Still have some holiday gifts to buy and can use some ideas? The clock is ticking but you still have time to get some shopping done before the holidays.  Don’t forget that someone with a birthday just around the corner and you want to get them something special without breaking the bank. It’s never too late to start and all the items in this article can be bought online avoiding the store crowds. You don’t want to settle on gifting another tie, handkerchief or the old standby, the holiday sweater. There are ideas here that will meet the needs and wants whether it’s for a student, teacher, close friend, co-worker, and senior family member or for you.

Who are you shopping for – the kids, grandchildren, friends, relatives or acquaintances? Is he or she a budding writer, a student, genealogist, avid reader or loves to study and research topics for their own personal edification? Maybe he or she spends a lot of time on Facebook, Tumblr, or writes for sites like InfoBarrel. Whether a child, student, college student, any family member or friend they all have need of tech devices, books, clothing and consumable items. What should I get them for under the tree and what will fit in a stocking hanging from the fireplace? There are so many practical items to pick from even in the last minute before the holiday arrives. And, there are many choices that are worthwhile while still being reasonably priced.

Gifts for Under the Tree

Sound Bar:  Improve and enhance that Laptop or Notebook PC with a Sound Bar. A sound bar is easier to carry around with a laptop than the typical two or more speaker set used with most PCs. Some models will mount on top of a notebook PC screen while others are set behind, in front of, or along the side of a PC. Price range $20 – $60.

Headphones:  Keep the sound close to the ears and not throughout the room with over-the-head headphones. All-purpose headsets with a good sound quality can be had for under $25; yet, for the more discriminating ear you will need to spend a bit more in the $60 to $150 range (Bose can cost around $299). Unless you are in need of professional high quality sound you really won’t need to spend more than $20 to $30 for decent sounding headsets.

Chromebook PC:  A Chromebook is a great gift for students of all ages, entertainment for kids and adults (Chrome Store also has tons of free games), older adults and folks new to PCs and the internet that just wants to get started and not spend more money than necessary. Some people even like to have two notebook PCs; one for their more demanding work, production, gaming or for large storage and a Chromebook for internet surfing, emailing, instant messaging, video calls, watching online videos, and even some routine production tasks. The Chrome Store has online user versions for basic Text Documents, Excel Spreadsheet, and PowerPoint. With the Chrome Store, you have thousands of applications, most are free, to add tools to your Chromebook making it as versatile as a regular notebook PC with the Student Version of Microsoft Office.

Brands and Price:  Personally, I’m an ASUS brand fan; however, they usually cost a little more than other models. HP brand cost even more, though they are not any better than the rest. Acer and Samsung Chromebooks are the most inexpensive low-end dual-core central processor (CPU) with two Gigs of RAM and minimal hard drive storage, usually around 16 GB. Keep in mind that these Chromebooks are not intended for the heavy or robust PC games; however, the Chrome Store has hundreds of free games that are well suited for these systems. Acer produces an 11.6″ model that has a starting price around $189. There are many other brands, and depending on what you select in your Chromebook package the price range will be between $189 and $350. Toshiba has a Chromebook 2 model that is receiving good reviews. You’ll find a video review below. Don’t buy more than you need: a decent target range would be to keep the price under $250; any more than that and you are starting into the fully-loaded notebook PCs.

Flat Screen LED/LCD Televisions: What student can’t use a TV in his or her room? They don’t have to be big TV’s; a small size 19″ – 32″ flat screen will do nicely, especially in a dorm room or home bedroom. Besides, they also serve as a second large screen that can be used for a laptop PC. Established and well-known name brands like Insignia, Samsung, Toshiba, LG, and Panasonic all produce small reasonably priced flat screens as low as $130 and many under $250 retail price. These five inexpensive, yet low cost LED televisions are under $300. Some of these models are one or two years old and thus can be purchased for a low price.