For the first quarter of 2010, here are some laptops, broken into a couple categories:

Ultra Portables

• ASUS Eee PC (1201N)
• ASUS UL (UL30A-X5, UL30A-A2, UL30Vt-X1)

i7

• Dell Studio s1557
• HP DV6-2190US
• Sony VAIO VPC-F111FX/H

i5

• Dell Inspiron i1764
• HP Pavilion DV6-2170US

I used to play a lot of board games when I was younger.  Some notable ones were Risk and Acquire .  Recently I started hearing good things about The Settlers of Catan (Extension).

Every now and then Amazon has a good deal on a 12-month Xbox Live subscription!

This time I'm looking at home theater systems. If you didn't receive one for Christmas and are looking for one, check out the list below. All of them include a Blur-ray player.

If you are looking for a nice, full set, the Sony BDVE500W is a good choice. It is a 5.1 system with wireless rear speakers.

For a budget system, take a look at the Panasonic SC-BT300 . It is a 7.1 system. It does not have wireless speakers. But it can read media from SD cards.

LG LHB977 is another popular option. Like the Sony, it is a 5.1 system. The nice extra features include internet connectivity which offers NetFlix, YouTube, Pandora, and Cinema Now.

See my other post on HDTVs.

A little over a year agoo I was in the market for a new HDTV. After doing research and weighing the pros and cons, I came away with the Panasonic TH-42PZ80U (42" 1080p). I chose plasma over LCD because of superior movie watching experience. I use another LCD monitor to play my Xbox 360 on. And I chose Panasonic because they make one of the best plasma HDTVs around, second only to Pioneer. But Pioneers were a lot more expensive.

A few months ago, Grant started looking for an HDTV to go with his new house. I helped him look around and we ended up going with another Panasonic (50" 1080P).

This time around, Alex is looking for one in the 50" range. After talking to me, he's also leaning toward a 50" Panasonic (TC-P50G10). From the previous experiences, I recommend that he should keep an eye out on the TV and watch multiple websites, as the price can fluctuate quite a bit (as high as a few hundred dollars or more). By buying online, you can usually save on taxes and sometimes you can get free shipping, too.

If you're interested in a 50+" LCD, Sharp Aquos LC52D85U is on sale on Amazon for a good price (and good reviews).

If you like Christmas songs and classical music, you might be interested in these free MP3 samplings from Amazon. The titles are

• A Christmas Festival Overture
• The Nutcracker Suite
• Concerto Grosso in G Minor
• Christmas Ortorio
• The Messiah

Many people at my work have a nerf gun or two hidden away inside their desks. We some times during breaks or after work, we would have a nerf war between cubicles. Or we would have a target practice session during lunch. The most popular nerf gun is the Maverick. They are small enough to hide in a desk drawer. They're also easy to swing around while you're dodging other darts. With the correct mod (instructions here), they are also easy to reload, making them quite ubiquitous around the office.

For heavy duty firepower, we have a Raider Rapid Fire (right picture) and the Vulcan EBF-25 Blaster, a fully automatic dart cannon. They are less mobile, and it's a pain to reload either. But in the heat of battle, a fully loaded one can be the difference between victory and a white flag.

All these guns are no good if you run out of ammo. So stock up with a few of ammo boxes. Just make sure you don't litter the whole office with these darts in every corner!

If you're interested in video games this season, here are the 3 popular consoles and some high profile games.

PlayStation 3 (Controllers, Remote)

• Modern Warfare 2
• Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
• Assassins Creed II
• God of War: Collection
• LittleBigPlanet

Xbox 360 Arcade / Xbox 360 Elite (Controllers) (Xbox Live )

• Assassins Creed II
• Batman: Arkham Asylum
• DJ Hero
• Forza Motorsport 3
• Halo 3: ODST
• Madden NFL 10
• Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
• Modern Warfare 2

Nintendo Wii (Remote, Nunchuk, MotionPlus)

• Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga
• Mario Kart
• New Super Mario Bros
• Wii Fit Plus
• Wii Sports Resort

Someone I know is interested in getting an Amazon Kindle for their family member.  After doing some search, I found that some of the Kindle's competitors are Barnes & Noble's Nook and Sony's E-Readers. I find the following to be pretty helpful.

• Amazon's user reviews
• Kindle vs Nook vs e-Reader
• Kindle 2 v Kindle DX

If you're interested in a Kindle, don't forget the accessories: Leather Cover and Mighty Bright.

Dell came out with the new Zino HD.  It's a small profile computer made specifically for HTPC.  You can get it as low as $230, or make it as beefy as $600+. Looks wise, it's pretty similar to a Mac Mini .

I would go with the Tech package + 4GB RAM upgrade.  With the Dell's "8 Days of Deals", the price comes out to $562 - $104 = $458.

• Windows 7 Home Premium
• AMD Athlon X2 3250e
• ATI Radeon HD 4330
• 4GB DDR2 RAM
• 250 GB Hard Drive (though I have extra hard drives for more storage)
• 8X DVD+/- RW Drive