Father's Day special edition gift guide
Dad's been good to you. Very good to you. Why, without him you quite literally wouldn't be on this earth, and that's something to be thankful for. If he's anything like you, he probably has a bit of a passion for the latest and greatest in tech. But, it can be very hard to know what to buy in this dynamically changing world. Lucky for you, dear reader, we've put together this handy list of great gadgets and last-minute shopping ideas for dear 'ol dad.
Spotify gift card - ($10 - $60)
We figure dad probably has some sort of music that he likes, and we'll go even further by saying that dad probably owns some music in a format that can't be easily played on a smartphone. You could spend a weekend helping him rip and convert his entire music collection (good luck with the 8-tracks) or you could just get him a Spotify subscription. Unless your dad is into some seriously obscure stuff, Spotify should keep him happy and, with gift cards readily available, you can give the gift of music right inside his Father's Day card. (You did remember to pick up a card, right?) Spotify's Premium service costs $10 a month and, if you want to be really nice, you'll go ahead and make him a few playlists of his favorite tunes.
Kindle Paperwhite - ($119 - $139)
Most dads like lazy Sunday afternoons, and among our favorite lazy Sunday afternoon pastimes is taking a nice book out to somewhere sunny and comfortable and enjoying. If that happens to be followed by a nap, so be it. Our favorite e-reader of the moment is still the Kindle Paperwhite. Its E Ink screen makes it great for reading in the sun, but with its built-in backlight, it's great for discreetly reading at night without having to use a lamp. If that's not good enough, the battery life is so great that he'll hardly ever have to worry about charging the thing.
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite review
Sony NEX-3N - ($500)
Is your dad still lugging around some antique of a camera? Maybe his aging back could do with something a bit lighter. The NEX-3N is Sony's latest interchangeable lens camera (ILC), which means dad can always have the right glass for the job, but it's still incredibly small and lightweight. Most importantly: it takes photos that rival those of much bigger, heavier and more expensive DSLRs. If dad's serious about photography, this is a great choice.
Apple MacBook Air 13-inch - ($1,099+)
Laptops are constantly getting smaller, lighter and more powerful, but rarely do they make any big improvements in battery life. That's not the case with the latest rendition of Apple's MacBook Air. It was already one of our favorite laptops, but the 2013 model adds Intel's latest line of Haswell CPUs. Apple promises 12 hours of battery life and we did even better, scoring nearly 13 on our standard rundown test. It isn't exactly cheap, but it is on the more affordable end of the scale for a quality laptop this thin and this light. It's still our choice.
MacBook Air review (13-inch, mid-2013)
Sony Bravia XBR-55X900A 55-inch 4K TV - ($5,000)
Has dad been very, very good this year? Maybe it's time to throw him into the next generation of televisions. Sony's latest, the Bravia XBR-55X900A, is a 55-inch television with 4K resolution -- basically, four times the pixels of a standard 1080p HDTV. Not only will picture quality look great, in combination with the 4K Media Player he'll also actually have some 4K movies to watch and have access to a 4K movie streaming service this fall. Granted, $5k is hardly cheap, but it's certainly more affordable than some of Sony's other options.
