Best Magazine Holiday Picks

The holiday shopping season has officially begun. While it still may be too soon to tell what the clear winners are this holiday season, here are some gift ideas that are sure to please.

Old Century Baseball Game
Front Porch Classics makes it possible for people of all ages to enjoy America's greatest pastime year round with the Old Century Baseball game, an exquisitely detailed retro pinball-style Coffee Table Game made of high quality wood and nostalgic graphics. Forget the batteries and gather round…"Play ball!" To play, players launch the pinball and swing the bat to hit singles, doubles, triples and homeruns. Each batter's performance can be recorded on actual scorecards, while turning movable scoreboard knobs keep track of the game’s score. Old Century Baseball is available for sale at Bed Bath and Beyond stores nationwide and www.bedbathandbeyond.com for $129.95. www.frontporchclassics.com

Adobe Photoshop Album 2.0
The original Adobe Photoshop Album 1.0 was the best photo organizing software for the Windows crowd. Album 1.0 made easy to upload, store, organize and tag your photos according to category (family, friends, and vacations). Attaching photos and shrinking them for email is simple and it even has a good basic editing suite. The new Adobe Photoshop Album 2.0 adds the capability to acquire and send images to cell phones, TiVo devices and select PDAs. A new timeline tags photos by date and it has more advanced calendar modes. Bottom line: If someone on your list is getting a digital camera, Adobe Photoshop Album is the perfect PC companion. $50; www.adobe.com

Gateway 610 Media Center PC
The new Gateway 610 Media Center combines a PC with a 17-inch widescreen flat display, Personal Video Recorder (PVR), FM/TV tuner, 2.1 stereo with built-in subwoofer, and DVD player in one system.

Unlike other PCs using Media Center 2004, Gateway has designed the entertainment and computing functionality into the 17-inch widescreen flat panel -- so there is no need for a separate computer/receiver and display. By integrating multiple devices in one design, the Gateway 610 Media Center is perfect for the office, den, bedroom, kitchen, dorm room or studio apartment. The Gateway 610 Media Center will begin shipping in late October. Prices start at $1500. For more information visit www.gateway.com

Epson PowerLite Home 10 Home Theater Projector
Looking for an alternative to expensive big screen televisons, then you may want to check out a home theater projector like the Epson Powerlite Home 10 which instantly creates a high-quality movie theater experience on any wall of your house. Imagine playing video games, watching movies or sports on a massive 80-inch screen. The projector is compact and portable, making setup a breeze--no installation is needed. This projector easily connects to your DVD player, VCR, cable box, video game system, camcorder or PC. Projectors were once very high-end used in purposely built home theaters...no longer. Epson took the technology used in business projectors that cost thousands of dollars and built this home purpose projector for just $1299. www.epson.com

Canon Optura 200MC
The new Optura 200MC is both a camcorder and still camera. The features include: video streaming capabilities with Windows XP, Exif 2.2 print standard compatibility, Super Night mode with light, USB terminal, extended range of digital special effects and fades, improved memory card access times, the ability to record video to the memory card, and much more. $1700. www.canondv.com