Top 10 Christmas Gadgets for Moms

by Lori Cunningham

Merry Christmas, everyone!  You’re busy running around getting just the right gift for your husband, your kids, your parents, your friends…but what about you?  What would you like this Christmas?

You’ve heard about some great gadgets out there, perhaps your friends even use some of them, but will are they really worth the money?  And worth the time it takes to understand how to use them?

This is where the WellConnectedMom.com’s Top 10 Christmas Gadgets for Mom’s list* comes in handy.  Each of these gadget picks have been selected due to their relevance to moms.  I have used all of them except for the Ultrabook and each of these items have personally been very useful in my life.

On with the list…

Striiv Pedomoeter  $99

The Striiv is a pedometer infused with today’s technology.  Gone are the black and grey small digital pedometer screens.  Now you see your progress in full color.  Striiv not only counts your steps but it helps to set goals for you too.  Ever walk the San Francisco bridge?  Climbed the Eiffel Tower?  Walked the Zion Narrows in Utah?  Walked up 2 of the great pyramids in Egypt?  The Striiv shows you how close you are to attaining these goals.

The Striiv also has a social awareness part where you can choose a charity and every step you takes counts towards a donation made by Striiv and other companies towards that charity. I choose clean water for people in South America. Every 18,000 steps I make gives them a clean glass of water.  I think of those people in South America often.  This pedometer packs much more including a fun game where you earn coins based on steps and stats that show your averages, personal best, and progression of days.

Smartphone $99-$700+

The smartphone has revolutionized our lives.  The processing power in one phone today used to fill rooms with equipment of yesteryear.  The smartphone is an indispensable tool for any mom.  Using the phone for calls and texting is great, but the smartphone goes way beyond this.  The camera takes spur of the moment shots, the flashlight is an amazing feature – never leave stuff behind in a dark movie theater again!

Maps will assure that you never lose your way – whether walking or driving, the Angry Birds game will help you take out the frustrations of the day, the Words with Friends app keeps your mind keen while playing a “Scrabble” type games with friends, listen to your tunes on the go, Skype with family and friends whether close or far, shopping – find the best bargains on a product  BEFORE you buy it, receive e-mail when on the run and respond back in a more timely manner.  The list could go on and on.  I was hesitant before I could stomach paying the extra money for the data plan.  But I’m telling you, as a mom, it’s worth the extra money.

Eye-Fi SD Card $39.88

If you have wireless (Wi-Fi) set up at home or at your office, the Eye-Fi SD card is a must get.  The Eye-Fi allows you to wirelessly download pictures taken on your camera automatically, as soon as you turn your camera on and you enter your Wi-Fi- network.  I shoot a lot of pictures for my blog and with a regular SD card, I have to take the card out of the camera, insert it into the computer, and go through the steps to ensure they upload on my computer.

With the Eye-Fi, when within my Wi-Fi range, (which is often since I take a lot of pictures at home), as soon as I take a picture, it is already downloading onto my computer!  How cool is that?  I love taking pictures at birthday parties at our house and streaming the pics to our TV so the kids can see themselves.  I used to have to disappear for a while during a party to make this happen, now it happens instantaneous.  Brilliant.

Tablet $298-$1,000

The tablet is another revolutionary product.  In essence, it is a larger smartphone, though typically it does not make calls.  At home, the tablet is a great tool.  It is so much easier and fun to use than the smartphone because of the larger screen and faster processor.  Watch movies, listen to tunes, play games, read your e-mail, take pictures and video, Skype friends while walking through the house, explore and book travel, take pictures of items and post on eBay, etc.

I use Microsoft Office OneNote to keep all of my projects in order.  Think of OneNote as a bunch of notebook binders with tabs to keep things organized.  It is a dream to use and I use it extensively for keeping track of house projects, blog goals, wish lists for the kids, family recipes, travel arrangements, etc.  I’ve never been so organized.

What I like best about using a tablet is that it untethers me from my PC in my home office.  I’m more visible now and can quickly look things up on YouTube or Google when talking with my husband or kids.  I have a Wi-Fi version.  The 3G version is nice to have but adds to your monthly data plan cost and many stores now offer free Wi-Fi.

Ultrabook $799-$1,200

The Ultrabook is the newest arrival in the progression of laptops.  Ultrabooks just hit the market in May and they’re touted to takeover the laptop as the leading mobile computing device in years to come.  Ultrabooks are different from laptops in that they are typically lighter, very thin, have a long battery life (5-8 hrs.), and have instant on access from sleep mode, similar to tablets.  Intel foresees the prices of Ultrabooks getting closer to $500 as more manufacturers make them and components to build them become more mainstream and cheaper to buy.  Unlike tablets, Ultrabooks have full processing power.

