Father’s Day Gift Ideas from a Dad

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Since I am no expert on what to get dad for Father’s Day, I went straight to the source and asked my husband to share some ideas for fabulous Father’s Day gifts that dad is sure to love. Check out this dad’s suggestions. Happy shopping!

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My wife claims that I’m impossible to shop for. I’m sure most wives claim the same for their husbands, but I can’t argue with Jen on this point. What can I say, I’m a “techie” with a short attention span.

There’s a pretty steady supply of incoming and outgoing packages from our household.  Thanks to the addition of TheSuburbanMom blog, there are days it looks like a shipping depot around here. I love gadgets and often order new “toys” to play with. Some things I order immediately go back once they arrive – not living up to their hype.  Others stay a while longer, eventually ending up on eBay. Sometimes I even turn a profit thanks to a good deal on the original purchase. Few items make the cut and end up as keepers.

Here are some of my favorite purchases and gifts from over the years that have not been returned or re-sold.

Smart Money Clip – I’m not a wallet guy and have had the same one of these for over 10 years.  Apparently it has spent some time “As Seen on TV”, but I will still vouch for the product.

The Avaak Vue Personal Video Network is one of the simplest tech products I have ever setup.  Simply connect the base station to your home router, sync the cameras to the base with a single button, and setup your online account. I like being able to peak in on my house when away, and have tried  many different cameras over the years.  What makes this one unique is that the entire system is completely wireless – even the cameras.  The tiny cameras are battery powered, and use a unique magnetic base to mount where ever you want also making them easy to move.  They claim the batteries will last a year when viewing the cameras on average 5-minutes a day.  The system comes with 2 cameras but can be expanded to more.  You can view the cameras any time by logging into their website or by using their iPhone or iPod Touch app.  Pretty slick.

I admit I held out for a good while, but am a big fan of Apple’s iPod Touch.  Carrying a Blackberry for work, and my general loathing of AT&T, the iPhone has not been an option for me. For the few of you left who don’t have iPhones, the iPod Touch is a cool device.  Even slimmer than the iPhone, the iPod Touch makes a great web browser, mp3 player, video player, game player, etc, etc.  The App Store is definitely what makes the device with thousands and thousands of apps to download.  Even K has become a big fan after I downloaded some games and coloring apps for her.

Watch Winders. I like watches and certainly have more that I “need”. Jen got me my first one for our first anniversary and I have been enjoying it ever since. Watch winder boxes will keep automatic and self-winding watches running when not being worn.  Certainly beats having to wind and set the time and date after not wearing the watch for a while. If your husband wears an automatic or self-winding watch, these can make a great gift.  They come in a variety of shapes, sizes, colors, and capacities, so you’ll need to choose the one that suits best.

Part alarm clock, Internet radio player, widget viewer, etc, the Chumby (also available at a better price from Costco.com) is a hard item to describe.  If your husband likes gadgets, this is one of the cooler and certainly more unique items I have come across.  Since I cannot think of a better way to describe it, I’m just going to do some cut and pasting.

“Chumby takes your favorite parts of the internet and delivers them to you in a friendly, always-on, always-fresh format. It’s a window into your internet life that lives outside your desktop, so content like weather, news, celebrity gossip, podcasts, music, and more has a place to play away from your world of documents and spreadsheets. Just plug in your chumby, connect to your wireless network, and use your computer to create a lineup of favorites from over 1,500 apps in more than 30 categories, with new ones arriving all the time. Then let your chumby do its thing streaming everything you like, from sports scores to stock quotes, from video clips to interactive games, from photos to trivia.
where does a chumby belong?
By your bed: Fall asleep to a favorite internet music station; wake up to a zen gong, a news podcast, or Pandora Radio.
In the kitchen: Consult your Google Calendar in the morning, check the weather, and cook to streaming internet music.
On your desk: Watch your photos stream by, follow your friends on Facebook or Twitter, or get alerted to that craigslist find you’ve been waiting for.”

Blu-ray players are another item I held out on for a while.  After waiting out to see if Blu-ray or HD-DVD would win the format war, I finally took the plunge last December and have been very happy since.  There are a lot of different players on the market that all play Blu-rays (all are also backwards compatible with DVDs as well), but its the extra features that make the difference.  I’d recommend looking for one that has access to online content such as Netflix, and online Video on Demand services such as CinemaNow and Amazon VOD.  If you don’t have a network port behind your TV, you’ll want one with built-in WiFi as well.  The LG BD570 has all these features and a competitive price.  If you don’t need the built-in WiFi, you can also check out the LG BD550.

When in doubt, gift certificates are never a bad idea.  I’m a big fan of Amazon since they sell pretty much everything.  You can even print-out, email, or mail any of their gift certificates.  Great options when you need something last minute.


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