The Ultimate Holiday Guide: Tech Gifts for Gamers and Content Creators

Ready to light up your holiday season with a multitude of techy gift ideas for gamers and content creators alike? Brace yourselves for a power-packed episode of Dad Mode as we join forces with our special guest, Lieutenant, to bring you the ultimate gaming and tech enthusiast gift guide. From the new Logitech dynamic mic to the highly anticipated NVIDIA 4070 and 4080 Super Cards, we've got you covered. We also give you the lowdown on what to avoid this season, such as video cards, and provide the inside scoop on when to score the best deals.

Who said gaming keyboards were all the same? We beg to differ as we take an in-depth look at mechanical keyboards, their standout features, and why they're the top pick for serious gamers. Get the inside track on keyboards like the Logitech G915 and G815, and discover affordable alternatives like the HyperX Origins and Patriot Viper V765. And if you're wondering about the importance of customer service and brand reputation, we've got some personal anecdotes to share about our experiences with Logitech's stellar customer service and replacement policy.

But it's not just about keyboards and gadgets. If you're into streaming or content creation, you know the crucial role of lighting. With our firsthand experiences, we shed light (pun intended) on the best brands like Elgato and Logitech to enhance your setup. And for the perfect gifts for PC gamers and content creators, our guest Smash comes in handy, offering expert advice on budget-friendly gear and the unmatched value of Steam gift cards during the holiday season. As we wrap up, join us as we share our favorite holiday memories, reveal our holiday plans, and kickstart the festive season with some hearty banter. Let the holiday gaming season begin!

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Welcome to the holiday edition of Dad Mode, your go-to podcast, where we tackle parenting, gaming and the chaos. Today, we unwrap the ultimate gift guide for gamers and content creators, spill our holiday plans and share our favorite holiday memories. So if you're hunting for the perfect gifts for the gamers and content creators in your life, looking for inspiration for your holiday plans or simply ready to reminisce about the most wonderful time of the year, you're in for a treat. Grab your hot cocoa, get cozy and let's slay this holiday season with Dad Mode. From gift ideas that'll level up your gaming setup to heartwarming holiday memories and our own plans for the season, we've got it all.

Speaker 2: 0:52

Ho, ho ho ho.

Speaker 1: 0:54

Welcome to Dad Mode's holiday extravaganza, where life, gaming and the holiday spirit collide.

Speaker 3: 1:14

What's up, Lieutenant?

Speaker 2: 1:17

Hey how you doing.

Speaker 3: 1:19

Good how you doing.

Speaker 2: 1:20

I'm doing well.

Speaker 3: 1:22

In respect of your time, we're keeping this relatively short. We would love it if you could give us ideas for gifts for gamers, podcasters, content creators and general tech ideas. What are some of the coolest things you've seen come out? I know you have tips like number one through four hundred and seventy-six on TikTok. There's a lot of cool stuff there.

Speaker 2: 1:46

Well, as most people. Some people might know, most people don't now. So I've actually transitioned over to PC gaming hardware. Yes, I'm still doing some tech stuff, some streamer tech things, and I try to keep my ear to the ground about that. And I'm actually excited about a couple of things Logitech's new dynamic mic and I apologize, I was going to bring it up.

Speaker 2: 2:10

So Logitech has had a dynamic mic for a while, but they have kind of a new affordable dynamic mic and I'm struggling to remember the name right now. But I'm super excited because it works with the Logitech G Hub software, which means you don't have to control all of your audio through OBS anymore. I'll make sure that we get that that name of that new Logitech microphone. But what's cool about using the Logitech G Hub software? I don't care if you use Zoom, you know, for your school, or if you use it for business meetings or if you use OBS. The Logitech G Hub software will allow you to change your microphone settings and your voice will sound perfect in every application. So this new Logitech microphone works alongside that software. So you're not going on buying some Amazon mic and then trying to tweak your OBS settings and well, shucks, now I got to use, you know, webex or Teams or something, or Zoom, and now all those settings work Right.

Speaker 4: 3:05

You got to have OBS open. I believe it's called BlueSona the logic mic.

