Best Christmas Gifts for 2010

What are the Best Christmas Gifts for 2010? I'm glad you asked because I have certainly found them and I want to share my beliefs and opinions with you.

2010 was a good year for me as I made it through a deployment, I began hubbing, and I was selected to attend the Interservice Physician Assistant Program through the University of Nebraska Medical Center in coordination with the United States Army. I received the gift of life in another lovely daughter on Easter Sunday too... Talk about a great year! Anyway, now as we come upon Christmas, there are a couple of Christmas gift ideas I would like to share with you guys... Keep in mind, these gifts are for adults and middle teens and above.

At the end of November, I bought myself one of the best inventions ever created, a Keurig Coffee Maker. I purchased mine at Bed Bath and Beyond along with a reusable filter so that I didn’t have spend so much money on the small, single serve, K-Cups. This has been by far, the best “gift” I have received this Christmas; I say gift because my wife told me to get whatever it is I wanted as one of my Christmas gifts and this is what I chose to buy. You can enjoy a rich cup of gourmet coffee in less than 60 seconds without leaving home. This coffee maker offers a one-touch technology that gives you precise control of brewing every time, without messy grinding, without measuring, and without a hassle. And, there's no messy cleanup! This single cup brewer is fully programmable with a choice of 3 cup sizes, a backlit LCD control center, brew temperature control, and a digital clock. There is even a programmable on/off switch. The 48-ounce removable water reservoir lets you brew 8 cups before refilling and is dishwasher safe. This model comes with a complimentary pack of  12 K-Cups® Variety Pack of gourmet coffees and teas.

I was able to get this Keurig model, valued at $139.99 along with a reusable filter, valued at $17.99 for under the $139.99 price tag of the coffee maker alone. I was able to obtain a 20% off coupon to use at Bed Bath and Beyond and you too can do the same... Just go to http://app.bedbathandbeyond.com/prefs/pref.cfm?src=header& and sign up for their mailing/emailing lists... They will instantly send you a 20% off discount. If you are a coffee enthusiast like me, you'll love yourself for getting one of these.

*Keep in mind, there are some Keurigs that are cheaper*

Barnes & Noble released the Nook some months ago and now they are taking the Nook a step further with the Nook Color. And though color is nice, the price tag o $250 is a little steep for an eReader that is only an eReader. The Nook and Nook Color are definitely some great alternatives to the Sony Digital Reader and the Amazon Kindle. Ultimately, these are all just eReaders and used primarily for that reason so if you are looking for something similar with a few more options, look no further than Apple’s iPad. The Nook measures in at 7.7 in. x 4.9 in. and 1/2 in. thick while weighing 11.2 oz. The Nook sports a 6 in, 16-shade grayscale E Ink screen, a 3 1/2 in. color touchscreen, and plastic border with back and forward buttons on either side. The Nook comes with 2 GB of storage that is expandable to 16 GB through a microSD card. There are many different accessories with the Nook that allow you to "skin" the Nook to just about any color you'd like. THere are a couple versions of the Nook such as a WiFi and a WiFi + 3G version. There is little-to-no difference between the contrast and clarity on this screen versus its competitors, likely because it's the same screen made by the same company. The E Ink display does a perfect, though predictable job of generating easy to see and easy to read text and images on the screen.The Nook as well as the Kindle also offer apps for your PC or Mac and apps for your iPhone or Android phone and allows for sharing the books between the devices without having to repurchase the eBooks. All in all, I give the Nook a 4.8 out of 5 stars and recommend it to everyone.

Discover the Nook at Barnes and Noble here.