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CNN Saturday Morning News

Hi-tech Gifts Under $200

Aired November 30, 2002 - 07:50   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it is that time of year when you might be shopping for a technophile friend or relative. Really? Well, how about some hi-tech stocking stuffers under $200?
CNN technology correspondent Daniel Sieberg is with us and he has a -- some gadgets with us -- $200 -- under $200. What can you get for under $200, Daniel?

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Catherine I think people will be pretty surprised. Everybody's got that technophile or somebody who loves gadgets on their Christmas list, and you know we've picked out some gadgets here that do run under $200 -- that are actually more than what we've caught here -- but we've got a few we just wanted to point out to people so we're going to start with one that really is going to surprise people.

You know, this time last year and in fact even today portable DVD players go for a few hundred, even $500 or more dollars, but this one we found goes for $200.

Now what you're sacrificing here is screen size, in particular. You can see the screen size is a lot smaller than you might imagine on, say, even a laptop that a lot of people can play DVDs on now.

This one is from a company called Shinsonic or Initial Electronics. It plays DVDs, CDs, also in two different formats. It also has a variety of different plug-ins. If you want Dolby Digital Surround Sound. The screen, as I pointed out, is fairly small and the other thing you sacrifice is battery power. It only lasts for about two hours so that's just about one movie.

We're playing Dracula right now. Four hours on stand by. And this little tiny remote also amazes people; it's very portable as well. But it's got all the standard features you'd expect with a DVD player and $200.

CALLAWAY: You know, Daniel, I didn't realize it was that small but when you put your hand next to it, it's very tiny.

SIEBERG: You really get that perspective.

CALLAWAY: I can't believe how much -- how much the price has gone down on this. You got to wonder how much this time next year, even this summer, if the screens might be bigger and the price might be lower.

SIEBERG: Well, it's possible. $200 is very low for a portable DVD player. You know, most of them -- other brands --range in the

$300 to $500 or even more dollar range, and even a DVD player -- just a standard DVD player goes for about -- you can get them for under $100 -- these days but you know you end up sacrificing one thing over another. It's a trade off.

CALLAWAY: And you picked Dracula as a DVD to stick in there?

SIEBERG: You know it was the only DVD we had lying around.

CALLAWAY: What were you thinking? It's a family program here!

SIEBERG: Oh well.

CALLAWAY: All right, now let's talk about the Palm Pilot. This is a Palm Pilot and it's under $100.

SIEBERG: Yes, you know Palm's are still -- there are a number of different Palm handhelds out there and some of them are several hundred dollars but since this time last year Palm has released the Palm Zire.

This one goes for $100; it's sort of an entry level or an introductory level Palm. It has all the features you would come to expect on a Palm. It has an organizer; keep track of your phone numbers and calendar and that sort of thing.

What you're sacrificing is there are no -- no ability to log on to the Internet or check your e-mail or do any Web browsing. But it is -- it does come with all the standard features you would come to expect with a Palm and it has the up to date Palm operating system on it. And a stylus and again it's portable and one thing we wanted to point out that -- you know -- if the stylus or a PDA or personal digital assistant is just too small for you, there is also something here from Pocket Top. Now as you see here it looks like about the size of the PDA when I unfold it you can see that there's actually a full size keyboard here.

CALLAWAY: Wow.

SIEBERG: This goes for...

CALLAWAY: That goes with it.

SIEBERG: Yes, this goes with it. You can actually hook it up by an infrared connection on your PDA. You need to download some software for your PDA in order for it to work but it's a portable keyboard it's got a whole bunch of shortcut keys on it.

CALLAWAY: Well that's great Daniel.

SIEBERG: Yes, and that's something people might be interested in as well.

CALLAWAY: And we've only got like 30 seconds left. What is the T-Mobile Sidekick?

SIEBERG: Yes, this one's getting a lot of buzz because it's sort of an all in one gadget and the thing we should point out about it, basically it's got a phone, Web browsing features, Internet, this scroll wheel here, but the thing that always amazes people is this little screen that slides around and there's a keyboard here so that you can type on it and use your phone.

This goes for $200. You would also have to pay for your service from T-Mobile which ranges from about $30 to $60 but it is available now and you know if you want sort of that all in one multi-gadget that's the one to go for.

And finally we've got this Amerivoice connector box at the end there. I'll just quickly get to that; it's $22, it gives you unlimited long distance but only 15 calls per day and about 90 minute limit on the calls.

CALLAWAY: Daniel, you always bring great gadgets.

SIEBERG: Techy gadgets for the tightwad.

CALLAWAY: I'll take them all.

