The Gadling 2010 Dads and Grads gift guide and giveaway

Yes – you have just over a week left to pick out a great gift for the dad or grad in your life. This summer is tougher than ever to find the right gift, because new gear is being released at a crazy pace.

We’ve teamed up with Office Depot to select 5 fantastic (and affordable) gifts – but the best part is that everything in this lineup can be won. And better yet – we’ll do our best to get your prize delivered on time for Father’s Day!Flip Ultra Digital Camcorder

The Flip Ultra is the most popular pocket HD camcorder on the market – with its pocketable size and great quality HD sensor, the Flip is ideal for capturing vacation moments, or for you to film your husband try to extinguish the fire shooting up from the grill.

Price: $149
Office Depot product link

Garmin Nüvi 1300 GPS navigation system

Is your dad or grad one of the millions of people who have never believed in the power of maps or asking for directions?

Help them out with a GPS unit. The Nüvi 1300 widescreen GPS unit features spoken street names and EcoRoute
calculations for fuel saving route planning.

Price: $129.99
Office Depot product link

Sony PRS-300SC reader pocket edition

The Sony PRS-300SC is not only one of the most compact ebook readers on the market, it is also one of the most affordable at just $149.99.

The reader has enough storage space for 300 books available from 100’s of sources. The PRS-300SC also supports PDF and Word documents.

Price: $149.99
Office Depot product link

Ativa Mobil-IT Ultimate Rolling briefcase

With enough storage space for a laptop, file folders and an overnight set of clothes, the Mobil-IT briefcase is the perfect solution for the one-night traveler. Best of all, the bag features a removable laptop bag, increasing its internal space.

Price: $149.99
Office Depot product link

Ativa Mobil-IT Ultimate Organizer Backpack

With over 10 different compartments, the Ativa Mobil-IT Organizer Backpack is excellent for the over-packer. Its padded shoulder straps provide cushioning, and its internal laptop compartment holds machines up to 16″.

The bag has loads of special features – including a headphone grommet, deep front pockets and a weight balancing structure, designed to reduce pressure on your back.

Price: $64.99
Office Depot product link

As we mentioned earlier – all the products in this gift guide are being given away – all you need to do is describe why your dad or grad is the best in the world.

  • To enter, simply leave a comment answering the question posted above.
  • The comment must be left before Monday June 14 2010 at 5:00 PM Eastern Time.
  • You may enter only once.
  • Five Prize Winners will be randomly selected to receive one item from the gift guide. Our judges will pick what you receive.
  • Open to legal residents of the 50 United States, and the District of Columbia who are 18 and older.
  • The total value of each prize is approximately $149.99 (Flip Ultra), $129.99 (Garmin Nuvi 1300), $149.99 (Sony Reader), $169.99 (Mobil-IT rolling briefcase) and $64.99 (Mobil-IT Ultra Organizer Backpack).
  • Click here for the complete official rules of this giveaway.

New Garmin nüvi 1690 includes 2 years of free online services and lots of exclamation marks

GPS units are announced almost every day – but this newest unit from Garmin immediately grabbed my attention. It is the the first “connected GPS” unit from Garmin, which means the device has a built in cellular modem, allowing it to connect to the Internet and grab real time data, instead of relying on an (often outdated) internal database. Current Garmin units can only receive data in one direction.

The nüvi 1690 uses the new Garmin nüLink! (gotta love! names! with exclamation marks!). NüLink! provides access to online Google searches, traffic, weather, fuel prices, local events and whitepage telephone listings.

In addition to this, the nüvi 1690 provides some basic social networking using Ciao!, the new Garmin location based social networking portal.

Now, Garmin is by no means the first to introduce a connected GPS unit, but they are the first to introduce one that comes with 2 full years of free online service. After this, service is only $5 per month. Other units like the now defunct Dash Express wanted $12.95 for each month, so Garmin clearly did their homework picking the perfect price point for their service.

It is obvious that connected GPS units are the future – and at first glance, the nüvi 1690 looks like a true winner – its initial $499 purchase price is a little on the high side, but still in line with what most other high-end GPS units cost, even though this one contains a cellular data modem.

It is on schedule to be released in the fourth quarter of this year, which means it should be available just in time for Christmas.

