Rock on, Back up, Nerd Out
Reviews Editor Ray Aguilera

As Mac|Life reviews editor, my desk is always buried under the constant flow of the latest and greatest—and sometimes not so great—gadgets, gizmos, and doodads. When people ask me what my job is like, I often describe it as being sort of like Christmas morning every day, with all the boxes to open and new stuff to fiddle around with. Of course, real Christmas doesn’t involve press deadlines or last-minute edits—but you get the idea. Here are the tech gifts that I’ll be giving—and hopefully getting—this year.

Ray's gifts for getting...

The Flip Mino is mini but mighty.

The Pure Digital Flip Mino ($179.99, www.theflip.com) was easily one of the most talked-about goodies I encountered this year (5 out of 5 stars, Oct/08). Whether it was questions from strangers while I tested the camera or covetous looks from coworkers, it seemed like everyone wanted to get his hands on one. And I can understand why. Tipping the scales at just a couple ounces, the sleek Flip Mino is the perfect size and shape to go anywhere, and its 640x480 video is a snap to transfer to your Mac and edit with your favorite video software. 

Etymotic hf2s block out everything but your favorite song.

Between my commute to and from the office and the marathon editing sessions that take up many of my days, my iTunes library is a lifesaver. Whether it comes via my iPod, iPhone, or my Mac at work, music is what keeps me focused—and I tend to have friends and a number of family members who are the same way. A good pair of headphones is key. For commuting, I adore my Etymotic 6i earbuds ($149, www.etymotic.com), which are designed to fit in your ear canal and are able to drown out both BART trains and crazies on the bus. For the iPhone, the Etymotic hf2 mic-equipped ’buds ($179, 5 out of 5 stars, Nov/08) are indispensable. At my desk, I’m often rocking a pair of Grado SR60 headphones ($69, www.gradolabs.com/) because of the excellent sound and the open-air design—so coworkers can get my attention without having to throw things at my head.

Ray's gifts for getting...

I’m kind of a data pack-rat, which means my hard drives are always bursting at the seams—and I’m always worried about them failing. Which is why I really hope someone puts a Drobo ($499, www.drobo.com) under my Festivus pole. The Drobo is a “data storage robot” that stores your data redundantly across up to four drives, and unlike a RAID array, you can mix and match drive sizes and hot-swap easily, with virtually no setup or time spent managing your disks.

In 2009, Ray resolves to...

BBEdit: A code monkey’s best friend.

Further develop my nerd-fu and sharpen my CSS and HTML skills. And to do that, I’ll need a hard-core text editor. BBEdit 9 ($125 or $30 upgrade, www.barebones.com) fits the bill, with all the code completion, syntax-coloring, and powerful searching I could possibly need. Plus, the document-comparison features come in handy when I’m editing for the magazine too.