Self-Defense Training Camp XBOX Kinect $34.99

Self-Defense Training Camp for the XBOX Kinect is a great way to learn self-defense moves right in your own family room.  How many of us think self-defense is important but have never taken the time to take a class?  You will learn vulnerable parts to strike on your attacker as well as ways to get out of a tight embrace should you be snatched.  Self-Defense Training Camp walks you though a number of steps that build upon each other to help you memorize the moves.

Not only is this game beneficial for you, but it opens the door for you to teach your kids about self-defense and have discussions about what to do if someone kidnaps them.  It takes your self-defense conversations with your kids out of theoretical and into practical – kids are more engaged and learn to train their bodies what to do.  This is a great teaching tool for moms and kids alike.

Smart TV $479-$4,000+

For several years, TV’s have offered apps for Netflix, Pandora, Blockbuster, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, weather, and more, but now you can get full access to the Internet on your TV.  Smart TVs socialize your PC or “personal computer” so you can share with others in your home websites that do not have apps like your favorite recipe or cooking show site, a travel destination you’re thinking about taking, online photo sharing sites, your blog, kids educational sites, music sites, and millions more.

You can also connect to your computer to show your latest pictures/videos and stream your favorite tunes on the big screen.  I like to stream pictures of my kids through the years, they love watching themselves grow up on TV.

Smart  TVs must connect to your router to access the Internet.  All Smart TVs have an Ethernet plug (if you happen to have an Ethernet cable nearby that connects to your router) or can access the Internet wirelessly with a WiFi adaptor (often purchased separately for around $75.)

Neat Receipts Portable Scanner and Software   $199.95

How many of you have a built-in scanner as part of your “all-in-one” printer?  How many of you use it?  I use mine occasionally, but frankly it’s a bit cumbersome.  Neat Receipts Portable Scanner is small and fits neatly on my desk. I use it for two main items: 1.) receipts 2.) business cards.

If you’re like me, you have a drawer full of receipts.  Going through them to find a certain receipt is not always easy.  Keeping track of where money is spent is fine if you use Quicken, but the data you download from the credit card companies does not show the products you actually bought.  By scanning in my receipts, I have a clearer picture for spending and can export the data to Quicken, Quickbooks, Excel, TurboTax, or a PDF.  The Neat Receipts scanner is also great for tracking business expenses while on the road.  Due to its portable size, it can go with you.

I will be taking the scanner with me to the Consumer Electronic Show, coming up in January.  I receive so many business cards and this will be a great tool for keeping tack of them and keeping them for future reference.  Neat Receipts uses optimal character recognition (OPR) so receipts and business cards scanned in will be searchable for particular words.

Use Neat Receipts to scan in your recipes, kids artwork, important documents, etc.   The Neat Receipts portable scanner and software is a phenomenal organizational tool.

Gaming Console $150-$400 PlayStation 3 Wii  XBox  

Gaming consoles are hot sellers – they’ve been for years.  The games that are coming out now are amazing – so realistic and so interactive – especially with the sensors that PlayStation 3 Move, Wii, XBOX Kinect and use.  Wii has been a family oriented console since its conception, but PlayStation 3 Move and XBOX Kinect are catching up with the large number of family games they are producing.  Now you can play Minute to Win it, Family Feud, Monopoly, Apples to Apples, Battleship, Life, Sorry, Yahtzee, Price is Right, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Trivial Pursuit, Twister, carnival games, and more right in your own family room.  All of these are great games to play with the family or have a fun casual night with friends.

Need more exercise?  Try Biggest Loser Ultimate Workout, Your Shape: Fitness Evolved, Gold’s Gym Dance Workout, Zumba Fitness Dance, EA Sports Active, and a bunch of others.  Today’s gaming systems are not just for the kids anymore!

WebCam $20-$99

Home video conferencing is getting more and more popular. Webcams are great for Skype but they are also many other purposes.  With the right software, you can play games with it, surveillance your room via your smartphone, send video e-mails to the grandparents, create your own talkshow or podcast, taking pictures and doctoring up with fun online tools, and more.  Although you can use your tablet for Skype now, there are still benefits of a stationary video camera – especially when your young kids are Skyping with friends or family…it’s just safer.  See WellConnectedmom.com’s Top 5 Things to do with Your Kids and a Webcam for more ideas.

Well, there it is, our top 10 Christmas gadgets recommendations for moms.  There are so many useful gadgets out there, it’s hard to narrow it down to just 10.  Interested in seeing more top pics?  See the WellConnectedMom’s top Christmas gadgets list for 2010 and 2009.

Want some suggestions for kids Christmas presents?  We recommend the LeapPad by Leap Frog, Roman Town, Laser Pegs, Disneyland Adventures for XBOX Kinect, and Wappy for Nintendo DS.

*In the past two years, I have been given a Striiv, Eye-Fi Card, Self-Defense Training Camp, Microsoft Lifecam Studio webcam, PlayStation 3, and Neat Receipts portable scanner to review and provide my honest opinion.  I have found these products to be very useful and continue to use them personally after the review.  All opinions stated are my own.