

    • Decent origami paper and a couple of books on the subject.

      This falls under the "intricate hobbies" category, and so has a good chance of being welcome. I know I'm not the only geek with folded paper critters gracing his cube (a dragon, a Pierson's Puppeteer, and a Federation starship - yes, it can be done!).

    • Gift certificates for the nearest bookstore that has a decent computer reference section.

      At $50-$100 Cdn apiece, one reference book costs as much as a large stack of sci-fi books. Help with getting new ones is always welcome, and I'm sure I'm not the only geek who likes documentation on the nifty tools I'm thinking about using (or am already using, for that matter).


    There's no need to stick with hardware that will be obsolete in six months :).

    Caveat with most of these - make sure your recipient is interested in them first. Yes, it ruins the surprise, but it's better than getting a bucketful of transistors when the sight of copper and lead make you cringe.
  4. Re:Gift ideas that are good... by FatRatBastard · · Score: 5, Insightful

    An 80's Arcade Game. One of those real-life 6' stand-up arcade games. Any self-respecting geek wouldn't snub his nose at one... well, unless it was a really bad title. "Oh, wow! Pit Fighter! I've always wanted one of THOSE."

    Or a pinball machine. The best god-damn disposable income purchase I ever made. Lots of fun to play, and lots of geeky TLC needed to keep it in tip top condition.