Gift Guide 2002

Electronics

High-tech toys, from the miniest MP3 to the mightiest plasma TV.
 

Sony DAV-C770 DVD Dream System
Price: $600 through Sony VIP services (877-217-sony).
What:
A Digital Cinema Sound–Dolby Digital audiovisual system with a five-disc DVD-SACD-CD changer.
Perfect for: A style-conscious home-theater fanatic.
Why we love it: You can touch up your makeup in any of the satellite speakers or the subwoofer.
What else: It also plays MP3s.
Buy it!

Sharp AV-1 Multimedia Player
Price: On sale for $350 at TKNY (21 Avenue B, near 2nd Street, 212-677-0500).
What: An MP3 player that also plays video (up to one hour’s worth).
Perfect for:
A bored commuter who’s already mastered her Game Boy.
Why we love it: It’s perfect for taking a couple of episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm (downloaded from your VCR) on the road.
What else: Taking a cue from Nokia cell phones, Sharp included a replaceable snap-on front cover that comes in ten colors and patterns.

Muji CD-1 Wall-Hookable CD Player
Price: $152 at TKNY (21 Avenue B, near 2nd Street, 212-677-0500).
What: An adorable wall-mountable CD player with built-in stereo speakers.
Perfect for: A space-challenged music lover.
Why we love it: The open-air design turns any CD into spin art.
Buy it!

Samsung Seventeen-inch Widescreen LCD TV
Price: $1,799 at Harvey Electronics (2 West 45th Street, 212-575-5000).
What: One of the only PIP (picture-in-picture) LCD TVs on the market, which allows you to watch two shows at once.
Perfect for: An attention-span-challenged aesthete.
Why we love it:It’s only two inches thin, the widescreen format is perfect for letterboxed movies, it’s HDTV-upgradeable, and you can even use it as a monitor.
Buy it!

Sony DCR-IP55 MicroMV Digital Handycam
Price: $1,200 at B&H.
What: A MicroMV camcorder (it uses Sony-exclusive tapes that are even smaller than DV cassettes) with a ten-times optical zoom, a Carl Zeiss lens, and a 2.5-inch LCD screen.
Perfect for: A size-conscious Spielberg.
Why we love it: The fold-down grip gives it Super-8-era retro appeal.
What else: The 2.5-inch Touch Panel LCD screen lets you control the camcorder through an intuitively designed on-screen menu.
Buy it!

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Edited by Simon Dumenco. Photographed by Antonis Achilleos.
 
From the November 25, 2002 issue of New York Magazine