Speaker 2: 3:14

Yes, they have the BlueSona mic. Yes, the BlueSona, and I think they have one more. That's a slightly cheaper USB microphone, but both of those mics the BlueSona and the other Logitech mic that they just came out with highly recommend those for streamers who want to get into that entry level microphone audio. The other thing that you may have some people out there that are looking for gifts or their gamer could be a significant other, could be a kid. There's a huge range and a lot of times people don't know where to begin. But I kind of wanted to go through and kind of start near the top and say what not to buy right now. That's a good idea, please. I know if you want to buy your kid or something or your significant other a really big gift and you may want to say you know what they can want a new video card.

Speaker 2: 4:17

Do not buy video cards right now. Don't do it. They have hit their highest price since last spring Overall in general. So we're talking NVIDIA 30 series, nvidia 40 series. Even AMD cards have hit a higher mark now than they were three, four months ago. So I would hold off on those. What we tend to see is in the end of December we'll see a small dip. The first part of January it'll shoot way back up and then they'll drop down again End of January, beginning of February, wait until end of January. February, that's when you see a huge floor on a lot of the video cards as well, as NVIDIA is going to be releasing their 4070 and 4080 Super Cards.

Speaker 3: 5:12

Oh, I swear, I just bought a 3090 like a month ago. No, it changes faster than a phone model does, but anyway.

Speaker 2: 5:21

Well, you might have bought during a really good dip, I would say about 30 to 60 days ago. They had a dip about a month-ish before Black Friday and have you seen that the Black Friday deals were kind of these I don't want to call anybody up at Scam like they were putting the same price over top.

Speaker 4: 5:41

Yes, I think the one I saw the other day was because there were a lot of barbecue groups and one of them was like the barbecue is at $799, $799, and it's hold, hold, hold with the William Wallace thing, and then it gets to Black Friday and it's $2,000 reduced to $799 and everyone's happy.

Speaker 3: 6:00

I love that.

Speaker 2: 6:03

Now, nova, I got to call you out here, being an Australian and being in a barbecue group. Do you tell people that you got to throw it on the Bobby? No, no, is that it? No, it's a very American thing. It's an American thing.

Speaker 4: 6:17

It's an American, australian thing, that one we just say it as a joke.

Speaker 3: 6:20

now. That's what they're go-pissing to say in a really bad Australian accent and that's our go-to thing to make fun of, like when someone goes, hey, I'm American.

Speaker 4: 6:29

It's like cool, I know what I got to say. I got to say let's throw another shrimp on the Bobby.

Speaker 3: 6:35

That's.

Speaker 2: 6:36

And there's hardly any shrimp we don't even have shrimp. My only experience with Australian culture is definitely our backstake house. Yeah, that's.

Speaker 4: 6:46

Well, yeah, Also, I found the mic. It's the Getty GX. It is a beautiful looking mic. I will find a picture for this later. Getty yeah, they've also At the same time they've also redone the

Speaker 3: 7:01

snow, the old snowball yeah that's what that yellow thing is right.

Speaker 4: 7:07

Yeah, they finally decided to bring it up to you know, that was one of my first mics, actually.

Speaker 2: 7:14

Oh yeah, the snowball was a great mic. Yes, the new, the Yeti GX, is their USB dynamic microphone and you do not need an interface with it being a USB microphone and it's about I think it's one. It's 150, I think, or one one 50. So my cat yes 150.

Speaker 4: 7:30

One is 150.

Speaker 2: 7:32

Yeah, one, 50.

Speaker 4: 7:32

And then the cheaper alternative would be the Yeti orb, which is 5999, which is obviously it's a cardio Mic, but you know they're good for podcasting because you can pick up. You can actually sit one in the middle of a table if you're doing a group of people and we can actually the the pattern on. It is actually a massive round. You can pick up on both sides really well.

Speaker 2: 7:58

Yeah, I think Logitech makes some great entry level mics. This is obviously one of the more expensive ones. But you're also getting in the Elgato level quality as well. Right, that mid-tier quality. We're not up to the, the road level or or or sure level microphones, but you know, not everybody needs that. But if you're looking to for your, your, your significant other who's or loved one who wants to upgrade their current mic, maybe they have a cheap headset mic or something like that and they really want to do something like that. If you're willing to spurge a little bit, I don't, I highly don't recommend, if they're starting out, don't recommend going for, you know, $300, $400 microphone, our microphone. Look at these Logitech Yeti GX as well as the, the wave microphones. The Elgato wave microphones are still spectacular for streamers. I love them on.

