Teens can be a hard group to buy for (or live with, in some cases!) The trends come and go so fast it’s hard to stay in the loop and come up with a “cool” gift that won’t make you look like a dinosaur!
Grandparents and well-meaning aunts and uncles often resort to gift cards or cash because they just don’t know what to buy, and teens always appreciate cash, right?
But if you want to find a gift, then Santa’s helpers have searched the marketplace and found a few things that (hopefully!) will make you one of the more “savvy” gift givers to the teens on your list this year.
Tablets — Kindle Fire, Galaxy, Sony
Just a short while ago the iPad was the hottest new gadget on the market. Now it seems like everyone is coming out with a tablet. The appeal of the tablet is that it is lighter than carrying around a laptop but more functional than a smartphone.
You can browse, download, take photos and video, video chat around the world and even function as a remote control for the tv!
While the iPad may be the most fully featured — if what you want is something for reading, listening to music, watching movies and tv shows, browsing, playing casual games and checking email — then you’ll want to check out some of these other offerings.
Amazon Kindle Fire — The newest Kindle Fire has one major advantage — access to Amazon’s huge supply of digital offerings. A $79-a-year subscription to Amazon’s Prime Service will allow the user to stream more than 10,000 movies and tv shows for free, as well as borrow a Kindle book without due dates each month.
In addition, all the digital media you purchase through Amazon are held in the cloud for free so you can access them anywhere you have wi-fi access.
The Fire is also Amazon’s first color Kindle — a great boost especially for children’s books.
Perhaps the best feature of the Kindle Fire is the price!
Barnes & Noble Nook — The Nook is offered at a good price, but has fewer apps than the Fire and there is no built in storage for movies or music, nor is there a camera. It does offer expandable storage and free in-store support.
One nice feature — the ability to record your voice reading kids books.
Sony Tablet S — The Sony Tablet
Samsung Galaxy Tab — This Android tablet comes in three sizes – 10.1 inch, 8.9 and 7 and is the only tablet to be available on all major wireless networks.
Galaxy 10.1 — The Galaxy 10.1
is just a little taller and narrower than the iPad2 but is just as thin. It runs Android 3.1 Honeycomb and is great for blazing fast browsing, gaming and multi-tasking. The high def display offers a crystal-clear picture.
Galaxy 8.9 — This tablet will give you all the same great features mentioned above but just in a slightly smaller package.
Galaxy 7 –At just 14 ounces, this tablet is truly a single hand held device and tucks away in your pocket. It doesn’t quite have all the power of it’s bigger counterparts but it’s small size makes it an ideal option for many.
Kinect for Xbox 360
While Santa doesn’t advocate hours and hours of “couch potato time” playing video games, the Kinect does offer a lot of opportunity for activity.
With all the great “get up and move” games available, the Kinect can be a great gift for teens. And the best part is that the whole family can get involved in playing together.
Xbox 360® 250GB Kinect Holiday Bundle
Xbox 360 has more ways to play, now with 2 free games and a 3 Month Xbox LIVE® Gold Membership included for a limited time.
Xbox 360 has more ways to play, and now for a limited time get two free games and a 3 Month Xbox LIVE Gold Membership. With the largest portfolio of games to choose from, there’s something for everyone — from classic titles to the biggest blockbuster games. The spacious 250GB hard drive gives you the space you need to store arcade games, movies, demos, and even full Xbox 360 games. Plus, with built-in Wi-Fi, it’s easy to connect to Xbox LIVE to access tons of great entertainment — from HD movies and TV shows to live sports.
Vampire Diaries
When I was just a kid (yes, this Santa helper is telling her age!) my brother and I used to love Friday nights when we would get to stay up late and watch scary movies. Those included the classic Bella Lugosi vampire movies.
Who would have thought that Vampires would have become such big business so many years later?
The Vampire craze has taken the teen population by storm, so all things vampire would make a great Christmas gift! The entire Season 1 is available for download at the iTunes store.
Give The Gift of Music
Kids of all ages love music. Whether you love today’s music or not, most teens would love the chance to download music for their iPods! No more listening to the “radio” (they still have those, right?) — now music goes with them wherever they go.
This is a great gift idea for nieces, nephews, teen grandkids, the kid that mows your lawn, shovels your walk or babysits for your kids. With an iTunes gift card they can download their favorite tunes to play while they’re doing all those chores!
More Teen Christmas Gift Ideas
Help make living in that college dorm more fun! Busted Tees has some great items to decorate dorm rooms or bedrooms with those fun touches that add personality and whimsy! Or check out some of these other fun gift ideas at BustedTees.
Gummy Bear Lamp — Here’s a home accessory so delectably adorable you’ll be glad that you can’t eat him! During the day, this cute, rubbery bear will take the boredom out of any room and at night, with a squeeze of his belly, a built-in LED light will provide sweet splashes of ambient colored light.
Pop Phone — The MoshiMoshi 01H Retro Handset is specially designed to transform any type of smart-phone/mobile-phone into a comfortable and convenient conversation device. The ergonomic design provides incomparable comfort, making the mobile phone practical for any type of conversation in any type of environment.
Get hilarious tees for just $10 at BustedTees.com – Shop now before they sell out!