Rather than limp flowers, buy your Mum a netbook, a camera, a picture sharer, a radio or a PC...
On Mother's Day, I expect to be disappointed with the paltry effort my family makes, despite the prods, nudges and heavy hints weeks before. The men and children we love often misunderstand what technology their wives and mothers want. We don't want technology with hearts, flowers and shades of fuchsia - but a well-considered tech gift makes a change from the limp petrol station flowers or the guilt-ridden chocolates.
1. Eee PC 1008P (Seashell Karim Rashid Collection)
Price: From £320, from many online retailers
My first choice is the new ASUS eee netbook. It's proof that Apple does not own a monopoly on beautiful design. I've been an ASUS fan since they invented the e-series Netbook, but this is the best one they have ever produced. It has a slim build (only 1-inch thick), a sturdy keyboard and a textured shell that feels good to touch. It comes with Windows 7 Home Premium, 2GB of RAM, a 320GB hard drive, and a removable battery. I like the chocolate-brown edition. I am always asked about my netbook: it's the best thing I ever bought. It's lightweight, good value for money and I can fit it in my handbag! For more info go to www.techinstyle.tv.
2. Pentax Optio H90 (in orange & silver)
Price: £149 from Expansys.co.uk
I found choosing a digital compact really hard, simply because there's an overwhelming choice of nearly identical point-and-shoot cameras. I just want something that I can use for pictures of my kids, and upload my work photos without having to spend precious minutes locating wires and ports. Everybody agrees that the Canon G11 is the best-featured compact on the market, but it's too big for general use - that's why I've gone for the retro-styled Pentax Optio H90. Its simplicity of design owes something to the age before digital cameras. I really appreciate the de-cluttered look of the new wave of compacts.
3. Eye-Fi Share
Price: £69 from many online retailers
The only thing that says 'I love you' more than a brand-new digital camera is one equipped with an Eye-Fi Share. This nifty device looks just like a ordinary SD memory card that you might insert into a camera, but it does far more than just store your pictures. This memory card has built-in WiFi, which it uses to upload the photos you take to your favourite photo-sharing services such as Flickr or Picasa. This is great for people like me who love taking photos but find themselves without the time to do anything with all the images that accumulate on their camera.
4. PURE Evoke Mio
Price: £149.95 from John Lewis
While I rarely have time to read books these days, I always love to wake up to the radio. And the latest addition to my house is the Pure EVOKE Mio, a fifties-style DAB radio that wouldn't look out of place on the set of Mad-Men. In addition to the improved styling, every Mio includes Pure's Charge-Pak: this charges up any time you leave the device plugged in, but can power it for more than 24 hours if you want to roam around the house and garden. I always loved the classic wooden panels of the Evoke series, but prefer the newer chilli and chocolate editions of the Mio.
5. Dell Inspiron Zino HD
Price: From £279 from Dell.co.uk
My first PC was a noisy ugly clunky beige-coloured box that sounded something like a hair-dryer and produced twice as as much heat. It did not fit into my home and was certainly not welcome in my living room. But the new Dell Inspiron Zino HD is. It's a well-designed tiny box that's built for the bedroom or the living room. You might want to connect it to your TV so it has an HDMI port and comes as standard with a wireless keyboard and mouse (who wants wires trailing across their living room?). It packs a 64bit AMD Athlon X2 chip and runs a full edition Microsoft's Windows 7, which was also pretty impressive. Unlike the PCs of old, this one comes in a range of colours other than beige or 'think-different' grey.
