Geek Gifts

December 16, 2005 6:43 PM

Gifts For Geeks? Geeks of Metafilter: what gift would you want?

My brother-in-law is a real living, breathing geek. He works in IT (SysAdmin stuff), lives alone, loves Family Guy. Not so much on the Star Trek/Comix, though. He just bought his first house and its pretty bare. What is the best gift I can get for him for $75 or less?

He does play some computer games, but I don't know what he has. He does not have any gaming console system (so far as I know).

Extra bonus questions: What the heck did guys like my brother-in-law do for a living before computers came along??

posted by anastasiav to shopping (26 comments total)

Try thinkgeek.com for some nifty toys. Imagine the look on his face when you sees you got his a low-wattage Class T amplifier or the Midas remote watch. Or if you're feeling crazy, spring for the $100 lightsaber.

TV SAT A/V stuff
posted by skallas at 6:49 PM on December 16, 2005

skallas, yeah, I've been browsing ThinkGeek, but part of my problem is that I'm not a geekish enough to know what's cool or (in some cases) what the thing being sold actually does.
posted by anastasiav at 7:01 PM on December 16, 2005

Before computers? They became engineers.
posted by unrepentanthippie at 7:08 PM on December 16, 2005

Computer people have many interests just like everyone else. It is quite hard to make suggestions without knowing the person more.

If I were you I'd browse http://www.kk.org/cooltools/ . There are a bunch of great gift ideas on that site.
posted by meta87 at 7:09 PM on December 16, 2005

IAAE. I can say that.
posted by unrepentanthippie at 7:09 PM on December 16, 2005

A boatload of neodymium magnets (I think that thinkgeek has a "gift set," there are also lots of retailers on ebay - look for the ones that also sell professional heavy-duty tools and stuff, and there are probably local retailers).

As for tech toys/games, he probably knows exactly what he wants and has probably already gotten it so I'd avoid that unless you ask him if there is anything specific.

Do you remember if particularly liked lego when he was a kid? Some of the newer stuff is kinda cool and might make good cubicle/desk ornaments. Or even better, I've seen Mechano kits at the local hobby store. Very dope-looking.

Forget my original suggestion - get him a small mechano kit.
posted by PurplePorpoise at 7:13 PM on December 16, 2005

A USB flash drive?

Even if he already has one, an extra one could never hurt. Stick it in a secure place, use one for work/one for non-work, etc. One to be used to share files with others... plenty of uses for an extra small one.
posted by devilsbrigade at 7:20 PM on December 16, 2005

I've been giving USB-powered aquariums and USB-powered lava lamps to the geeks on my list this year.
posted by bac at 7:20 PM on December 16, 2005

What the heck did guys like my brother-in-law do for a living before computers came along?

They were engineers. I've lived with geeks all my life. My dad is an engineer (retired) geek, Mr R is a programmer geek. (I'm an engineer; but not a geek.)

I've been buying gifts for geeks for years. Small Lego/KNex/Magnetix/mechano sets seem to go over well. (I got my favorite geeks Darth Taters for their birthdays this year -- one put his up in the server room!) Edmund Scientific has a good selection of gifts for adults -- there's a lot of cool stuff there, and you don't really need to be a geek to figure out what they're for.
posted by jlkr at 7:37 PM on December 16, 2005

What about a subscription to his favourite "geek" magazine? Ask him what he likes or find out from a friend. Subscriptions are great because they don't cost much and he'll keep getting them for a full year. (It is also easy to just renew it for next year in case you can't think of something better by then as well).
posted by Anizev at 7:39 PM on December 16, 2005

Also, if he doesn't have a gaming system and likes Nintendo, you could go the Game Boy route or even pick up a used Game Cube on ebay or something. Both options should cost somewhere in the $75 range.
posted by Anizev at 7:42 PM on December 16, 2005

Geomags
posted by Good Brain at 7:55 PM on December 16, 2005

If he just bought his first house, does he need any Geek Tools? I am a geek who didn't have her first computer until college but I have loved power tools and hardware stores since I was a kid. (Picked it up from a geek dad.)

