We all know that Black Friday is the name of the most frenzied shopping day of the year, but is there a name for the day everyone returns their gifts to exchange for something they actually wanted? As a family we’ve scaled way back on how much we spend for Christmas so there are no gifts for us to return, but we did end up with some cash and gift cards to liquidate. Read on for our suggestions of things that you most likely did not receive for the holidays, but may make your 2016 a little geekier than 2015.
Amazon Trade-In
Did you get any electronics, games, or books as gifts that you weren’t thrilled with? Maybe you actually got an awesome new game and blew through it during the holidays and have so many other games that you’ll never play it again. If you have any gifts you hated or even loved that you don’t want anymore, now is the perfect time to check out Amazon’s Trade-In program to get Amazon credit for your stuff! For more details, visit Amazon, or read my complete article about the Trade-In program.
Made by:
Price: Prices vary
Available at: Amazon Trade-In
Submitted by: Will James
SanDisk Extreme 32GB SDHC
As the price of high speed SD cards has come down I’ve been slowly upgrading. This was an impulse buy right after Christmas as I’d misplaced my 32GB Sandisk Ultra. Of course it turns up immediately after the new card is delivered, but one can never have too much memory, right? As for the speed, my old Ultra was rated at 30 MB/sec compared to the new card’s 90. Your ability to use that extra speed will depend greatly on your camera’s ability to write to it, but with my Olympus EM-10 I noticed a significant improvement. Last night at the Black Label Society concert I was able to shoot as fast as I wanted in RAW+Jpeg with no buffering at all. With the older card I was usually limited to bursts of 20 or 30 shots.
Made by: SanDisk
Price: $20.00
Available at: SanDisk Extreme 32GB SDHC
Submitted by: Anton
MeUndies
You probably got some socks or underwear or t-shirts for Christmas that you pretended to love to not hurt your relatives’ feelings, but that doesn’t mean you have to live with cheap, crappy under things! I’ve been wearing my MeUndies Boxer Briefs for a month now (not continuously–I DO wash them between wearings), and I can still say with confidence that they are the most comfortable clothing I’ve worn against my nether regions. Read my full review for more details.
Made by:
Price: $20 and up
Available at: MeUndies
Submitted by: Will James
Coloring Books for Adults
Coloring books have been a big hit with adults this year. They are great for relaxation, exercising your creative spirit, and a way to pass the time. If you didn’t get one this year for Christmas, consider getting one on your own, or by spending part of that gift card.
Made by: Multiple publishers
Price: Prices vary
Available at: Coloring Books for Adults
Submitted by: Jenny Bristol
Star Wars: The Force Awakens LEGO Kits
You’ve seen the movie, now own the LEGO kits. (That’s what everyone does, right?) Rey’s Speeder, Poe’s X-Wing Fighter, a First Order Special Forces TIE Fighter… You know you want them all. What are you waiting for?
Made by: Lego
Price: Prices vary
Available at: Star Wars: The Force Awakens Lego Kits
Submitted by: Jenny Bristol
Samsung EVO 250GB SSD
Nothing quite beats the speed of an SSD, at least not for the home or workstation marker, and the Samsung EVO is one of the easiest to install. With a USB to SATA adapter and Samsung’s free migration utility, it’s simply a matter of copying your OS and files to the SSD, swap the drives, and reboot. I’ve installed a few of these at home and quite a few at the day job. In over a year of continuous use, none of them have failed. Samsung gives the EVO a 5-year guarantee which should be good enough for most of us.
Made by: Samsung
Price: $85.00
Available at: Samsung EVO 250GB SSD
Submitted by: Anton
