Grads, Dads, & Cool Do-Dads 2016

Gifts for Grads & Dads

It’s June!  It’s the month for grads and dads!  Woohoo!  Every year we like to search out unique fun gift ideas for either the grad or dad in your life…or both!  

Lenovo YOGA 900S

We are big fans of the YOGA 2 Pro laptop, but there’s a new YOGA laptop in town, and this one is even lighter, more beautiful looking, and more powerful!  In fact, the Lenovo YOGA 900S is the world’s thinnest convertible laptop, weighing in at only 2.2 lbs….and it’s beautiful too.  

It comes in either Champagne Gold or Platinum Silver with a unique watchband hinge, allowing the 12.5 LED touchscreen display to flip around 360 degrees!  So you’re sure to get your laptop at just the right angle for viewing or typing.  The YOGA 900S can be folded to be used as a laptop, Stand, Tent, or even as a tablet.

The YOGA 900S houses a powerful battery that will last the whole day and night, in fact, it can play up to 10 1/2 hours of video and it will still keep going.  Utilizing Intel’s 6th Gen Core M processor, this laptop is fast and super responsive.  And it certainly has a luxury feel with the inside of the laptop being black, but they keys Champagne Gold or Platinum Silver.  And the video and picture quality is fantastic too.

The Lenovo YOGA 900S starts at $1,099 for the 4 GB memory and 128 GB hard drive.  But for a $100 more, it’s worth the investment to buy the YOGA 900S 80ML000PUS (Champagne Gold) or 80ML000QUS (Platinum Silver), to get double the GB memory and hard drive space…plus a slightly faster processor.  

Logitech G10 Orion Spectrum Keyboard

The Logitech G10 Orion Spectrum RGB Mechanical Gaming Keyboard is an ultra-cool keyboard any Grad or Dad would want!  This keyboard is heavily weighted keyboard (so it doesn’t move during gameplay) and makes a presence on any desk with its always glowing lit up keys.  The keys are programmable, so you can choose one color or a rainbow of colors to light up the keys. In fact, gamers can personalize their own color from over 16.8 million available colors!

The Logitech G10 Orion Spectrum keyboard comes with its own software to change the keyboard color scheme as you’d like.  In fact, since it’s also a gaming keyboard, if your Grad or Dad is a PC gamer, they can download profiles of popular PC games so that keys (and commands of the game) correspond to the coloring of the keyboard.  Pretty slick.

The Logitech G810 Orion keyboard is available through Logitech for $79.99 plus free shipping.

SCOTTeVEST TEC Hat

To the outsider, this baseball cap looks like an ordinary hat.  But to the Grad or Dad, it’s their wallet, secretly and securely tucked inside.  Perfect for concerts, travelling, or just those times when you don’t want to carry your ID and house key around, the SCOTTeVEST TEC Hat is just the ticket.  There are two hidden pockets, a zippered one on the side of the hat and a smaller Velcro one located just under the visor.

Made of 100% cotton, The SCOTTeVEST TEC Hat is comfortable, functional, and fits great.  Great for joggers or gym goers who need ID and a place to put their keys that are out of the way.  Each TEC Hat has elastic eyelets above the ears so you can string your earbuds through them to keep them sturdy while running.

Is Dad into fishing?  He can put his keys and fishing license in the bill of the hat.  We have tried out this hat and found that it is super comfortable and durable…even in the rain. 

The SCOTTeVEST TEC Hat can be purchased with the SCOTTeVEST (SV) logo or without and comes in 3 colors – Stone, Black, and Grey.  It sells on the SCOTTeVEST website for $25 plus shipping.

STM Haven Backpack 

Is your Grad or Dad a techie?  Not all backpacks are made the same and many do not have the padding needed to safely transport tech gear.  STM is an Australian company started with this one objective in mind – to find stylish ways to carry your digital gear but with protection all around them to keep them safe from drops.

We loved the Moroccan Blue STM Haven Backpack at first sight.  It’s unique blue color is striking and fashionable.  Like SCOTTeVEST which caters to the needs of today’s digital warriors, STM’s backpacks and bags are created with relevant pockets to store your sunglasses, paperwork, water bottle, tablets, laptops, and other important items needed for work or travel.

Obviously designed for tech gear, the STM Haven Backpack features frontal and corner padding to withstand drops and bumps without harming your tech.  There is even a pocket, they call slingtech, that can store your tablet or laptop, suspending it off the floor of the backpack for even further protection.  

Their proprietary cable routing system gives access from one pouch or pocket to another, allowing you to run your cables throughout your bag for purposes of charging or listening to music through your earbuds attached to your device, stored securely in the backpack.

I have been using this bag for the past couple of months and I love the comfort of the bag on my shoulders, even when it’s loaded down with all of my digital gear (which can be a lot!).  The STM Haven Backpack features air mesh straps and channeled back for comfort and ventilation, which is a real plus on a hot day or long travel day.  

I like the adjustable sternum strap on the back that attaches to both straps, making the load more balanced on your back.  This backpack as three main zippered compartments and over 9 pouches or pockets.  You can fit quite a bit in this backpack.

The STM Haven Backpack sells for $99.95 plus shipping from the STM website and is available in Moroccan Blue, Black Grey Frost, and Steel.

Perfect Drink Pro

Dads will love this one.  The Perfect Drink Pro is the perfect accompaniment for Dad’s home bar.  One of the lures of going to a bar, is that the bartender knows a multitude of cocktail recipes and can whip them up in a moment’s notice.  But have you ever tried to make your favorite drink at home?  Where do you start, it’s a bit cumbersome and overwhelming.

Perfect Drink Pro solves all that with a smart stainless steel scale (with Bluetooth 4.0 capability) and a free app (Apple, Android, Kindle, Nook) containing more than 400 specialty drink recipes.  Dad just needs to decide how many drinks he wants to make (from 1 serving up to a pitcher), choose his drink from the recipe app, get out the necessary liquors, and follow the onscreen directions.

After connecting the smart scale to the Perfect Drink, you put the included stainless steel shaker on the scale and pour one liquor at a time as directed by the recipe.  You will visually see the liquid you are pouring represented on the app.  A bell sounds to let you know when you have poured enough and the app directs you to the next liquor needed.  The Perfect Drink Pro app uses built-in timers to help you know how long to shake or stir so they are blended perfectly and chilled just right. 

Oh, and don’t worry if you don’t have all of the liquors.  Just type into the app what you have on hand and it will show you the recipes you can make.  You can also create your own custom recipes and store in in the app to use with the Perfect Drink Pro at a later time. 

The Perfect Drink Pro sells for $99.95 plus free shipping at Sur La Table (my favorite cooking store!).  It comes with the stainless steel shaker, stainless steel Bluetooth scale, and a coarse strainer.

Graduation ceremonies and parties are already going on.  Grads always appreciate money, but if you want your gift to be “around” longer, one of these suggested gifts are sure to be a hit. 

And for Father’s Day, it may be something as simple (and clever) as a SCOTTeVEST TEC hat or more advanced like the Perfect Drink Pro to help Dad be the ultimate bartender.  Whatever you get your dad or husband, celebrate him.  Enjoy your time together and count your blessings.

        *   We require samples of all items we recommend for our Grads & Dad’s Guide.  We will not recommend any items we have not tested first.