Speaker 2: 8:44

They have a dynamic, they have a dynamic mic. It does require an interface. So don't just buy the it's the, it's the Elgato DX. It looks just. You know, it looks very similar to the Logitech dynamic mics, the, the, the sure microphones and things of that, that kind of a tube style. But you're just remember, you are going to need an interface with that and what? That is a little desktop device for those who may not be aware little desktop device that you plug the XLR or three pronged cable into the back and it converts it to USB. So keep that in mind if you're looking to buy one of those. If you get one of those, it's kind of like giving a gift without the batteries You're going to want to make sure that goes along with it.

Speaker 4: 9:24

Yeah, one for gaming. I thought about actually the other day while I was driving along for and this works for kids, children, children, parents, whoever is in a game, if any, and you're buying for a game but you're not a game and you don't don't have an idea on what to get Figure out whether they're on Xbox or PlayStation. That's what you need to know. If all PC, xbox, pc or PlayStation and buy either Game Pass for a year or PlayStation deluxe, ps Plus deluxe for a year, you basically just cover them for the next year of gaming. There's, there's tons of games on there and then obviously, both are always constantly getting new games for the hundred and twenty, one hundred and thirty, depending on where you are. It is for a year. It's a perfect gift because you guarantee it's. It's like you're buying a hundred games for a person in one hit.

Speaker 2: 10:16

Absolutely, and has anyone? If anyone saw the gamer awards last night, those were spectacular.

Speaker 3: 10:24

No, because it's nobody's boycott.

Speaker 4: 10:26

It is all I've got to say is Chris, chris Judge and his speech was fantastic. It was my highlight of that.

Speaker 2: 10:33

That was good, yeah, so absolutely, game Pass is spectacular. I'm a little less familiar with the, with the PlayStation.

Speaker 4: 10:44

Network. It's, it's the same thing. It's the same thing, Same. Thing.

Speaker 2: 10:48

Well, they have a bunch of great games and exclusives coming out this next spring. There was a bunch of games announced at that award ceremony, so I think that'd be a great time to get by them, a gift for them. Make it a like a digital stocking stuffer, if you will.

Speaker 3: 11:03

Yeah, so you said that you were, you know, focusing a lot on PC gaming tech. What kind of things are you are, do you see, in there? Because a lot of people listen to this, you know are going to be into PC gaming as well.

Speaker 2: 11:16

Yeah, so. So obviously I already mentioned that I won't stay on this too long, but right now to stay away from the video cards, just hold on for a little while, but if you want to get something as a gift under the tree, let's start with with mice.

Speaker 2: 11:30

So if you have someone who would like to get a mouse Now, while these tend to have some type of reference to some of these mice and keyboards and peripherals, here's a couple I can recommend. I'm really a big fan right now of the Logitech Hero. I was going to say the 502.

Speaker 1: 11:48

Yeah, it's been years on years favorite.

Speaker 4: 11:50

I still recommend that and it's been going on for so long.

Speaker 2: 11:54

So they have. They have now a, a Logitech Hero. That is a ultra light wireless microphone, super light, 60 grams. It would run about $120. So if, if this person is a gamer, if you find out that they like first person shooter games, call of Duty, valorant, if they happen to talk about things like that, consider getting them an ultra light. And they do have a Logitech Hero. That's a super light, 60 grams for $120. If you want something that's a little bit, let's say they don't play first person shooter but a lot of strategy games, the as we, as you all know, as we get older, we get a little less proficient at the twitch shooting.

Speaker 4: 12:35

Well, yeah, More, most never been there to begin with to lose ever, you know we get into that.

Speaker 2: 12:41

We start being a more a little more cerebral and getting more into the strategy games, which means a lot of like. But I think it's a little bit more of a game, which means a lot of like buttons and macros. So I think it's the Razer. I'm going to mess up the name. I think it's the NAGA. So Naga.

Speaker 2: 13:00

They have the Razer Naga V2. That is the premiere mouse for for customization and all of the macro keys. I think it's got 12 macro keys on it, so that will. That's a little price here, I think it's about a hundred and sometimes it's down to 160. 80. Yep. And then the other one to round it off to kind of my best of both worlds right now, not an ultra light, not a super heavy duty macro one, the Razer Basilisk right now, and I think that runs. That's going to be kind of your one hundred and twenty to one hundred and forty dollar range.

Speaker 4: 13:36

Yeah, ok.

Speaker 2: 13:36

And then that one I really like as a mid ground.

Speaker 4: 13:39

So do you have a preference when it comes to keyboards? Usually, usually most, you got a keyboard as well.

