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Shoppers have plenty of hot new items to consider for the techies on their holiday list

Electronics retailers are rolling out plenty of hot items for the techie on your gift list. Among the trends: TVs are getting larger and MP3 players are getting smaller. Here’s a look at some popular gift ideas:

Music. This holiday shopping season offers two ways to take your favorite tunes with you.
iPod nano. The iPod nano takes Apple’s popular MP3 player and shrinks it down to 0.27 of an inch, about the width of a pencil. The unit weighs just 1.5 ounces, less than most cell phones, and boasts a 2 ½-inch color display. Expect to pay about $200 for the two-gigabyte version, which holds about 500 songs, and $250 for the four-gigabyte version, which holds double the songs. The nano marks the first time an iPod is available in black, a hot color this season. Stocking stuffer idea: Buy an iPod junkie an iTunes gift card to download music from the Internet. The nano is part of the “What’s Hot” wall just inside CompUSA in Melbourne, where popular gift ideas are displayed. “It’s hard to keep in stock,” said Jerry Mannix, general manager.

Satellite radio. “Satellite radio is going to be the scene,” said Michael McDougall, a manager at Best Buy in Melbourne. The segment markets much more than music. XM radio is positioning itself as the choice for baseball fans, while Sirius is after the football base. In addition to listening in the car, radio subscribers can take portable tuners into the home, office or anywhere. Satellite radio fills a void for McDougall and others in the retail business that have to work during prime football-watching time – particularly those who follow a team that local TV or radio stations don’t carry. “You don’t have to wait for halftime to hear your team’s score in a three-second blurb,” McDougall said.
Forget the bulky boxes of recent years. Manufacturers have tried to appeal to buyers, especially women, by redesigning the satellite radio units. “They’re much, much smaller and more appealing,” McDougall said.

Gaming. Microsoft released its latest version of its game system, the Xbox 360, just in time for the post-Thanksgiving shopping frenzy. It’s on the “What’s Hot” wall at CompUSA, where representatives might be tempted to rip the display unit off the wall and sell it. “It will be very tough to come by,” Mannix said.
Pricing is about $299, or $399 for the version with a built-in hard drive.
“We already have the demo set up in the store and there’s always a line to play it,” McDougall said before the Nov. 22 release.
If Xbox isn’t your thing – or you can’t find one -- equip your computer for better gaming with a video card. A $100 to $300 investment will increase random access memory for better graphics and speed, said Brad Kretschmer, product specialist at Circuit City on Merritt Island.

Television. The Sony 42-inch LCD television is popular at Circuit City on Merritt Island. “It probably has the best picture in its range,” said product specialist Adam Branly. The TV costs about $1,800 and is PC-compatible, so users can hook it up to their computer. The store carries LCD TVs as small as 8 inches, perfect for mounting under the kitchen cabinet.
One advantage of the liquid crystal diode technology is it removes the danger of burn-in, a risk with plasma TVs. That happens when an image, such as a station logo, is shown on screen for a prolonged time and burns itself into the picture, permanently discoloring the pixels. For larger screens, plasma televisions offer high contrast and wide viewing angles. The technology uses neon and xenon gases trapped between thin layers of glass to create a digital image. At Circuit City, plasmas start at 47 inches and cost about $2,700 and up.

All-in-one printers. Manufacturers offer half a dozen good choices for photo printers, ranging in price from $99 to $299, Mannix said. CompUSA is prepared to meet high demand for the printers, which allow people with digital cameras to print out photos at home. “Last year, when the ads started to run, we ran out. This year, we’re stocked up,” he said.

He recently used his digital camera to take a picture of each child at his daughter’s birthday party, then printed out a picture for each to take home. “It’s the same quality, if not better, than you’ll get from any print shop,” he said.