Fathers Day Gadget Gifts: Music
It’s Fathers Day on 17th June, and for once, you owe it to your old man to be a bit more imaginative than just buying the same aftershave you got him last year. How? Well, by slavishly following suggestions from an internet technology blog, of course.
Over the next few days, we’ll be giving you a bunch of ideas for gadgety gifts for Fathers Day, to help you show your dad that he’s not such an old duffer after all. And we’ll kick off with music, for the simple reason that every dad loves a good tune or two – even if they are by REO Speedwagon…
1. Roberts MP30 DAB radio (pictured above). Drag your dad into the digital age with this DAB radio (don’t worry, it’s got an FM tuner too), with 12 station presets so you can get him up and running with Radio 4 straight away. However, it’s also whizzy, with an Electronic Programme Guide (EPG) allowing you to browse ahead in the schedules, then record shows to SD card. It costs around £200. More info
2. Samsung YP-T9 MP3 player. This MP3 player looks more like a mobile phone – admittedly a feature which may result in some confusion for particularly doddery dads. Still, it plays MP3 and WMA files, and its strongest selling point is the inclusion of Bluetooth, allowing wire-free listening with compatible headphones. Oh, and it can play videos too. Around £79 for the 1GB model. More info
3. Sennheiser PXC 450 NoiseGard 2.0 headphones. A ‘cloak of silence’ is usually what you wish would descend when your father starts playing his favourite music, but that’s not what it means for these headphones. Instead, it’s all about the noise-cancelling technology inside, which keeps external sounds out when listening to your tunes. Ideal if your dad spends a lot of time in planes or trains, and he’ll get 20 hours’ use out of a single AAA battery. Expect to pay around £300 though. More info
4. Hercules Mobile DJ mixer. A personal tale here. My dad was a wedding DJ in the late 1970s, which means a.) he has a marvellous collection of seven-inch singles from the era, and b.) he longs to recapture those happy days. He can junk the vinyl though: Hercules’ MP3 mixer is a battery-powered two-deck controller allowing you to scratch, mix and synchronise CDs and MP3 tunes. Hear the Bee Gees as they were meant to be heard (i.e. segueing badly into Abba’s ‘Dancing Queen’ played at the wrong speed). More info
5. Intempo IDS03 2.1 iPod-docking speaker system. I didn’t want to suggest an iPod as part of this roundup on the grounds of obviousness, but if your dad’s already down with Apple’s music player, then he’d probably appreciate an iPod dock. Intempo’s IDS03 plugs into the wall and is designed to nestle on a desk or shelf, and is idiot-proof to use: you put your iPod in, press play, and frug to the groovy beats. Or something. Expect to pay £80. More info