Speaker 2: 13:44

So you know I actually. So I am super picky about my keyboards because I like Ergo keyboards and those are really hard to find, but I do a lot of typing and work on mine and if you're getting it for a gamer, logitech continues to come up on the list and they they have classic keyboards that just every year. They seem to be really, really good. But it's the G915.

Speaker 4: 14:09

Yes, I've got I've got the corded version right here the G1 18 a, g815, 815, sorry, 815 815.

Speaker 2: 14:20

Yeah, so the 815, the 915, these are mechanical keyboards. So if they're a gamer, they're really gonna enjoy the mechanical keyboards. What I like about the 915 is it comes in a TKL. For those who don't know what a TKL is, it's a. It's a 10 keyless, which means you don't have a number pad. A little bit more compact on your desk. That's really popular right now. You look cool thing about the G915 G915 is they. You can get it available in three different types of mechanical switches linear, tactile and clicky. If I if you're giving this to a, a Loved one might be your child I would highly recommend staying away from a clicky. That's, that's, the ones that sound like keyboards.

Speaker 4: 15:03

We're going Streaming if you got the wrong mark with streaming it. Clicky keyboard can be horrible for your listener, just hearing that tick, tick, tick, tick, tick as you're playing a game, oh it can drive you nuts. It's just it's same with controls. Controls can pick up in a mark as well, but particularly keyboards, they really Stand out. Lower your gain.

Speaker 2: 15:34

It's right. Picture Mike. Oh, so I'm a derby. So if you, if you get a chance, I would say, go linear. Unless this person also has to do a lot of school work, then I would go what they call tactile, because it's really hard to type on linear keyboards. They're they're too sensitive and you make a lot of mistakes. Yeah, my other mother favorites right now. I wish I could go get my hands on them, but I like what I'm hearing about them. It's the HyperX origins.

Speaker 2: 16:06

Okay ultra compact. This is much more budget friendly. The, the Logitech was about 150 bucks. This should be about 70 dollars. Hyperx origins go check out that. The other one that's an ultra budget Mechanical keyboard and this one's really interesting. I'd like to see how well it's built. The Patriot Viper V765 $40 Wow, getting into a mechanical keyboard for $40.

Speaker 3: 16:32

So Do you recommend that people just try to find the cheapest thing they can in Amazon?

Speaker 2: 16:42

No, I, I I recommend sticking with Brands that have their own website. I know that sounds like a weird thing to say, but there are so many rebranded products on Amazon right now that names you've never heard of Q, you and Komodi and Next week they'll be gone, and then you'll find the exact same keyboard with just a different name on it All right, so so stick with things that when you Google them, they actually take you to their company's website. You know, we talk about Logitech, hyperx, razor. Even Patriot has its own website. And then, yes, of course, buy it on Amazon. If it's available and you like shopping on Amazon, that's great, but make sure the product has a legit website and they have good distribution inside the United States or Australia or your Country of origin.

Speaker 4: 17:41

I will say Logitech's customer service is brilliant. I used to have the Logitech Pro Keyboard and I had a couple of key caps that just broke, like they weren't sitting in place. And they were odd ones, they weren't main, it's like you know, number five and f11 or something like that were, just wouldn't sit in place and if you pressed it, we nearly enough it would pop off. I messaged the Logitech Support team and said, hey, is it possible for me to buy new keys? Just, I just want to be able to buy the key caps to replace it. And they said, no, it wasn't possible. Can send us a picture of your receipt and the serial number on the keyboard? And they just sent me a whole new keyboard. That's how, actually that's how I got the g8. That 815 was because the pro was no longer available. That were coming into the pro X and the light would just give you a new keyboard instead.

Speaker 2: 18:32

I really like some of these companies and what they're doing and providing for gamers. They are, they know their audience and Logitech is a great one hyper X, cloud 9, razor. I really like them in the gaming space right now.

Speaker 3: 18:44

Yeah, so I have an interesting. I think it's interesting. So for folks that are doing streaming out there, one of the most important things is is lighting. What are some kind? See one in your background there. What are some good brands of lighting to buy?

Speaker 2: 19:03

So I used to go with. There was a lighting brand that I really liked for a while called supon SUP on and.

