TR's holiday gift guide

It's that time of year again. You know, the non-denominational holiday gift-giving season that has most of us begrudgingly making a pilgrimage to worship in the one church that seems to unite us all: the mall. I'll do anything to avoid malls this time of year—seeing throngs of beleaguered shoppers aimlessly wandering through aisles of over-bright retail hell slowly erodes my will to live. But sometimes that's the only way to find something unique for those notoriously hard-to-shop-for people who seem to be on everyone's list.

As it happens, PC enthusiasts can be particularly difficult to shop for. We're a picky lot, and for the uninitiated, finding the perfect gift in a market teeming with options can be a daunting task. To those not in the know, a 16MB USB keychain with a built-in LED flashlight probably seems like a good gift idea, especially when an always-helpful salesperson working on commission insists that it's the latest hip thing for "people into computers."

In an attempt to save PC enthusiasts from unwrapping disappointment, we've whipped up a holiday gift guide outlining what we think are the best gifts of the season. Read on to see what TR's staffers think should be under the tree this year.