Cool stuff: Video gift guide for the gadget generation

If one of the people on your gift list this season is a tech-savvy 18-to-30-year-old, you may be stressing out right now. It doesn't matter how lovable these friends and relatives are -- they can be some of the most difficult people on your holiday list to buy for (even if you fall into that category yourself). The gadget generation is incredibly picky about which bleeding-edge technology is on top of their holiday list, and which is totally ignorable.

To solve this problem, Computerworld asked Chris Gullo and Lisa Smrdel, our editorial interns, to decide what they really wanted to play with this holiday season. They came up with a list of 7 cool gadgets, which they then tried out and reported on.

Check out the following written and video reviews. You'll find out why these may -- or may not -- be the perfect gift options for the young technocrat in your life.

(And as long as you're at it, take a look at Computerworld's 2009 gift guide, where we recommend the best HDTVs, laptops, smartphones and more tech products that our readers told us they wanted for the holidays.)

Apple iPod Touch (Third Generation)

Apple has branded the latest revision of its iPod Touch as the "funnest iPod ever," focusing on the large variety of games available for the platform from its App Store. In that aspect, the Touch doesn't disappoint.

I tried out a variety of free and paid apps from the App Store, including racing games like Crash Nitro Kart, 3-D first person shooters and the newly released mobile version of Rock Band. Each did an impressive job at crafting fun game play around the device's touch-sensitive screen.

Besides games, the Touch is great for playing music and watching videos. Scrolling through your album art with your finger is almost as good as flipping through vinyl records.

Appearance-wise, this Touch is identical to the previous generation, but its processor is faster -- I experienced a noticeable decrease in load times for both games and the Safari Web browser. (Note that this doesn't apply to the 8GB version which, among other things, doesn't include the 800MHz Samsung ARM processor that the 32GB and 64GB versions have).

The Touch is available starting at $199 for the 8GB version, $299 for the 32GB, and $399 for the 64GB.

-- Chris Gullo

iPod Touch from Apple Inc.

Direct price: $199 - $399  |  Store locator  |  Phone: 1-800-MY-APPLE

Summary: The new iPod Touch is great for your mobile entertainment needs.