My husband and I share our "home tool + tech tool" geekdom when it comes to the Smart Home catalog. So much fun tech stuff! For the house! Mess with lighting! Mess with security! Media! Etc.! Yes, it is a geek tool lovers dream...
posted by jeanmari at 8:18 PM on December 16, 2005

I saw some tire pressure stem caps (I think on Target.com). Since my tires are often flat, but I never want to bother with checking them, I thought those would be pretty cool. Any pointless toy like that that makes something a little easier would probably go over well.
posted by willnot at 8:26 PM on December 16, 2005

Subscription to Make magazine?

A laser level? Or a really great power drill.
posted by hooray at 8:33 PM on December 16, 2005

I'm a big ol' geek, albeit a science geek instead of a technology geek. The pride and joy of my "cool stuff" collection is my Levitron. Seriously cool, once you get the hang of it... it makes people's jaws drop when they see it in action.
posted by Johnny Assay at 8:54 PM on December 16, 2005

My geek husband recommends a laser level. Even if he doesn't have much furniture, he probably has a few pictures he wants to hang, or maybe they're already up and he'd love to have them dead level.

Home Depot sells The Bullseye from Black & Decker or the Straitline. Get one that goes in both directions (x and y, -- that is, horizontal and vertical) and is self-leveling.

Not only will he enjoy using it, he will have fun playing with it and showing it to his buddies.
posted by wryly at 9:35 PM on December 16, 2005

Wiha tools. any type.
posted by Triode at 11:06 PM on December 16, 2005

A Flickr pro membership
posted by kdern at 11:33 PM on December 16, 2005

Am I the only one who thought of something like this when Johnny said "Levitron"?

P.S.: This is what we used to do. Apparently, we still do it. Oh, and do things like invent steam engines. You know, complex systems and all.
posted by trevyn at 11:44 PM on December 16, 2005

Just a quick seconding of the suggestion for MAKE Magazine. It's fantastic and a lot of fun for anyone geeky. It's also affordable and sure to pique his interest. Perhaps find someplace you can pick up the current issue to actually give him along with the subscription.
posted by disillusioned at 1:49 AM on December 17, 2005

I've got more than a few gaming and unix t-shirts from Offline t-shirts and love them.
posted by Manjusri at 4:41 AM on December 17, 2005

MAKE magazine - as a computer geek myself, I love it.
posted by sluggo at 9:28 AM on December 17, 2005

I'm a geek.

Any electronics makes me happy, but these days I'm looking for a digital audio recorder. My plan is to record everything around me each workday and copy it to my computer each night...then delete anything older than a few days. My memory is horrible.

A DAR capable of 32 hours of audio runs about $70CAD or less in the shops here.

Other than that...old-style computer shirts from 80s tees are cool. I'm wearing a Joust shirt right now.

As stated earlier, thinkgeek has some good stuff.
posted by Kickstart70 at 6:05 PM on December 17, 2005

Lots of great suggestions here (I'm geeky). I always thought my security technologist's Binary LED clock was cool. I also love the Coolermaster Musketeer that occupies the spare 5.25" drive slot in my PC. My endless search for gadgets to customize my geek-box led me to the useful Silverstone 6-in-1 flash reader I have in my spare 3.5' bay. I'm also sure my geekiness is fully advertised when I break these out when using my laptop on airplanes. Just for fun how about some new glasses? Add a pocket protector and your in business!
posted by HyperBlue at 7:43 PM on December 17, 2005

My dad's an EE ... our livingroom was like most: cheap couch, nice stereo system, reel-to-reel tape and a tv. But on top of the tv was a cable descrambler that he built withn an old coffe can.

This aside, I really really would like that green laserpointer on ThinkGeek :) Useless, but cool.
posted by starscream at 8:12 PM on December 17, 2005