REDMOND, Wash. — Dec. 17, 2009 — With the holiday season under way, time is limited and money is tight. Looking for a cool gift to dazzle that special person on your list? Microsoft has lots of ideas to help you out.
Holiday Gift Ideas
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Arc Mouse
This stylish, portable mouse folds up so you can take it wherever your creativity leads you, and enjoy the ergonomic comfort of a desktop mouse. It's wireless, with a range of up to 30 feet. Available in purple, black, blue, green and red. MSRP: $49.95
"The Beatles: Rock Band"
Pick up a guitar, drumsticks or a mic and experience The Beatles' music through gameplay. The game supports up to three mics for vocal harmonies, and will offer limited hardware offerings modeled after actual instruments. MSRP: $59.99 game; $159.99 Special Value Bundle
"Forza Motorsport 3"
The game's breathtaking high-definition graphics and advanced physics put you into one of more than 400 customizable, tunable cars on over 100 real tracks from around the world. Your 6-year-old nephew may leave you in the dust, but that's racin'. MSRP: $59.99
HTC Imagio
This phone (on Verizon) with Windows Mobile 6.5 is a must-have for the music and video lover on your list. They'll enjoy on-the-go tunes, photos, and live or on-demand TV, by way of a beautiful 3.6-inch touch screen, a 3.5mm headset jack and a 5-megapixel photo and video camera. MSRP: $199.99
LifeCam Cinema
Cinematic video comes home this season with the first consumer webcam on the PC to capture true widescreen video with a native 720p sensor. High-definition video is smooth and clear, and Microsoft's ClearFrame Technology delivers in virtually any lighting condition. MSRP: $79.95
Toshiba Satellite T135
Toshiba's lightest, thinnest laptop is under 4 pounds and less than an inch thick, with a low-voltage processor and extended battery power. An HDMI port brings gaming, movies and music onto a home theater, with full 1080p high-definition video and sound. MSRP: $599.99
Windows 7 Home Premium
This season, bring home entertainment to your PC: watch Internet TV; pause, rewind and record TV; or use Touch to interact with your PC in new ways. You'll also find support for today's technologies, including 64-bit PC hardware and memory. MSRP: Full version: $199.99 Upgrade version: $119.99
Wireless Mobile Mouse 4000
Ditch the mouse pad and enjoy this stylish stocking stuffer, designed to be reliable on virtually any surface with Microsoft BlueTrack Technology. A scroll wheel and four customizable buttons give you the convenience you need. It comes in an array of five festive colors. MSRP: $39.95
Xbox 360 Elite
With surround sound and three powerful core processors, your games will never play the same again. And the 120 GB detachable hard drive lets you save games and store television shows, movies, music, pictures, trailers, extra game levels, and more. MSRP: $299.99
Xbox 360 Wireless Microphone
With no cord to tie you down, you get more room to rock around the Christmas tree. Built-in lights flash to the beat; the mic doubles as an effects studio for your own percussion solo; and you can trigger Start Stream Power Bonuses by gesturing, shaking or posing with the mic. MSRP: $49.99
Zune HD
The sleek new Zune HD goes beyond music and movies to bring cool features like multitouch navigation, a 3.3-inch touch screen, crystal-clear HD Radio technology and HD video out for 720p entertainment (dock sold separately). The holidays never sounded so good. MSRP: $289.99 Zune 32GB
Dell Studio XPS 16
Dell's Studio XPS 16 is for people who want a little more style with their data-crunching power. Its sleek case contains an Intel Core processor, fantastic ATI RADEON graphics, and a sharp 15.6" screen. MSRP: $1,049 and up
Asus Eee PC 1008HA
A svelte 1-inch thick, and weighing in at 2.4 pounds, the Asus Eee PC 1008A "Shell" is ready to go wherever you want to take it. Yet it doesn't skimp on features, with a great keyboard, 10.1-inch screen, and an Intel Atom processor. MSRP: $479 and up
What’s more, you can skip the crowds and lines by shopping online at the Microsoft Store, http://store.microsoft.com/home.aspx, to find the best gift fast. In conjunction with Microsoft’s brick-and-mortar stores, the online store now carries far more than just Microsoft products. You’ll also find an array of software, hardware and accessories from a range of manufacturers, including Xbox games from Activision and Electronic Arts, headphones from Bang & Olufsen and Skullcandy, and a wide selection of computers, laptops, notebooks and netbooks from the likes of Sony, Dell and Acer. See what’s new.
All computers sold at the Microsoft Store are pre-loaded with Microsoft Signature software, so your new system will be ready to go right out of the box. Plus, because most Microsoft software sold in the store can be downloaded directly from the site, there’s no waiting for a shipment to arrive, and no packaging to clog up your local landfill.
Another way to buy online, and find some deals while you’re at it, is through Bing Shopping. More and more people are starting their online shopping process with a search engine. Bing focuses on helping people make decisions, so it makes sense to turn to the site when it’s time for making holiday shopping decisions. The Bing cashback program offers a rebate every time you purchase one of millions of products offered by Microsoft’s partners through Bing. You get back a portion of your purchases — from 5 percent to 35 percent — via PayPal, Amazon payments, check or direct deposit.
Bing recently unveiled improvements to make holiday shopping even easier. For example, customers can now sort search results by user sentiment through the new Opinion Ranking feature, where Bing extracts what customers are saying about products. The new Product xRank feature lists the most popular products by compiling Web searches, product page views and purchases into a ranking formula that lets you easily track what’s hot and what’s not.
From cutting-edge games and accessories to stocking-stuffer hardware and an entertainment-ready laptop, all they’ll want for the holidays is right here in our roundup.