Speaker 2: 19:14

When I first started, I really like supon. I liked all of the features that they had available Because you could use them both for streaming, because you could plug them in for power, but they also came with batteries if you wanted to do any type of IRL type things or if you wanted to do Like B roll footage for videos. You know, I have actually I've I Used to give Elgato a bunch of crap for expensive lighting or what I thought at the time was expensive lighting. I have totally changed my tune. I do not think I would buy, I don't think I would buy anything other than Elgato lighting For entry or mid-level until you get up into professional level Streaming, professional level Recording and content creation, you know. Then there's there's brands like go docs and things like that, but you know what? Start making money.

Speaker 4: 20:11

I'm in here for a second actually, since I Haven't got Elgato lighting and I don't have a go docs, but I actually I have some of the I think sits right in between the two and it is a tall Tlifo.

Speaker 1: 20:28

The brand was it is a studio light.

Speaker 4: 20:32

So it's a studio light similar to the go docs studio light. It's LED, continuous light, multiple. Different it's a set warmth at 5600 Kelvin but Teaming that up with a Oksagonal filter plus the hex grid mm-hmm. It cost me around 70 dollars, less than a Elgato key light. So it is a big studio light. It is big studio light. Is is like going proper big studio light set up. Yeah, I got it for 60 dollars less and that was through Amazon. All the stuff for Amazon.

Speaker 2: 21:14

That's great, and they you said it does come with the the box grid, or is that right?

Speaker 4: 21:19

No, I, you could have brought it with it. I brought them separate at the time because I I brought another light and then I realized I brought the wrong light off, off your Craigslist type thing. I brought it an actual flash Light, not a studio light. So the wife has got that already, brought the the box grid and that from Amazon already. But yeah, if you ever combined the box grid and that was about 70 Australians, around 50 us, and the light off memory I do have Amazon open here Was it's currently not available but I spent 130 Australian so all up it was under 200 Australian for a big studio light.

Speaker 2: 21:59

That's not bad for a professional level lighting yes.

Speaker 4: 22:03

I would actually get more, and if I needed another, I would happily go buy another.

Speaker 2: 22:09

One thing I miss about Elgato lighting versus the other lighting they don't have the the diffusers box or the box grids, the attachable box grids. You get the panel, that's what you get.

Speaker 4: 22:20

Yes, yeah, it's simple, all right, they're the future.

Speaker 2: 22:22

They're. The future is simple.

Speaker 4: 22:25

Hmm, yeah, it's. That's much saying like the light I've got now. I had to do a lot of research towards it. Okay, cool, that light's gonna be extremely bright. All right, I need, I need a filter. What's the best filter that's gonna work for the space? My size? I don't want it too big. I need to get it right size. Okay, that's a good size. Now I need to control the light more. Okay, I got to get a hex grid for that, so then went out and brought a hex grid like that. You don't have to worry about that with the Elgato products. You can just plug it in and plus, you get it. You know the support straight into. If you've got a stream deck, for example, you've got full control of your light On the extreme day, whereas, you know, at the moment I've got to use a remote to chat to adjust my water.

Speaker 2: 23:05

Yeah, and I know that Logitech has gotten into the lighting space. I've just have not seen a whole lot of content creators Utilizing the Logitech stuff. I think they have a logitech beam, the lightra and a couple other. They actually they have a couple of what I. What I do like is they have a couple of small devices. I think it's the. Is that the lightra go, or something like that most given?

Speaker 4: 23:26

why haven't you Just what that?

Speaker 2: 23:30

that's what you've given a white light, red light, a lot of all one yep. So I like what they're trying to do and getting into that space. I would love to get my hands on one, do some tests and give some advice on it back there in a box.

Speaker 1: 23:42

You still got it Sweet, you had.

Speaker 4: 23:48

Who was that meant to go through? I think I want it by accident. I wasn't meant to win it, but I want it by accident $400 or something like that. Yeah, oh.

Speaker 2: 24:00

My gosh. Well, we'll have to do some tests with it, have you? Have you tested it yet? Have you opened it? Well, no, it's.

Speaker 3: 24:07

I wanted to keep your box. I was gonna give it away, hey, as well as like one of the blue Yeti Mike's in something else.

Speaker 2: 24:18

Stream cam.

Speaker 4: 24:20

Yes, oh, I might have, I might have open and I and I and I it's right, you were using that the other day when we talk.

