Shoppers this holiday season are tight on money as our economy continues to experience a recession atmosphere with high unemployment rates. More aggressively than last year, families are in search of cost cutting avenues to continue the Christmas tradition. It’s the thought that counts, say many. Retailers began attempting to attract consumers by door buster sales featuring big screen HDTV’s and other high dollar items. Christmas sales continue from all of the major retailers ranging from large appliances to small electronics - many of which still carry a heft price tag. What about the down to earth shopper that’s looking for a unique best bang for your buck?

Unique Gifts Or Reinventing The Wheel?

Manufacturers introduced many products this year to hit up the early Christmas shoppers with “hot products.” One example was the XBOX 360 Slim from Microsoft. Essentially Microsoft took the older model, painted it black, and added built in wireless capability. Compared to Sony’s Playstation 3, Microsoft is behind the game. Sony’s PS3 offers a larger hard drive and already integrated wireless connectivity including Bluetooth technology for universal headset usage. Yet Microsoft expects consumers to throw away their old Xbox360 and buy a new product that is basically the same old thing. Other hot items include the pricey iPad from Apple, too big to be a Smartphone, too small to be a laptop. What about the average family or consumer looking for a more unique budget friendly tech gift idea? Avoid the hype, save your green and consider something truly unique with an affordable price tag.

For Budget-Minded Holiday Shoppers

Technology experts worked with nearly 100 manufacturers selecting the top products put together as a unique affordable best Christmas tech gift guide. These are very unique items that range from toy’s to cutting edge electronics. Hardest hit households on budgets should consider looking into the interesting guide to gifts StormSector put together. Each item is under $200 retail, often available online tax free with free shipping in time for Christmas. Online shopping is also up this year for many reasons including the convenience of ordering from home online during raging snow storms avoiding all the hazardous traffic and long lines in stores. Many items are the cheapest price in their class. Remember, you can often save hundreds of dollars by buying alternative brand names with the same features. Name brands are not always the best option for shoppers.

The Best Affordable Unique Christmas Gift Guide

We start out with Infinite Radio. The ARIR200 from Acoustic Research is one of the most affordable WiFi radios available in its class. This table top radio has everything from typical radio, clock/alarm functions, to internet radio, Slacker Radio, thousands of stations, music genres, and a built in recorder for recording your tunes or radio shows. Most WiFi radios sell in the hundreds of dollars range. The ARIR200 is on sale now $89.99 from numerous online stores. This is an absolutely entertaining good bang for your buck gift recommended for every internet connected household.

Microsoft may have got one thing right this year, BlueTrack. This is a new technology where blue optics are used specially engineered by Microsoft making this wireless mouse series work on almost any surface. In most cases BlueTrack performs better than laser competitors. For under $30.00 this is well worth the price. Any computer user would enjoy this new technology for its accuracy alone. BlueTrack products are sold by numerous retailers including Walmart and Best Buy. Consumers will especially love the nano adapter.

For ages 12 and up, Air Hogs Hawk Eye is the first radio controlled video capturing helicopter with Steady Fly technology - making it easy to operate. That’s right - it can capture video or still images. It’s safe for kids with a light weight design and docking station for transferring media to your PC. They are also running a contest for people that play with the toy to make their own cool in flight video for a chance to win thousands of dollars worth of prizes. Visit their website (www.airhogs.com). The Air Hogs Hawk Eye is available from numerous retailers including Kmart for around $64.99.

Next, The Dazzle Video Creator for $69.99 from Pinnacle will allow families to connect VCR’s to their PC and transfer/convert all of those old tapes to digital video for safe keeping. It even comes with editing software so you can make your own DVD’s!

For kids, AstroJax, the next generation toy. We’ve described it kind of like a yoyo only much more fun and available in glow-in-the-dark LED kits. This is a unique toy with three glowing balls attached to a colorful string. You can do tricks and it’s entertaining, not to mention the special lighting effects. AstroJax sells for around $16.99 from numerous retailers available in numerous colors and kits.

Quite possibly the most affordable hard drive just might be the Verbatim Acclaim. The low cost model 320 gigabyte portable hard drive is ultra portable, extremely small, and powered fully by your USB port. A retail software backup package is included free for backing up your personal data. This is a must for anyone and would make a great affordable unique Christmas tech gift - one of the cheapest portable hard drives on the market starting at $49.99 and up.

Totally cool and unique is the GeoMate Junior. This is a kid friendly no experience necessary handheld GPS specifically designed for the modern game of “hide and seek” known as Geocaching. On sale now for $69 and under from numerous retailers, it’s a good bang for your buck that’s also exciting to use. This device is fun right out of the box and will guide you straight to all kinds of treasures using its accurate global positioning technology.

Teens may benefit from this one if you’re sick of racking up the family minutes! Give them a MJ 1 year kit. Magic Jack, the voice over internet protocol bang for your buck telephone service is a great affordable alternative for low cost phone service. Using a small USB device called a dongle, with any computer and internet connection, you can have your own phone line, number, and unlimited calling complete with caller ID and voicemail all for $39.99 for your first entire year. Most retailers sell the Magic Jack including Walmart and CompUSA.

Ogio laptop backpacks are trendy complete with fully padded laptop sleeves and plenty of space for accessories. These are great looking and well made backpacks especially great for students. Ogio laptop backpacks are available from numbers retailers starting at $49.99 and up. Completely zipping compartments will ensure your stuff stays inside while you’re on the go!

Remember the digital television change over? Those old portable analog televisions are no good now. No worries, Haier offers a 7” HLT71 portable digital television with ATSC tuner built in. The resolution is fabulous for a small portable TV at 720p. This mini TV even comes with a remote and input jacks for connecting external devices such as game consoles for ultra portable gaming. Right now, $59.99 and up on sale at Target.

Upgrade your home wireless internet connection router to the latest technology known as Wireless N for half the price! Siig offers a Wireless N router for $49.99 - a best bang for your buck especially for home users that utilize streaming media or heavy gaming. By upgrading, you will likely experience better speeds and wireless coverage.

Good Hunting & Merry Christmas Shoppers

Be sure to shop around and compare prices to get the best deal. Keep your receipts in case you need to return items. Make sure you order soon to guarantee delivery in time for Christmas. Check out the StormSector.com website Best Affordable Unique Christmas Tech Gifts 2010 guide for more awesome products including the Party Blimp - A RC Blimp, Behringer Guitar Link for guitar players - the most affordable guitar to PC interface, US Divers gear - the best bang for your buck water sport company, Centon’s DataStick Sport - a waterproof USB flash drive with a cheap price tag, the best digital photo frames for under $50.00, Pedal Juice for guitar players who want to save money on batteries, Franklin’s pocket translators, Belkin’s portable mini USB surge protector, Star Tech’s USB laptop cooler, and much more - all with affordable price tags, a complete review, and video demonstrations. We invite all shoppers to check out the absolutely awesome Christmas gift ideas guide from StormSector.com’s Blog & News Center for a chance to win prizes.

The best gifts take thought, not you’re entire bank account or credit limit. Here’s to a merry budget-minded Christmas to you and your family!