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Don't get Grandma a gaming machine. Unless your grandmother returns from the early bird special to spend her evening hours blowing away monsters in Doom, odds are she doesn't need a US$3,000 PC. For a fraction of the cost, you can get her a fully capable desktop for sending e-mail, playing Internet bridge, and looking at pictures of her grandkids. Speaking of which, when are you going to give her a grandchild?
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Don't avoid asking the geek. The opposite holds true for your nephew who spends most of his free time in front of a PC. All that PC time probably hasn't helped his complexion any, but it certainly has taught him a thing or two about computers. So don't make the mistake of getting him something he (or worse, his friends) will find uncool. Unless you feel comfortable (that is, geeky) enough to power shop for the latest gear, go ahead and spoil the surprise by feeling out his preferences. He'll have no trouble telling you which graphics card he must have.
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Don't duplicate peripherals. If you can hear the walls rattle in little Jimmy's room upstairs during his marathon gaming sessions, chances are he doesn't need a new set of speakers with his new PC. Same goes for the enormous CRT monitor glowing in the corner of his room. If he is so equipped, you need not gift wrap peripherals with that new system. If a new PC isn't in the budget this year, perhaps a new graphics card will do the trick.
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Don't leave them singing the configuration blues. Most PC vendors will let you customize a system online these days. While choice is good, it can also get you in trouble if you don't know what you're doing. Before you buy, make sure you know what to look for in a desktop and avoid such mistakes as pairing slower memory than the chipset supports or bundling surround-sound speakers without the requisite audio inputs.
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Don't buy just a PC. With Microsoft's new-and-improved Media Center OS, the PC takes on new and interesting personalities. Perfect for sprucing up a dorm room or studio apartment, a Media Center PC will save students and young professionals valuable living space by doubling as a television (with TiVo-like features for pausing and recording live TV). If you can't decide whether your kid needs a TV or a PC, you can get them both in one package with a Media Center PC.
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Don't forget the memory. Memory is one of the most important factors in overall system performance. These days, the bare minimum you should choose is 256MB of DDR SDRAM, though we'd advise getting at least 512MB for all but the most novice users. The latest Intel chipsets support dual-channel 400MHz memory, so the memory should come in two modules (or DIMMs) and be labeled as DDR400 memory.
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Don't overlook future-proofing the graphics. Putting a PC with integrated graphics under the tree will suffice for many users. But should little Janey develop a sudden interest in gaming, having an AGP slot on the motherboard is invaluable. Without it, she'll be stuck with second-rate graphics and won't be able to later upgrade to an advanced graphics card that's capable of rendering the gory scenes of today's 3D games.
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Don't get burned by recordable-DVD formats. If your intended recipient is often seen with a camcorder in hand, then his or her PC must have a DVD burner. You can cut through the recordable-DVD format wars by choosing a multiformat drive such as Sony's Editors' Choice award-winning DRU-510A drive. It writes to both +R and -R discs at a speedy 4X.
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Don't let software slip your mind. Are you getting a new PC for Dad to help cut back on the anguished cries emanating from his home office after each time that old, dusty PC crashes? Then be sure to include a productivity suite such as Microsoft Works with the system. It's undoubtedly better than what he's using now, and most PC vendors offer a discount if you purchase the software with a PC rather than buying it separately.
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Don't ignore the warranty. Give the gift that keeps on giving: a strong warranty. If your PC gift's intended recipient isn't a do-it-yourselfer, than services such as 24/7 toll-free phone support and onsite service will be welcome, in addition to a warranty that lasts longer than the one-year industry average.
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