Computeractive has searched high and low in the world of technology to bring you this guide to Christmas presents for your friends and family. Don't forget our Active Prices service, which searches internet stores for the best price on many of the products we feature here.

Have a merry Christmas and don't forget it is the season for giving - even if looking through our guide means you decide to give yourself a present!

Digital Dream L'espion Xtra
£50
When you think of small cameras, James Bond and all his spying contemporaries spring to mind. However, not everybody wants a small snapper for espionage purposes - kids adore them for their size alone. This fact is not lost on Digital Dream, with its L'espion Xtra offering little in terms of advanced functions but ease-of-use in abundance.

The camera has capacity for 120 images using the best quality settings at a resolution of 640 x 480. That makes the pictures ideal for emailing or publishing on the web, when the kids' Christmas party is over.

Contact: Firebox, 0870 241 4289
www.firebox.com

Olympus Mju 300 Digital
£300
This camera boasts a 'weather-proof' metal body, which should prove handy during the rainy season. It offers a three-megapixel resolution and a 16Mb xD memory card as standard.

Contact: Olympus, 0800 072 0070
www.olympus.co.uk

Pro Evolution Soccer 3
£40
Football crazy, football mad! That's most men for you. Help the love of your life through the footie's fallow period by buying him Pro Evolution Soccer 3, perhaps the finest football game title available for the PC.

Contact: Konami, 01895 200573
www.konami.co.uk

Crucial Gizmo
£38
USB-connecting flash-memory drives might sound complicated but they're simplicity itself to use: just slide the thumb-sized device into an available USB slot and transfer files and folders quickly and easily. The pictured model is the 128Mb Gizmo from Crucial, which costs £38. This is typical of the cost and style of flash drive offered by numerous manufacturers these days.

Contact: Crucial, 0800 013 0330
www.crucial.com/uk

Blank DVD media
From £2
This Christmas many people will find themselves on the receiving of DVD-writing equipment, perhaps as part of a new PC package or a high-tech video-recorder for under the telly. But without some discs on which to write data or record programmes, such lucky folks could be grimacing by Boxing Day.

Save their frowns by buying them some DVD discs - but be sure to get the right format (DVD+RW is the most popular right now).

Contact: Any high-street or online store
www.dabs.com

Saitek USB 2.0 Hub
£35
Caption: USB hubs are never going to be exciting, but they can at least look good. This Saitek model has about the same diameter as a Pringles tube and looks a bit like a toy flying saucer. The PC USB connection, mains adapter socket and four USB ports are around its edge and a button on top turns it off and on.

Contact: Saitek, 01454 451900
www.saitek.com/uk

Panasonic SLCT700S
£100
This Panasonic CD player can also play MP3s encoded onto disc, the advantage being that a single CD can hold many, many hours these digital-audio files. The device has built in shock protection, so it'll play skip-free music no matter how bumpy the journey.

Contact: Panasonic, 08705 357357
ww.panansonic.co.uk

Harmony SST-768
£249
The SST-768 is a so-called universal remote control, able to command almost any home-entertainment device that uses infrared. It hooks up to a PC via USB to allow complicated command sequences to be managed more easily than entering them manually on the handset's keypad.

Contact: Invision UK, 01449 677 233
www.harmonyremote.com

FreeSpeak BT200
£50
Looking like a prop from an episode of Star Trek, the FreeSpeak is actually a hands-free headset for Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones. This means that your busy-bee buddy will be about to use the headset to make mobile phone calls without even reaching into a pocket for their phone.

Contact: Expansys, 0161 868 0868
www.expansys.com

Sony DRU-510A
£179
The perfect present for the PC owner who like to have the latest of everything, Sony's recently updated dual-format DVD-writer drive can burn almost any conceivable disc format, from CD-R to DVD+RW. It's a screwdriver-entailing installation but it's sure to please those with a yearn to burn.

Contact: Sony, 0870 5111 999
www.sony-europe.com

Humax PVR-800
£200
This is an excellent gift for anyone wanting to experience the multi-multi-channel joys of modern television. Incorporating both a Freeview tuner and a 40Gb hard disk, the Humax PVR-800 is a fantastic introduction to digital TV viewing and recording.

Contact: Humax, 020 8547 4240
www.humaxdigital.com

Adaptec VideOh! Media Center
£150
This is a great present for the PC-owing film-fan who's wont to record movies from television broadcasts. Rather than having to rely on old-fashioned videotapes, the beneficiary of your festive kindness can use the VideOh! package to instead capture flicks onto hard disk or DVD.

Contact: Adaptec, 01276 854500
www.adaptec-uk.com