What tech gadgets are IT professionals hoping they'll receive this holiday season?

Wendy Cebula, the CIO of graphic design and printing company VistaPrint, is dreaming of a white iPod loaded with songs. "I'm probably one of the seven people in the world who doesn't own an MP3 player," she says. "I'm also a mother of two. My schedule is very busy.  I can't conceive where I'm going to get the time to download music. I hope my husband gets me an MP3 player and downloads songs for me." Honey, are you reading this?!

The iPod ranks number one on Anthony Iorio's list. The CIO of global infrastructure and operations for Marsh Inc. wants a video iPod to replace the variety of lower-end MP3 players (including a watch he wears when traveling that plays MP3s) and the old portable DVD player his family owns. Next on his list? A Sidekick (hey, if it's good enough for Paris Hilton, it's good enough for him) followed by TiVo and a webcam so that when he instant messages his daughter, who's a freshman at Providence College, he can see her and vice versa.  

In addition to the iPod, Cebula would like a portable navigation system. She recently purchased a GPS system for her car and finds it so helpful that she wants another that she can bring on business trips. Bob Dutile, general manager of enterprise consulting at IT and business process outsourcing services provider US Technology Resources, can testify to how helpful a GPS receiver is; he received one for Christmas last year. "It's been very useful when I land at 1 in the morning and have to find my way to a hotel in the dark," he says.   

This year, Dutile wants "the best smart phone I can find on the market."  He's got a Palm Treo 700P in mind for its service, long battery life, Bluetooth support, e-mail support and GPS. "If that's not my wife's gift to me, I'll get it myself," he says. Hear that, Honey: You're off the hook!  He's gonna get the phone himself!

The other coveted item among IT professionals is Sony's much hyped Play Station 3, according to a Web poll conducted by the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA). The association presented visitors to its website with a list of 11 products and asked them which one ranked highest on their holiday wish lists. Twenty-one percent of respondents chose Sony's new gaming console. Coming in at a close second, with 18 percent of the 954 votes, is a high-definition TV, followed in third place by Microsoft's Xbox 360, which garnered 10 percent. Digital cameras, smart phones and MP3 players ranked fourth, fifth, and sixth respectively.  Wireless home networks, digital video recorders, tablet PCs, high-definition DVD players and portable media centers were less popular.

Personally, I'd like to enter the 21st century this holiday season: I want an iPod (I, too, am among the seven people who doesn't own one), a flat screen TV and a DVD player.  What's on your wish list?

 -Meridith Levinson 

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