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My Best Tech Gift Ever: A 133MHz IBM PC 350

Every day this week, a different CNET writer or editor is recalling a tech or geek-centric present that left a mark. Read past stories by Eric Mack, Jeff Sparkman, Jay Greene, and Dan Ackerman, and look for another installment tomorrow at midnight PT.

On a chilly autumn day in 1997, I came home from school to find that my mom had a brand-new IBM PC 350 in her office. It was an astonishing computer, especially considering our previous machine was a DOS/Windows 3.1 slowpoke that could barely run Wolfenstein 3D.

For its time, the PC 350 had it all -- a screaming Pentium 133MHz processor, a 1.6GB hard drive, 64MB of RAM, and 4MB of video memory. Though my mom bought it for the household and not for me exclusively, it was the best tech gift I ever got, as it truly turned me into a geek and gamer (and therefore the person I am today). … Read more

My Best Tech Gift Ever: Beatles catalog on a USB key

Every day this week, a different CNET writer or editor will recall a tech or geek-centric present that left a mark. Read past stories by Eric Mack, Jeff Sparkman, and Jay Greene, and look for another installment tomorrow at midnight PT.

Maybe it's because I'm surrounded by this stuff every day, but traditional technology gifts tend to leave me cold. Even the memories of unwrapping game consoles or that first yellow Sports model Sony Walkman don't stand out in a best-gift-ever sort of way.

Instead, I turn to a more recent holiday gift, one that combines technology … Read more

My Best Tech Gift Ever: Garmin's Edge 500 bike computer

Every day this week, a different CNET writer or editor will recall a tech or geek-centric present that left a mark. Read past stories by Eric Mack and Jeff Sparkman, and look for another installment tomorrow at midnight PT.

It's easy to set personal goals and then let them slide into the abyss of good intentions. The tech gift that really stands out for me is the one that's helped me prevent that from happening.

It's Garmin's Edge 500 bicycle computer, which my wife gave me for my birthday in 2010 (though honestly, I asked her for it). This summer, near the end of a soul-sucking, endurance-testing ride, the Edge 500 came through for me once again.

I had set a goal to finish a ride called Ramrod (Ride Around Mt. Rainier in One Day) in less than 10 hours. But 7 hours into the ride, it was looking bleak. I'd covered 104 miles and done most of the 9,000 feet of climbing. To attain my goal, I needed to cover the final 45 miles in three hours. Certainly doable, but I was pretty cooked. … Read more

My Best Tech Gift Ever: Meeting James 'Scotty' Doohan

Every day this week, a different CNET writer or editor will recall a tech or geek-centric present that left a mark. Read yesterday's story by Crave contributor Eric Mack here, and look for another installment tomorrow at midnight PT.

It was hard picking the greatest tech gift I ever got -- we got a lot of tech as gifts for the whole family. Should I pick the Atari 2600 or the Sega Genesis? Should I pick the Texas Instruments TI99/4A, the Commodore 128, or the Magnavox HeadStart 500 (the first computer we owned with a CD-ROM drive)? I … Read more

My Best Tech Gift Ever: Prodigy

Editor's note: Today we kick off a weeklong series called "My Best Tech Gift Ever." Every day this week, a different CNET writer or editor will recall a memorable tech or geek-centric present that left a mark. We start the fun with Crave contributor Eric Mack. Look for another installment tomorrow at 8 a.m. PT.

Today I help my mother find her way around Skype and Facebook, so it is to her enormous credit that she was able to see the potential all the way back in the late '80s in something called Prodigy.

If you're under 30, you almost certainly have no idea what this product was, and I don't think my mother did either at the time. Yet it showed up in a box one Christmas in suburban Denver and changed my life.

Prodigy was a pioneering online service that came after CompuServe but before America Online. At the time it offered a new, more graphical user interface with more mainstream content from partners like Zagat and CBS that made the tiny bulletin board systems I'd been dialing into seem bush league. (Disclosure: CBS is the parent company of CNET.) … Read more

The 404 1,032: Where we get lucky with Morgan Spurlock (podcast)

Our guest today is documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, who joins us today to talk about his new film "Comic Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope."

He'll tell us about what it was like to meet geek royalty like Joss Whedon, Stan Lee, Frank Miller, Kevin Smith, and more. We also ask him about his own history with comic books and how sci-fi movies pushed him to create his own movies.… Read more

Fisker finds funding, Atlantic EVer will see production

The 2012 New York auto show starts early tonight with the official announcement and unveiling of the Fisker Atlantic. The Atlantic is the second new vehicle to be debuted by the vehicle (or the third if you choose to count the Fisker Surf design concept) and is Fisker Automotive's shot at building an extended-range electric vehicle that people can actually afford.

The Atlantic doesn't divert terribly from the formula set by the Karma. The sedans feature similar mustachioed front ends, the smaller Atlantic largely maintaining a scaled-down version of the Fisker design language with a few tweaks here … Read more

Mad Catz and Microsoft in cahoots on new Primer headset

LAS VEGAS--Wireless headsets for consoles are nothing new, but one that's officially licensed by Microsoft for the Xbox 360 is totally unheard of.

Today Mad Catz introduced the very first of its kind under its newly acquired Tritton division, and it's shipping immediately. Dubbed The Primer, the wireless stereo headset was developed closely with Microsoft to "look and sound superb." Mad Catz claims it's the best value at its price ($100), but I'll be weighing in with what I think when I review the cans in the coming weeks.

Information is still vague on how exactly The Primer will connect to a 360, but a base station is still part of the setup. I'm not sure if the rig will bypass the annoying controller tether that all of these wireless headsets have historically required, but one would hope the codevelopment with Microsoft resulted in perks that go beyond just a seal of approval.

The rest of the headset's specs seem par for the course, including separate game and chat volume controls and an adjustable boom mic all operating on a 5.8GHz wireless spectrum.… Read more

The 404 930: Where we go thermonuclear war (podcast)

Believe it or not, we still have our jobs after welcoming Jim Lanzone, CBS Interactive president, on yesterday's show. Go back an episode and listen for a rare opportunity to hear someone make fun of Jeff. Cheers, Jim!

Today we're going over some of the stories that we didn't get to talk about yesterday, including Google's latest OpenGL project. The platform that Google tested using Google Earth is once again put to use on the Google Infinite Digital Bookcase, a helix of virtual books you can browse in a 3D model.… Read more