Top 10 greatest geek gifts

Honourable Mention - Batteries
Iain Thomson: Do you want to know the number-one thing most geeks wish for at Christmas? Batteries.

Almost all electronic devices come without them and I'm sure most people reading this will remember trying to scavenge batteries out of the remote control to try and make a Christmas gift work.

Shaun Nichols: Forget socks and underwear, batteries are the ultimate stocking stuffer. Growing up, AAs were a staple of mine and many other people's wish lists. Anybody who has ever had to put off opening a new toy/gadget because of a lack of batteries knows all too well how important they are.

These days, packs of batteries are no longer a necessity in many gadgets. That doesn't mean that batteries don't make a great gift. What geek wouldn't want a new phone or laptop battery pack to keep around?

Honourable Mention - Nintendo Wii
Shaun Nichols: Why is the Wii such a great geek gift? It does what virtual reality, combat simulation and the Segway all failed to do: combine technolust with honest-to-goodness exercise.

As many of us now spend our days sitting at a desk pounding away at keys, it's more important than ever to get some physical activity in. What better way to do that than with the old geek standby, the gaming console?

Iain Thomson: We argued about the Wii. It's not a serious bit of technology, just a dumb computer with a good graphics card, I said. But after playing with a Wii for a while I take it back.

Integrate the motion controllers and you've got more than a PC would ever give you. OK, you're going to end up with sore shoulder muscles, but the Wii is a fitting geek gift.