Pick the Perfect Holiday Gift

For more-modest gift budgets, the $1100 Velocity Micro Vector GX Campus Edition will fit the bill. It's neither the fastest system we've seen, nor the cheapest, but it is handsomely equipped and earned a PC World Rating of 88.

Question: When is a laptop not a laptop?

Answer: When it doubles as an entertainment center not dependent on its Windows OS. That's what the Toshiba Qosmio G35-AV650, a terrific multimedia powerhouse, can do. While it comes armed with Windows XP Media Center Edition, it also sports Toshiba's QosmioPlayer, which lets you view TV, play CDs and HD DVDs, and record TV--all without booting up Windows.

And when you do start up the PC, you get blazing performance. In our rankings it earned a WorldBench 5 mark of 87, one of the highest laptop scores we've seen to date. On top of that, the PC World Test Center rated its features with a score of 96 and its design with a mark of 92, both superior scores. Of course, all of this isn't cheap: The G35-AV650 costs about $2300. But then again, this model also serves as a blazing portable HD entertainment center with a high-resolution, 17-inch wide screen backed by an nVidia GeForce Go 7600 video card, 1GB of SDRAM, and a 2-GHz Core Duo T2500 Intel processor.

For about half the price of the Qosmio, the $1100 HP Pavilion dv6000z is easier on the wallet yet doesn't sacrifice features. It comes with Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, an AMD Turion 64 X2 Mobile processor, a 15.4-inch wide screen, 1GB of SDRAM, a DVD Multi drive, and a TV tuner. The PC World Test Center has not yet evaluated this model, but its predecessor, the dv5000z, earned an impressive WorldBench 5 score of 86.

Canon's $200 Pixma MP600 Photo All-in-One Printer is an able multitasker right out of the box, offering photo-lab-quality color printing (at up to 9600 by 2400 dpi), text printing, color copying, and scanning.

While Canon rightly focuses the Pixma MP600 on its photo-printing expertise, don't overlook some of its other capabilities, such as two-sided printing, wireless printing from a PC or cell phone with an optional USB Bluetooth adapter, a 12-in-1 memory card reader for direct photo printing without a PC, and a smart-copy technology that automatically optimizes copy reproduction based on the type of original--text, photo, or combination.

The Pixma features a 2.5-inch color LCD for previewing photos and an Easy-Scroll Wheel for navigating through the printer's functions. Like the wheel on an iPod, Canon's control wheel lets you dial to the exact function you want without having to fiddle with multiple buttons. A dedicated button displays an on-screen guide for how-to advice on common functions. A Home button returns users directly to the main menu.

Another printer that can handle multitasking is Dymo's $162 LabelWriter Twin Turbo, which has two print heads in one unit. Dedicated to label printing, the Twin Turbo has two spools, so you don't need to switch rolls to print different-size labels.

Whether for small-business or home use, the Twin Turbo's got-to-have-it feature is Dymo Stamps: For no monthly fee, you can automatically print out U.S. postage on one label while simultaneously printing an address on another label. All online stamp services charge a monthly fee ranging from $14 to $20 (in addition to the postage costs), so Dymo's deal makes the printer pay for itself over time.

Now that you've read about some of our favorite gift ideas, check out PC World's extensive reviews of these products--and more. Our reviews come with convenient links to information on where to buy products, along with price comparisons. Why waste your time schlepping to crowded stores when all the info you need is right here? Happy shopping.