High-Tech Gadgets For Fathers Day

Fathers Day is Sunday and, if your dad is like most men, he's probably craving an electronic gadget or two. Go ahead, make his day. He probably already has more than enough neckties.

If he's dropped any hints, you know where to start looking. Surprises are great but there's nothing better than giving Dad what he wants. Popular gadgets for Fathers Day include digital cameras, portable music players, GPS navigation systems and, if Mom and the kids have plenty of money to spend, a big screen TV. A less expensive alternative to that big screen TV is a really small TV that he can wear on his wrist. Hammacher Schlemmer features a $199 Wristwatch Television that not only displays the time and date but also UHF and VHF TV on its small color screen. The headphones work as an antenna and the watch has a tiny tuner. Dad can watch up to an hour of TV on the built-in rechargeable battery or extend it to three hours with the AA-battery-powered docking station.

One thing a lot of dads have in common is that we misplace things like our keys, wallet and cell phone. Finding the cell phone is easy. Dad can call it and wait for it to ring. But none of those other essential items come with ringers.

It turns out Dad can page those easy-to-misplace items by getting the Now You Can Find it Wireless Locater from the Sharper Image. This $70 device comes with a transmitter about the size of a TV remote control along with 8 little round discs that can be attached to a key chain, a portable radio or any other small device that has a tendency to walk away or hide under a couch when Dad needs it most.

If the item is missing, you press the corresponding button on the portable base station and, as long as you're not too far away, the missing device will start to beep. Now that dad and his car keys have been reunited, he's no longer stuck in the house.

End Remote Clutter

Dads love to get their fingers on the remote control and chances are that he has a coffee table full of them. You can replace them with one universal remote, assuming he has the patience to program it. Even then, there's a chance that the remote won't recognize one or more of the components.

The Harmony H688 is smarter than that. It knows about virtually every model component because it's hooked into a very large Internet database. The remote comes with a USB cable that connects to either a PC or Mac. Once you install the software, it takes you to a Web site that walks you through the process of programming all your components, including a Tivo or other personal video recorder, plasma displays, DVD players and all sorts of combination devices.

The Harmony Remote's activity button lets Dad control more than one device at a time. A single button can start the movie, crank up the amplifier and light up the plasma display. But it doesn't come cheap. At $249, it's a lot more expensive than most universal remotes. Come to think of it, it's more expensive than some coffee tables.

Fast Charge

Dad probably already has a bunch of devices that require batteries and, hopefully, he's using rechargeable ones; otherwise he'll go through the kids' entire college fund replacing those "double AAs." He needs a battery charger and some reusable batteries but, wait, there's a problem. Dad doesn't have the patience to wait several hours or even one hour to recharge the batteries. Rayovac has a solution.

The Rayovac 15-Minute Rechargeable System lets dad recharge AA or AAA batteries in, you guessed it, 15 minutes. The system requires that you use Rayovac's special charger and batteries. The charger works with any nickel metal hydride or NiCad batteries but to get that fast speed, you'll have to use Rayovac's special 15-minute batteries.

Rayovac says that its batteries last four times longer than throw-away alkaline batteries but just about all rechargeables outlast alkalines.

The charger, which comes with two AA batteries, costs about $35. A four-pack of extra 15-minute batteries costs about $15.

By Larry Magid