PC Gifts for the Apple Computer Enthusiast

Apple revolutionized tablet computing with their iPad. The iPad 2 built upon their success and made an even more compact and user friendly tablet. With the updates in iOS 5, many of the issues that people had with notifications and multitasking have been addressed. The wide range of apps available for it can let it be used for a wide range of tasks including watching TV and movies, reading books, listening to music, editing photos, playing games, browsing the web, social networking and even productivity applications like word processing and spreadsheets. A nice addition to any Apple users collection and can easily replace a larger MacBook when traveling. There are multiple versions of it with the WiFi only prices starting at $499 while the WiFi + 3G versions start at $629 and require some form of cellular contract with AT&T or Verizon to use the 3G networking. Available with white or black bezels.

Apple has redesigned their Apple TV product to drop the networking storage and make it a low cost media streaming device. Once hooked up to your TV and wireless network, the device can be used to stream music and video from either an iTunes equipped Mac (or PC) or over the network from Apple for TV or movie rentals as well as Netflix. The device can be controlled by the included remote or via iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch. With the removal of the small hard drive, the device also is much cheaper with just a $99 price tag.

Apple's iLife suite of software is one of the easiest to use set of applications. Whether it is used for photo editing via iPhoto, video editing with iMovie or making music with GarageBand, there are plenty of new features in iLife '11 that would make any Apple user happy. One of the nice new features is the inclusion of face recognition for the iMovie applications similar to what they did with iPhoto. The software is also very affordable with single user versions around $50 and family packs available for around $80.

Like using a trackpad instead of a mouse? Never fear, Apple has now released a trackpad that can be used with any computer via a Bluetooth interface. The design is similar to their wireless keyboard design with the majority of the surface taken up by a multitouch trackpad surface. With various gestures, it is possible to execute specific commands within the Mac OSX software. This is probably less useful for laptop uses and best suited to compliment the wireless keyboard for iMac or Mac mini users. Pricing is around $70.

Apple's Time Capsule is a merger of an Airport Extreme wireless access point and an external hard drive unit. The reason is to allow Mac computers running a version the Mac OS X operating system with the Time Machine backup feature to easily back up their computer system over a wireless network. The wireless network features support 802.11a/g/n networking standards and has dual-band antennae to work with both at the same time . It also includes a three port gigabit Ethernet switch for connecting to the device via a wired network. A wide area network port allows the device to share an internet connection ith multiple clients. It is available with either a 2TB or 3TB hard drive. Prices range from $270 to $500.

Apple's only display product now is the Thunderbolt display. This 27-inch display uses the same LCD panel found in the 27-inch iMac that provides a 2560x1440 resolution and uses very little energy thanks to the LED backlight. The panel comes only with a Thunderbolt port for video input and is essentially a reworked version of the previous DisplayPort version of the 27-inch LED Cinema Display. This is compatible with older laptops using the mini-Displayport but older DVI equipped Macs will require an adapter cable. The display also features a three port USB 2.0 hub, FireWire 800 port and Gigabit Ethernet for easily tying all these into the display rather than your laptop. Finally, there is a MagSafe power connector for plugging into your Apple laptop to charge. The price is pretty high through at $999.

Pretty much every Apple computer built in the past few years has come built-in with a Bluetooth wireless adapter. This is perfect for use with Bluetooth peripheral devices to keep down the wire clutter on the desktop. The new Apple Wireless Keyboard takes on a new ultra-thin profile with aluminum casing found on its entire product line. This is a great item to add to any of the desktop units but is also useful to those looking to use a laptop in a desktop environment with an external keyboard. It can even be used as a full keyboard with an iPad. The only real drawback to the keyboard design is the lack of a numeric keypad. Prices are around $70.

Apple's Mighty Mouse was not well received by consumers as the little nub on it had the tendency of wearing out or not functioning properly. Apple has developed a replacement in the Magic Mouse that is sleeker and comes with a multitouch interface built onto the surface. It is Bluetooth based so it should work with just about any of the current and past few generations of Apple computers without a problem. It certainly makes an excellent replacement for anyone who happens to be using the older Mighty Mouse.

While most of the Apple computer products have built-in audio, they tend to still leave room for improvement due to their limited size. A set of external stereo speakers can help enhance the audio experience of Apple's computer and even iPod products. The JBL Duet are a set of compact stereo speakers that won't take up much space but have very good audio. The aluminum color also compliments the aluminum designs of Apple's computers. Since it runs off a standard headphone jack for input, they can also be used with an iPod, iPad or iPhone. Price is between $40 and $50.