I'm pretty indifferent to new technology, but my husband is a techno-geek. He's also an Apple evangelist. So, he gets all the latest Apple gadgets, and I become a co-beneficiary. Usually when Apple releases something new, hubby will scoop it up and then give me his "old" gadget. E.g when my husband buys the new iPad, I will certainly get his "old" Notebook. But there is one gadget I have - and LOVE - that my husband doesn't have. It's the Amazon Kindle. I am (or thought I was) an old-school bookie, and normally resist this kind of thing. I mean, how can an e-reader replace the experience of holding & reading a real book. Thing is, my Kindle doesn't replace anything. It has ended up complementing the traditional reading experience. I love sampling a chapter of a book for free; I love having multiple books on one sleek machine (I never know what I'm going to be in the mood for reading); I love being able to change pages without moving a muscle (except one finger); I love highlighting text and having it all compiled into one neat list to go back to when I want (perfect when I find a quote I want to keep)... and it goes on and on. But there will always be books I'll want to have in hard-copy, especially reference books on kids, health, etc. That's why Kindle is a complement and not a replacement for me. I LOVE IT and highly recommend it for anyone, even if you're a hard-core, old school book lover.

Oh, I'm all about the iPad. Yes, the name sucks. Yes, it's overhyped. Yes, it's an iTouch on steroids. But I've been coveting the Kindle for a while, and this has all that -- but better. And I LOVEADOREWORSHIP my iPhone already -- and this will run all those apps, too. And in about two months, they'll be releasing a 3G version -- which is a must-have over "just" wireless access. And I hear the whole iWork suite is fantastic for, you know, people who actually have jobs, so I'm looking forward to fiddling with that when I actually get myself back into the job market again. Plus...I'm kinda an Applewhore. It's only a matter of time, really.

OH! OH! OH! but my latest gotta-have that I ACTUALLY already own is my FLIP. It's amazing for capturing all those precious little moments that happen spontaneously. And it holds an amazing amount of vid clips, so I don't have to run and download before the next school event or priceless 6-year-oldism. It's small enough to fit in the pocket of my bag right next to my compact and lipstick and iPhone. It's an enviable little piece of equipment, is an excellent conversation starter, and best of all, comes with NO wires -- just plugs directly into my computer, and POOF! the vid is on my blog in less than a minute. Run, don't walk, and get thee a FLIP, people!!

Love that mini-Fuji film camera...

I want a new camera oh so bad, so bad it hurts. I have a canon sd power-shot digital elph something. It's a handy little camera, and it's captured some great photos and memories. However, I'm ready for a real camera with one of those fancy lenses. It drives me nuts that when I take pictures the light and essence of the moment is lost because of a blasting flash or poor lighting.

I have a cell phone, it's 2 years old. I have a desktop computer, it's 2 years old. I have a digital camera that is...a year or two, I think, I can't recall. See a pattern? Lol...we had some extra $$ a few years ago and upgraded some things. Although, the cell phone was getting ready to be discontinued so the carrier was letting them go for really cheap with a renewal contract. It has the Windows setup, so if I needed to transport documents or something I have the office suite on it. I am always in the planning stages of starting something entrepreneurial and think stuff like that will be useful. It's a slide phone, no touch-screens. It doubles as an MP3 player, but I don't like the earbuds, and they plug into the usb so I can't replace them. As much as I'm on the computer, you'd think I'd have a laptop, but I don't. My husband does. I bought it for him last summer. I am an Overstock evangelist, lol...and got his computer as a refurb. He says it's a dream to use. It's 17", and he took it to Afghanistan. He says it's actually a little too big to use and is thinking of sending it home for me (yay!) and replacing it with a smaller netbook. He carries a slim portable hard drive filled with movies so he doesn't get bored. My digital camera was a gift a few Christmases ago. My husband used to be in sales and won a Nikon digital camera in 2004. It took rechargeable batteries and was decent, but the batteries stopped holding their charge and no matter how newly charged the batteries were, it seemed every time I needed to take a picture it was dead. Missed a lot of very cute moments that way! I was complaining about the battery life, and also the SIZE. It was probably the size of one of those large cameras some of you ladies showed...and for me, I so did not need ONE MORE thing to carry around (with a newborn and all their STUFF). He got me a Kodak digital, and it has been a dream. I know others have laughed or even smirked at the idea of using something like it, but it has it's own carry case which is easy to flip open, it takes video and still pictures. It has been great to keep my family updated since we've moved away. I would *like* to update my cell phone...but husband and I are not sure if we want to stay with this carrier, and I do not have the thumbs for touch-screen texting. So I have a lot of research to do. Are DVD players gadgets?? Lol...I need to replace my kid's portable DVD player. I dunno if we wore it out or if it was bad design, but the discs skip a lot now. I also want to upgrade to Blu-Ray, but our current DVD player has the rewritable feature, so I can actually copy things from TV onto DVD and send them to my husband. :) I used to be a backpack gal...but I just carry a "bag" now. It's multi-purpose as diaper bag & purse. Also large enough to hold a notebook for taking notes or writing down info when someone calls and I'm out.

Thank you for this one! It's so helpful. My favorite gadgets are my Pentax camera and my FLIP video. What is the Pentax version of that 50mm 114 lens?