This is my thinly-veiled request for Christmas ideas for a bunch of people I need to buy presents for - some of whom I don’t see all that often and know all that well. I thought it’d be handy to have a thread of present ideas that we can all crowd-source off each other. The best ideas are going to be neat stuff that people won’t know exists and won’t have already bought for themselves. I’ll end up getting some people obvious stuff like alcohol and nice chocolates. Those aren’t really he ideas I’m looking for.
I don’t want to make rules, but I think we need a couple:
- Let’s at least cap them at $50. Telling people you want a Drone, a Steam Deck or PS5 simply isn’t realistic. I’m not looking for ideas in that price range (even though I’d probably love all these, myself).
- Avoid intimate stuff. I’m not talking sex toys (though avoid those too - I’m not buying my sister-in-law a dildo), but more things that are really personal like jewellery, watches and stuff that you need to know the person’s tastes to get right.
To start things off:
Bluetooth transmitter: Neat little gadget that you plug into your TV and then transmits audio via Bluetooth. The fancier models broadcast two channels - so two people can listen simultaneously. Great for parents with sleeping kids to get some TV time.
Microfiber glasses cleaning cloth: If your recipient wears glasses, they’ll have a few of these already. But they’re boring. You can get them with nice pictures (My wife has Starry Night by Vincent Van Gough on hers), or you can even get them with custom photos, but that costs a lot more.
I’ll add to this as I think of more. 😃
The only issue with the BT transmitters is potential lag. Some models are shocking (I tried one exactly for the purpose you described, but the audio lag was bad enough that I couldn’t use it).
Some TVs are nice and will automatically delay the audio so it syncs up, at least on mine. However it only does that for TV apps, unfortunately.
I haven’t tried this unit, so can’t speak first hand on it. It has nearly 500 reviews though and people don’t seem to be complaining about lag. This dude says it’s good for whatever it’s worth.
The one I have used was at work with a meeting room screen and Teams. I didn’t notice any audio lag, but remote people talking over the Internet are a little janky anyway.