2009 Edition.
No. 1 Solid State Disk
The crucial CT64M225 64GB ($234) or CT128M225 128GB ($429), or the ultimate Intel X25 160GB ($549) for the notebook machine. Improve performance, improve battery life. Best of all, you don’t have to wait a few seconds after closing the lid for the HDD to spin down before you pick up and go.
No. 2 Roku Player
The Roku now has tech video podcasts available, as well as netflix and Amazon video on demand. All it needs is “Play To” DLNA capability so we can stream everything from our Win7 computers to it.
No. 3 Stand-Alone Blue Ray Player
Forget about the playstation 3, that just sucks up your time playing games. Purchase the LG BD390 instead (or equivalent player with DLNA support) – not for playing blu-ray disks, as blu-ray will fade away before it ever gets started (physical disk delivery will disappear), but rather as a DLNA receiver for both audio and video, a YouTube box, and a netflix online device. Now all we need is support for Hulu, . . . [PlayTo, not play]
No. 4 Netflix Subscription
We need some content for our #2 and #3 video/audio devices (besides everything already on our computers).
No. 5 Buy another Monitor
You can always use another monitor, and screen real estate is king. Make this one 1920x1080 pixels widescreen, good quality, and plunk it down in the middle of your current setup.
No. 6 Stocking Stuffers
Grab a bunch of 4GB USB sticks for Windows 7 and Server 2008r2 boot media, as well as some memory and disk checking utilities. You’ll need at least 4 of these, at about $11 a piece. Optical disks are not worth the shelf space. Throw in an all-in-one USB stick adapter for your SD cards and the phone’s microSD, and you’re all set wherever you go.
No. 7 MacOS X Machine
Re-discover your unix roots, learn a new language (objective-C), and look at all the pretty, shiny things. Try for a MacBook Pro refurbished (or ebay) to make to reasonably affordable, or get a Mac Mini and hook up one of your monitors from time-to-time. Don’t forget to install Windows 7 – get a 1TB drive and split it in half. No virtual machines needed, here.
No. 8 MiFi portable Wi-Fi
Assuming you have a data plan, keep the whole family happy in the car on the next trip. Don’t expect to watch a movie on Hulu, however, because it’s just not going to happen. But everyone can check their email - and tweet. [Are we there, yet?]
No. 9 Kindle 2
They added native PDF and longer battery life (by turning off the wireless when not in use – Duh!) to this little guy, which now makes the list for 2009.
No. 10 Core i5, 16GB RAM, P55 Motherboard
Update and upgrade your main dev box with lots more RAM for those virtual machines using the best-value Core i5 quad chip. You won’t heat up the room, just the code.
Merry Christmas.