GIFTS FOR GEEKS 2024

IN OUR ANNUAL-ROUNDUP OF GIFT IDEAS FOR PEOPLE IMPOSSIBLE TO BUY FOR, WE COVER EVERYTHING FROM CHESS SETS TO PORTABLE BLUETOOTH TURNTABLES

If you're at all like us, when someone asks you for gift ideas you shrug your shoulders. "Dunno." Which isn't very helpful, so how grateful you must feel right now to discover that you can have the pick from 36 hand-picked products. And, with two exceptions, these products have all been put to the test by PC Pro or the extended network of Future tech websites. That means you can buy with confidence, as we've only included products that we would be happy to receive ourselves (hint).

We decided against including products that you'll find on our A List. If you're after a stylish laptop, blazingly quick desktop PC or pro-quality monitor, then those pages have you covered (see p14). Nor will you find any tablets here, as we have a group test of the best from p76, and also include a review of the late-arriving iPad mini on p68.

Instead, our focus on these pages is on fun. How about a travel-friendly record player to give your vinyl an airing? Or perhaps one of the two games consoles we cover will set your credit card tingling-we've steered away from the brilliant yet boring Nintendo Switch and focused on a portable gaming PC and retro console instead. Gamers might just be taken by the £600 Razer chair we review as well.

There's plenty more here. Two virtual reality-sorry, immersive reality -headsets, a comedic pair of earbuds, the latest e-readers from Amazon and Boox, plus four (real) books that any geek would be delighted to unwrap of a festive morning. And we have our equivalent of socks, too, whether that's the Swiss Army knife of USB cable connectors or a backpack that's as practical as it is stylish.

And if you scroll to the very end of this feature, you'll discover the hottest hardware of the year, as decided by listeners to the PC Pro podcast over the course of 2024. With options covering a 20TB enterprise hard disk, a £3,499 telescope and (of course) a keyboard, there really is something for everyone.