BenSpark’s 2009 Christmas Wish List

Christmas AvatarSeems like some of my favorite people are giving their suggestions for Christmas gifts. I like stuff and I have some cool fun ideas to share. The items in this list are either ones I own outright, got from advertisers and sponsors or really really want. Also please know that all links that go to places where you can buy stuff are affiliate ones.

Little Elf
Eva from Christmas is for Kids from last year.

Stuff I Own.

1. – Okay, the Canon Powershot Camera I own is not available right now. I love my Canon SD800is but if I was to upgrade to a new Canon Powershot I’d go with Canon PowerShot SD980IS 12.1MP. This camera has a 3 inch screen so I can use one of the items I got from sponsors called the Flipbac. I’d love to be able to finally use that. Why there was no 2.5 version made first is anyone’s guess. 2.5 inch is pretty much the standard size of the LCD that many cameras have right now. But 3.0 inch is the new standard that I see coming.

2. – iPod Touch – Before I bought my Droid I used my iPod Touch everywhere for checking e-mail updating twitter and games on wi-fi. I still enjoy using it very much to watch movies and podcasts. I am loving me some Gary Vaynerchuk Wine Library Tv, Cali Lewis on GeekBrief.tv, Help my Business Sucks and Aalgar’s Loving Reviews of Transformers. These help me get through my morning workouts.

3 – Flip Mino HD – I have 4 of these and have paid for one. After I bought my first one I won 2 more and was given one by my friend Dina Riccobono. I gave one to Allison and kept one for myself and put a custom SkinIt on this one which I broke going down a children’s slide. I gave another one to my sister and I kept the one from Dina to replace my one that broke. (Well, the screen broke but it still records fine so I carry both with me.

4. – An iFrogz Custom iPod Skin – I own a half dozen iFrogz products from silicone covers for my iPod Touch to a sweet cover for my Dad’s iPod nano that protects, covers and yet displays the Harley-Davidson symbol on it. And Eva’s earpods. That is what she calls her iFrogz Tadpole which is so great for her. Check out those products through the link below.

5. – My DaVinci – If you are looking for a very heartfelt gift for a loved one then this is a fantastic one. Allison got me one of these of our first family photo taken the day after Eva was born. Yeah, we didn’t get a family photo till the day after she was born. Score one for the “photographer” in the family.


Items I was given by friends, Sponsors or advertisers, also stuff I won.

6. – An Amazon Kindle – I received an Amazon Kindle from Dina Riccobono at the Wings and Pings TweetUp and it has completely changed the way I read books. I bought Chris Brogan’s Book Trust Agents as well as Crush It from Gary Vaynerchuk.

7. – Poken – I received a Poken from Pokengirl (Vanessa and Juliet sisters who run the business and who are awesome.) I really like the relationship that we’ve formed from a simple tweet of me asking if Pokens were worth it. A Poken is a digital business card, I use it at all my conventions.

8. – Phototrackr – I have an original one of these. I just received 5 of the newest edition, the mini photo trackr. So some of you might be getting one of these soon. Be on the lookout for a great contest on the way.

9. – XShot – I’ve gotten so many of these and given so many away. I love this product and it goes with me everywhere. If you haven’t gotten one of these yet, you are missing out big time, missing being part of the photo.

10. – HP Pavilion DM3-1040US 13.3-Inch Laptop – I just bought one of these but I used a $100 card that I received from Tony Welch (@frostola) at Blog World Expo. It is a perfect size computer for travel and doing simple tasks for blogging, it is fantastic.

Stuff I Want

11. – LEGO – Sure I’m nearing 36 years old but I completely love LEGO. For a while back in 1997-199 I was ordering sets from the LEGO online shop almost daily. I have all of the first sets that LEGO did for Star Wars, tons of them. They are awaiting the day when Eva is ready to sit down and play with them and not scatter them across the room like leaves on the wind.

LEGO has even gone digital with tons of video games like LEGO Rock Band. I learned that there are many great songs on that disc that I’d love to play.

LEGO

12 – Funky Belt Buckles – I’m enjoying showing off my inner nerd with my Autobot Belt Buckle but I would also like the Decepticon one as well as the Thundercats one. Then the more I look around I see that there are other ones that I’d like. I see a Cookie Monster one and an Oscar the Grouch one, my two favorite Sesame Street Character. Then you get into superheores and I like this Superman one.

13. – Rock Band for WiiGuitar Hero is a fun time but then you add Drums and singing to the mix and you have a party. But then there is also Band Hero so how do you decide?

14. – Transformers: 25th Anniversary Matrix of Leadership Edition. This is a Box Set of the complete US run of the Transformers Generation 1 cartoon. This remains to this day my absolute favorite all time cartoon series. I also would love the G.I. Joe Box set. I really wish that I started collecting those comics at the same time I was collecting Transformers. I’d love to have the whole set of those, the comic books were really good. And like my Belt Buckle above I’d like to have the complete set of Thundercats episodes, Seasons 1 and Season 2. I really thought that was on much longer.

15. – Nikon D90 – I’d love an upgrade to my DSLR. I love my D80 but come one it is 10 more numbers higher. 🙂

Actually, what I really wish for:

I wish that people would join Team Eva’s Farm. This is the charity that we as a family are really getting behind. Team Eva’s Farm is a Heifer International Team and you can join to help us raise $1000 to stock Eva’s Farm. Just click the sidebar thermometer to help donate and to join the team.

4 thoughts on “BenSpark’s 2009 Christmas Wish List”

  1. Drew,

    I noticed you mentioned the d90 on your wish list. The D90 is an awesome camera however I don’t see it as much of an upgrade over the D80 you already have. The big things you would be getting would be better high IOS performance. The D80 looks grainy above ISO 600 really you want to shoot between ISO 100 and 400 if possible. On the D90 you can set your ISO a lot higher and still get good results.

    Obviously this does not matter in well lit situations but the high ISO on the D90 will help with those low light situations where you can’t use a really slow shutter speed. The D80 also suffers for hot pixels and blooming on long exposures. You can see this on shots over say 5mins.

    The obvious big thing on the D90 is that is shoots video. I see this as a gimic option. It is really there because the engineering required to support live view made it an easy add on. I bet marketing loves it. However a DSLR should shoot stills video is nice but stills are what is excels at. The DLSR body is not really great ergonomically for shooting video so it really will not replace a true video camera.

    If I were buying a camera today I would consider the D90 but knowing you situation I would hold tight for a little bit. I think we are going to see more and more full frame 35mm DSLR cameras and I really think full frame is the way to do. The high end Nikons are already full frame so the prosumer level FX can not be too far off. The D80 you have still rocks stick with it get some sweet FX lenses and in 2 years you can move into a sweet FX DSLR.

    What did Ansel Adams shoot with? A more advanced camera may make your snapshots look better but more features means more to learn. Once you master the D80 them move up. The D90 in my opinion does not add a lot to make you a better photographer over the D80.

    1. Stephen,
      But I like gimicks. Seriously, If it were a real possibility I would want a pro level camera for those low light situations and faster shooting. As always you give me a lot to think on.

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