(MONEY Magazine) – Quite frankly, there's nothing a tech enthusiast like me enjoys more than speculating about which new computer gadgets would make great gifts for my wife, my kid, the rest of my family and, well, me. What follows is my list of "it" gifts for this holiday season, from a computer for the technophobe in the family (my mom) to a toy for the budding technophile (my son). Some are indulgences, yes, but what better time of year to dream. Prices are list; on all but the hottest items, you may be able to do better in the store. If you're shopping for computers and electronics online, start at a price comparison site such as www.mysimon.com or www.shopper.com.

FOR A DRIVER

As my family and I drive over the Hudson and through Penn's woods to grandmother's house, I'd like to take along a music collection. I'd also like to download my e-mail before I go, have it read to me and then record my responses along the way. I can do that with the eGo from i2Go (above), which comes with software that lets you convert CDs into MP3 files on your PC. With a 340MB IBM Microdrive, which lets it store up to five hours of music and hundreds of e-mail messages, the eGo costs $499.

FOR A TRAVELER

Memo to my wife: If you're thinking about splurging on a laptop for this tech enthusiast, the $2,300 Sony Vaio PictureBook C1VN (above) is ideal. Not only is it small and light--at 2.2 pounds, it's less than half the weight of a typical laptop--but it also has stamina. As the first consumer product to use the new 600MHz Crusoe processor from Transmeta, the PictureBook should run for up to five hours on a single battery charge. With the built-in camera behind the screen, you can snap a digital photo and then e-mail it. The screen is smaller than a typical laptop's. But unless you're a Web designer (I'm not), it's big enough.

FOR A NET NOVICE

All year, computer industry pundits have been pointing to the 2000 holiday shopping season as the time when Internet appliances--simple, low-priced computers designed for Web surfing and e-mail only--would finally take center stage. It's happened, and the one I'd buy for my mother, a less than enthusiastic tech user who refuses to have a PC in her house, is the iPaq Home Internet Appliance from Compaq (right). At $199 (plus $21.95 a month for Internet service from Microsoft), this machine is the perfect way for a Net neophyte like my mom to send and receive e-mail, to look at family photos I send to her and to go online without having to buy a full-blown PC. And should I convince her that she might like to print some of those photos, the iPaq works with Epson Inkjet printers, such as the $150 Stylus Color 880.

FOR ANYONE

For my wife the choreographer, who lugs around a stuffed-to-capacity, five-pound calendar and address book, I like the new $299 Handspring Visor Platinum (below). This 5.4-ounce Visor has 8MB of memory, enough to store 12,000 addresses, 6,000 appointments and 400 e-mail messages. With a $269 MP3 module from Good Technologies, she can listen to the music she's working on without hauling around a portable CD player.

FOR A MUSIC LOVER

Because even an enthusiast tires of tech sometimes, I've added two CD sets to my wish list. The first is The Complete Miles Davis Featuring John Coltrane (below). This $110 comprehensive, beautifully designed six-CD box set includes more than six hours of music from two of the greatest practitioners of America's truest art form. A second choice: Ken Burns Jazz ($59.98), the five-CD companion to the PBS documentary airing in January.

FOR A TEENAGER

I don't have a teenager clamoring for a cell phone yet, but if I did, I'd get him or her the Motorola Talkabout T900 two-way pager (left) instead. The $180 price tag is a bit more than you might pay for a cell phone, but service--which includes wireless access to headlines, stock quotes, weather, sports scores and even entertainment news--is a reasonable $15 a month. This pager comes in four bright colors--aqua ice, razberry ice, mystic blue and opaque black--and holds up to 250 names, phone numbers and e-mail addresses. To reach your teen, you can send an e-mail or, depending on where you live, leave text messages by telephone. Your kid can use the pager's small keyboard to send back an e-mail--or not.

FOR THE FAMILY

I don't really need a third PC in my house. I just want to be able to check e-mail and the Net while my wife and son are doing their computer thing. Sounds like I could use a Net appliance. Yes, but the iPaq I'd get for my mom (see page 227) won't do. I'm a loyal Earthlink subscriber. Why pay for a second ISP? I like the Ergo Audrey, the new $499 Net appliance from 3Com, former makers of the Palm. You can use any one of several ISPs (but not AOL or MSN; go to www.3com.com/ergo for a list) and do a bit more than check e-mail and go on the Web, such as keep an electronic calendar and sync any Palm-compatible device. The Audrey automatically downloads e-mail messages up to five times a day, alerting you to mail with a green blinking light. And, unlike the iPaq, the Audrey has an optional $60 Ethernet adapter, making it high-speed capable. Why not get this Net appliance for Mom? With the higher price tag and more sophisticated functions, the Audrey is more suitable (and economical) as a second PC alternative than as a beginner machine.

FOR A KID

Recently my four-year-old son told me he was building a movie studio in the park sandbox. Because every parent dreams of raising the next Spielberg (or is that just in New York City and L.A.?), I decided the new Lego & Steven Spielberg MovieMaker Set (right) would be the perfect gift for this budding tech enthusiast and auteur. With 400 play pieces and props, including quick-build (and destroy) structures, a dinosaur to wreak havoc and a working fan to stir up the action, the MovieMaker has everything he needs. The set even includes a simple digital camera, which connects to a PC (sorry, Mac users) via a 15-foot USB cable, and editing software. This Lego set is designed for kids eight and up, so I suspect that I'll have to help my son shoot and cut his masterpiece. At $179, it's a bit pricey, but if he really does become the next Spielberg, it'll look like a pretty good investment.