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Gifts for grads and dads

: CNET editors pick the top tech gifts

Browse gifts by category

Browse gifts by price

Laptops

If Dad had a laptop, he could edit family photos in the house or at the coffee shop. If your grad had a laptop, he or she could write term papers (and perhaps even send you e-mail) from anywhere on campus. Here are some of our favorite notebooks.

Basic

HP Pavilion dv5000z Turion 64 (2.2GHz)

With the Pavilion dv5000z series, HP delivers a well-designed and versatile multimedia laptop that starts at a highly affordable price point.

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Dell Inspiron E1405

With the Inspiron line, E stands for entertainment, and the E1405 looks well-equipped for use as a multimedia laptop.

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Toshiba Satellite P105-S921

The Toshiba Satellite P105 offers a thorough set of features and strong gaming performance at a relatively affordable price.

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Gateway M250E

With its extended battery, the well-designed Gateway M250E will keep road warriors and students computing for hours upon hours--just don't expect blazing performance.

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Advanced

Acer TravelMate 8200

From a performance perspective, the fast Acer TravelMate 8200 does Intel's new Core Duo processor proud--but its battery life didn't see much of a boost.

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Dell XPS M1710

If you're a hard-core gamer looking to play the newest games at the highest settings, this is the best system that (a lot of) money can buy.

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Apple MacBook Pro (15.4-inch, 1.83GHz Intel Core Duo)

The MacBook Pro delivers unparalleled style, a solid set of features and software, and a few transitional performance issues that keep it from rivaling the most powerful PC laptops.

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Toshiba Qosmio G35-AV600

With the Qosmio G35-AV600, Toshiba delivers a best-in-class multimedia experience that's built on a state-of-the-art set of components and includes virtually every feature under the sun.

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Accessories

SanDisk Cruzer Mini USB flash drive (1GB)

While the SanDisk Cruzer Mini isn't a speed demon, it is a good, basic thumbdrive that won't break the bank.

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Crumpler McBain's Lovechild (Large) Laptop Bag

This smart messenger bag is well padded, to protect your gear, and will fit laptops up to 15 inches wide.

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Shure E4c

Shure's E4c earbuds are simply the best in-ear headphones we've ever heard.

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Microsoft Wireless Notebook Optical Mouse

A worthy alternative to a laptop's built-in pointing device, this downsized mouse is convenient for travel, but it sacrifices some comfort for its compact size.

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More resources

Free music downloads
Grads and dads both love the sound of free. At CNET Download, they can load up on songs and videos and set up their own playlists.

For university students only: Plan parties, share photos, and hook up at Webshots' College Live.

Gifts discussions

What are the best and worst gifts for graduation?

"A plane ticket!"

by jwildhaber (see profile)
May 9, 2006

Seriously, everyone should log some miles after graduation.

(read more)

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