SIEBERG: All right.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired November 30, 2002 - 07:50   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it is that time of year when you might be shopping for a technophile friend or relative. Really? Well, how about some hi-tech stocking stuffers under $200?
CNN technology correspondent Daniel Sieberg is with us and he has a -- some gadgets with us -- $200 -- under $200. What can you get for under $200, Daniel?

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Catherine I think people will be pretty surprised. Everybody's got that technophile or somebody who loves gadgets on their Christmas list, and you know we've picked out some gadgets here that do run under $200 -- that are actually more than what we've caught here -- but we've got a few we just wanted to point out to people so we're going to start with one that really is going to surprise people.

You know, this time last year and in fact even today portable DVD players go for a few hundred, even $500 or more dollars, but this one we found goes for $200.

Now what you're sacrificing here is screen size, in particular. You can see the screen size is a lot smaller than you might imagine on, say, even a laptop that a lot of people can play DVDs on now.

This one is from a company called Shinsonic or Initial Electronics. It plays DVDs, CDs, also in two different formats. It also has a variety of different plug-ins. If you want Dolby Digital Surround Sound. The screen, as I pointed out, is fairly small and the other thing you sacrifice is battery power. It only lasts for about two hours so that's just about one movie.

We're playing Dracula right now. Four hours on stand by. And this little tiny remote also amazes people; it's very portable as well. But it's got all the standard features you'd expect with a DVD player and $200.

CALLAWAY: You know, Daniel, I didn't realize it was that small but when you put your hand next to it, it's very tiny.

SIEBERG: You really get that perspective.

CALLAWAY: I can't believe how much -- how much the price has gone down on this. You got to wonder how much this time next year, even this summer, if the screens might be bigger and the price might be lower.

SIEBERG: Well, it's possible. $200 is very low for a portable DVD player. You know, most of them -- other brands --range in the

$300 to $500 or even more dollar range, and even a DVD player -- just a standard DVD player goes for about -- you can get them for under $100 -- these days but you know you end up sacrificing one thing over another. It's a trade off.

CALLAWAY: And you picked Dracula as a DVD to stick in there?

SIEBERG: You know it was the only DVD we had lying around.

CALLAWAY: What were you thinking? It's a family program here!

SIEBERG: Oh well.

CALLAWAY: All right, now let's talk about the Palm Pilot. This is a Palm Pilot and it's under $100.

SIEBERG: Yes, you know Palm's are still -- there are a number of different Palm handhelds out there and some of them are several hundred dollars but since this time last year Palm has released the Palm Zire.

This one goes for $100; it's sort of an entry level or an introductory level Palm. It has all the features you would come to expect on a Palm. It has an organizer; keep track of your phone numbers and calendar and that sort of thing.

What you're sacrificing is there are no -- no ability to log on to the Internet or check your e-mail or do any Web browsing. But it is -- it does come with all the standard features you would come to expect with a Palm and it has the up to date Palm operating system on it. And a stylus and again it's portable and one thing we wanted to point out that -- you know -- if the stylus or a PDA or personal digital assistant is just too small for you, there is also something here from Pocket Top. Now as you see here it looks like about the size of the PDA when I unfold it you can see that there's actually a full size keyboard here.

CALLAWAY: Wow.

SIEBERG: This goes for...

CALLAWAY: That goes with it.

SIEBERG: Yes, this goes with it. You can actually hook it up by an infrared connection on your PDA. You need to download some software for your PDA in order for it to work but it's a portable keyboard it's got a whole bunch of shortcut keys on it.

CALLAWAY: Well that's great Daniel.

SIEBERG: Yes, and that's something people might be interested in as well.

CALLAWAY: And we've only got like 30 seconds left. What is the T-Mobile Sidekick?

SIEBERG: Yes, this one's getting a lot of buzz because it's sort of an all in one gadget and the thing we should point out about it, basically it's got a phone, Web browsing features, Internet, this scroll wheel here, but the thing that always amazes people is this little screen that slides around and there's a keyboard here so that you can type on it and use your phone.

This goes for $200. You would also have to pay for your service from T-Mobile which ranges from about $30 to $60 but it is available now and you know if you want sort of that all in one multi-gadget that's the one to go for.

And finally we've got this Amerivoice connector box at the end there. I'll just quickly get to that; it's $22, it gives you unlimited long distance but only 15 calls per day and about 90 minute limit on the calls.

CALLAWAY: Daniel, you always bring great gadgets.

SIEBERG: Techy gadgets for the tightwad.

CALLAWAY: I'll take them all.

SIEBERG: All right.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com