This gift guide is sponsored by Windows, Microsoft Philippines and Nuffnang Philippines.
Pinoys celebrate Christmas the longest. The first day of September ushers in a flurry of Christmas countdowns on Facebook, blogs, twitter and other social media sites. Pinoys love this holiday because it brings together families and friends over good food while reminiscing the past year’s (mis)adventures. A lot of my relatives live and work in the US but the power of social media has allowed us to remain in close contact. The Filipino Family is definitely bound by love and nowadays connections are kept strong by the technology and the power of the internet.
Did you know that Microsoft commissioned a survey form Impulse Research Corp which showed that 69 percent of Filipinos to keep in touch with family overseas? The Asia-Pacific average is 40 percent. 34 percent of Pinoys use Social Network as a means to connect with family and we are the only market in Asia where this is largely preferred over SMS. Lastly 89 percent of us Pinoys agree that technology has a positive impact on family relationships.
DW playing around with my HP Pavilion before he turned a year old
BDW and I agree that technology is definitely a tool that should further connections and they should never be used as a crutch. If you use tech to your advantage, you can actually save time and have more time for your family and for nurturing your offline relationships as well.
This laptop that I’m writing this post on is a brand new HP Compaq and I had my techie brother-in-law install it with Windows 7. I had my old HP Pavilion laptop which has an astonishing 512MB of RAM (it was top of the line when I first bought it!!) reformatted and had Windows 95 installed (it was all the poor machine can handle). I grew up with Windows systems and it was through this that I was able to communicate to friends and family members all over the world (even if they were just in the next room haha). The installation of programs and applications are easy-peasy because everything can be installed on a Windows platform nowadays and for a non-techie like me it’s a must to have everything be intuitive. Skype, Facebook, hootsuite are the programs that I use often. I share DW’s milestones, congratulate my aunt on new cake she baked and to answer a cousin’s call for help for costumes keep the family close and absolutely well-connected. Then of course there’s this blog. Manilamommy.com is powered by WordPress and juiced up by Windows 7 on an HP laptop! Friends and relatives from all over come to this blog to see what my family is up to!
For the holiday season, a gift that would definitely keep on giving is a techie gadget, be it a phone or a laptop. These tools allow people to stay in touch even if they are a million miles away from each other. With the advent of so many social media platforms there really is no excuse to say hello or to send a virtual hug to the person you love.
If you’re looking for a gadget to give to a loved one here are some swanky and more importantly affordable offerings from Microsoft Philippines. There’s definitely a perfect one for daddy, mommmy and the kids.
For your husband and the daddy of the family:
ASUS UX 21
The Samsung 900X1A
Sony Vaio S-Series
The Toshiba Portege Z830
Here’s a list for us Mommies! A selection of light weight and portable laptops that we can take from the bedroom, to the dining room to the coffee shop to do our blogging, writing and surfing!
The Acer Aspire S3
The Dell Vostro V131
For the Kids
The HP Pavilion dm1 – My first laptop is a Pavilion and it’s a powerful machine that doubled as my entertainment center. I used it as my dvd player and it allowed me to watch a lot of my favorite shows while I was working from home back then!
Samsung 700Z5A
The Lenovo IdeaPad U300s UltraBook
Sony Vaio Y Series
Install Windows 7 in these babies and you’d be guaranteed smooth sailing for years to come. I hope this list helps you when you go shopping for gadgets soon!
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