Daily gear deals – $30 carkit, $99 camcorder and more

Here are the hottest gadget deals for today, Friday June 12th 2009. Remember, these deals are often only valid for one day, so act fast before they are gone!

The first piece of gear for today is this Avantalk Bluetooth handsfree carkit for $29.24 with free shipping. It is small enough to bring along for a rental car, and will help prevent getting ticketed for talking on the phone in a state or city with handsfree laws. Click here for this deal.

Looking for the best of the best in GPS? Check out this Garmin Nuvi 855T for $360 – and before you complain that this is about $250 more than most budget GPS units, read the list of features on this amazing unit. If you really, absolutely, must have a reliable GPS system with every feature under the sun, then this is one unit worth considering. Click here for this deal.

The Archos 605 media player has it all
– 30GB storage, support for most major audio and video formats, WiFi, optional browser and a handy built-in kickstand. With its optional DVR base, it can even be turned into a video recorder. Click here for this deal.

To finish off today’s lineup of deals, check out this Sanyo Xacti 6MP digital camcorder for just $99, over at Dailysteals.com.

Daiy gear deals – $31 picnic set, widescreen GPS unit and more

Here are the hottest gadget deals for today, Thursday June 4th 2009. Remember, these deals are often only valid for one day, so act fast before they are gone!

The first deal for today is pretty damn cool if you ask me – This picnic set comes with 32 pieces, and contains everything you need for a fun outdoor picnic. Mind you – this isn’t some cheap plastic junk either, the kit comes with a cutting board, salt and pepper shakers and of course a picnic blanket. On sale at Buy.com for $30.99 with free shipping.

The best deals are often refurbished items, and this Nikon Coolpix S600 10 Megapixel digital camera is no exception. With a 4x optical wide angle zoom lens and optical vibration reduction, this thing is top of the line, with a bottom of the line price. Normal retail price is about $249, but Adorama is selling it (refurbished) for just $100! You’ll find the Nikon Coolpix S600 digital camera here.

If you are looking for a GPS unit with more than just the basics, then check out this highly rated Garmin nüvi 780 widescreen GPS unit with Bluetooth. Sure, it costs a bit more than the super-basic models, but that does get you Bluetooth handsfree, MSN Direct traffic and information services, a widescreen display and more. Normal retail price s $399, now on sale for just $199 with free shipping.

And finally – the Altec Lansing UHP336 Snugfit noise reducing headphones do much more than just deliver a really long product name. They are designed to feel extremely comfortable, yet provide excellent sound quality and impressive noise isolation. Perfect for your upcoming summer vacation flight! Normal retail price is $130, now on sale for just $34.95 with free shipping.

Daily gear deals – $17 MP3 player, $5 Kindle charging kit and more

Here are the hottest gadget deals for today, Friday May 29th 2009. Remember, these deals are often one-day deals, so act fast before they are gone!

Today’s lineup of deals starts with the highly rated Garmin Nuvi 855. This widescreen GPS unit is miles ahead of the usual cheap stuff we post here. The Nuvi 855 offers speech recognition, spoken commands, lane assist and even the ability to navigate by picture, with the photos from the Garmin photo sharing community. The unit normally costs $499, but is currently on sale through Amazon for just $299 (with free shipping).

Are you in the market for a really cheap MP3 player? This Creative Zen Stone with speaker has 1GB of storage and a built in speaker. Normal price is $45, but it is currently on sale (refurbished) in the Creative outlet for just $16.99.

Do you travel with the Amazon Kindle? Then this deal is perfect for you – an iGo 4 piece Amazon Kindle charging kit (wall + car) for just $4.24. The kit comes with an AC charger, DC (car) charger, retractable cable and Amazon Kindle iGo power tip. On sale at Amazon, but since it is under $25, you’ll need to pay for shipping.
for under $5!

The final deal for today is for this Olympus Stylus 820 weatherproof digital camera. On sale for just $89.99. The camera features a 5x optical zoom, 8 megapixel sensor and weatherproof seals to protect the camera from rain, sand, snow and more.

Looking for more hot deals, coupons and discount codes? Check out the lineup of bargains in our shopping portal!