What to give your local geek for Christmas is always a gamble in a world where new gadgets are being rolled out of the factory at an alarming and confusing rate.

Here are some of the suggestions from the many toys on offer, none of which anyone really needs but we all really want. There are such a host of choices that by necessity Tech Tattle hopes to get the task over in two columns, one this week, and the other half next week.

Internet sites that review some of the choices, or offer more suggestions are also listed. A good start is www.zdnet.com for independent reviews of computers, software, digital cameras, and many things electronic. To get an idea of the range of goods for youngsters try www.etoys.com. If you have a favourite, please don't hesitate to dash off an e-mail with an idea.

For those with cash to throw around the most coveted techno-toy seems to be the Aibo, a robot dog (www.world.sony.com/aibo/index.html) made by Sony. Early models have generated a huge fan club of owners at www.aibonet.com. About 10,000 have been made and they're in high demand at about $2,500 each along with $500 worth of software.

Aibo, which has 18 motors, walks on four legs, sits, sleeps and is programmed to learn. According to descriptions from enthralled reviewers the robot works quite well once it has finished banging into all the furniture and storing your home's layout in its memory. You'll be unable to get the robot dog at www.aibonet.com because all 10,000 were purchased through a lottery system.

However you can bid on one at www.ebay.com where as of this weekend 24 Aibos were for sale for up to $3,000. You should try and get "virgin'' software so you can get Aibo as a puppy.

Music: Youngsters are now looking at the latest models of the MP3 player which play music downloaded from the Internet or a CD. The MP3 player is the ultimate method of fashioning your own album of favourites to be played while on the move. Players like the Diamond Rio Player 500, Nomad or Lyra range in price from $200 to $269. The Diamond is the highest rated.

Digital Cameras: You may be able to hold off on buying the latest digital camera if you already have conventional Nikon or Canon 35-mm one. The latest development is the EFS-1 by Silicon Film Technologies Inc., which slips into a regular 35mm slot allowing users to convert a conventional camera into a digital one. The EFS-1 is expected to be released in the "late fall'' and can be purchased for about $800 from the company's website at www.siliconfilm.com.

The beauty of the EFS-1 cartridge is that it fits into high-end Nikon and Canon cameras allowing all those expensive lens to be used to take a digital picture or with regular film. The EFS-1 will store up to 24 images at a resolution of 1280 by 1024 pixels in 36-bit colour.

For ratings of digital camers try www.photonut.com, an excellent photography site for products, reviews and guidance. There are now some cheap tough digital cameras ranging from $60 to $90 for younger folk who are into Rugrats and Barbie. Go to etoys.com.

Computer Games: This is a difficult choice and unless you spend time with the children getting into their headspace you probably won't know what to buy.

Many games usually have a short shelf life as the manufactures are always coming out with the latest upgrade. Try www.gamespot.com for some guidance in this area.

If you are buying for a game player instead of a regular computer, be sure to find out what console your recipient has before buying. The three main game machines are made by Sony, Nintendo, and Sega.

Parents confused as to what to get in the way of computer games can take guidance from the "Top 10 PC games in the US'' list complied by PC Data Inc.

The top sellers in order are Myst (Mattel), MS Flight Simulator (Microsoft), Doom II (GTI), Riven: Sequel to Myst (Mattel Interactive), Monopoly Game (Hasbro Interactive), Warcraft II (Havas Interactive), Diablo (Havas Interactive), Doom Shareware (Id Software), Sim City 2000 (Electronic Arts), and Star Wars: Dark Forces (LucasArts).

The list is based on units sold. As you can guess most of the games are of the fantasy, blow-them-up mode. However I am pleased to see Monopoly made a successful transition to the computer age. Flight Simulator takes a high degree of patience reading about and learning a lot of technical moves before being able to use the game.

Sim City has been tried by a few people I know and all praise the game for allowing the user to build a society from scratch through making a variety of key choices involving a number of political, social and technical decisions.

This is good training for the budding politician.

In the Nintendo Game Boy line of games Pokemon Red and Pokemon Blue continue to lead the field. For the music fan musician David Bowie has moved into the games world with Quantic Dream's Omikron: The Nomad Soul. Mr. Bowie produced the music for the 3-D game and appears as Boz, "the spiritual leader of the Awakened, a revolutionary bunch trying to free Omikron from the grasp of the demons''.

The game allows players to pass from character to character by taking over whoever kills you in the game. The Iman 1631 character is based on Bowie's wife.

Digital Video player: Try the Sharp Internet Viewcam which is typical of others in the market. But first check out the reviews at www.zdnet.com.

Sharp's Viewcam is the size of a cigarette package and features built-in microphone and 180 degree rotating lens. Recording is in Mpeg4 which is designed for low-bandwidth media such as dial-up Internet connections. The quality leaves much to be desired but the Viewcam is still good for capturing short one-minute clips you can send to your technology-connected mother. On the four megabyte card you can record up to 17 minutes in the long play mode or 7.5 minutes in normal mode. You can also record two hours on a 32 megabyte card, but don't try e-mailing one of these whoppers or you'll lose a lot of friends.

Tech Tattle deals with topics relating to technology. Contact Ahmed at ahmedelamin yhotmail.com or (01144)1273708386.