Speaker 2: 24:29

Um, well, let me recommend a couple more things to gamers the monitors I think a lot of people have either upgraded their machines, want to upgrade their machines. Right now is a good time to buy a monitor. The prices have dropped dramatically. For those who are in the know, you already know about 1080p, 1440p, 4k monitors. You might also know about refresh rates and what you. But for those who are not in the know and you still want to buy something for your gamer, significant other 1080p is still the most popular resolution.

Speaker 4: 25:12

Really the only movie, 1440 by now.

Speaker 2: 25:16

Right. So I think, according to the Steam survey latest results that came out I think it was still right around 60% of all gamers are still on 1080p.

Speaker 4: 25:26

That is probably because 60% of all gamers are still running at 1060. That's the most popular video card ever that think and run anything. That's why I've got one in my son's computer. I have no plans on upgrading him, because it does a great job.

Speaker 2: 25:42

Well, one of the issues has become the lot of gamers want to stay with the latest game. Right, they want to play Cyberpunk, they want to play, you know, the new God of War on PC or that type of thing. One of the issues is the games have gotten more advanced but maybe they've not been able to. Hardware has been so expensive these past two years right, with cryptocurrency taking up, the video cards, shortage on video cards, what two years ago, that type of thing so it's been really expensive to upgrade. But they want to play the latest games. The only way you can play those games at a reasonable frame rate is stay at 1080. Yeah, so I think that has another a lot to do with it. So what I would recommend is, if you are a, if you're buying something, you want to get them a monitor. They've been talking about getting a monitor, a gaming monitor. Double check their monitor. You can always there will always be a code on the back Go look up the numbers, sneak in there. When they're not in there, go look up the numbers on the back of the monitor, what model it is, google it and then find out what currently the resolution is and what the refresh rate is, and it'll usually be in Hertz or HZ, 60 Hertz, 120 Hertz, 144. Find out what it is. That way you know where you're at. So you're not buying them the same thing.

Speaker 2: 27:02

But if you want to get them a gaming model, let's say they're. Let's say they have a really entry level monitor, 1080p. Maybe they don't even have a quality model, they're using some little thing on their desk. You want to get them a decent monitor. That's 1080p right now. View sonic, the VX 24, 18 C, 24 inch, 165 Hertz, and what that means is just the how quick it will refresh, as long as your graphics card can, can support it, and we'll. We can talk about that in a second. I can answer questions later. But that is $100 right now 165 Hertz monitor for $100. If for some reason you have, the person you're buying for has a more powerful machine, a slightly more powerful machine, maybe their computer has been put together in the last year or so. Their machines probably ready to do 2k gaming or what's called 1440p. Yep, asus Tough Gaming VG 27 a.

Speaker 2: 28:04

That's a good monitor 1440 to my brother Yep 27 inch monitor and it's 170 Hertz, $170 under $200 for a to to get into a 2k gaming monitor and then then the last one on the I'll give you this on the list getting the UN2 4k. Now this is if someone has really put a lot of money into their, their computer, they may have. You may again, you want to double check to see what monitor they have, because if they've already spent three or four or $5,000 on their computer, very likely they probably already have a high end monitor. But double check.

Speaker 2: 28:39

And gaming monitor yes, 4k gaming monitor, the MSI MAG 24 7 upf. I know it's a lot of letters 27 inch, 144 Hertz, $400.

Speaker 3: 28:54

Yeah, I'm wondering.

Speaker 4: 28:56

I have.

Speaker 3: 28:56

the Asus Tough Gaming monitor is my main monitor. I have the 32 inch curved Yep. It is an amazing monitor. It is.

Speaker 4: 29:04

I have the Samsung Odyssey G5 32 inch and I think that is a. It is perfect for my old age Well, I do, I know I know I need glasses it's 1440p but at 32 inches it it does it straighten the eyes looking at. It's not like a 4k 165 refresh rate, G sync, free sync, although all the adaptive refresh rate technology in it. And I got that cheap and I believe that's a saw when I was at shops the other day that it's coming back down on sale into Christmas. I am contemplating buying a second one.

Speaker 3: 29:44

Yeah, it's possible that I don't want my resolution too high because I can't see anything.

Speaker 4: 29:49

It's just a set 1440p, 32 inch, perfect, like it's it's. It's a match made in perfect for my, a match made in heaven for Mars.

Speaker 2: 29:59

Well, so for your listeners, I many of them will know a lot of these things already and but for some that that are might be confused, or make sure they don't want to eat it. They don't want to get the wrong thing Real quick. I want to break down the things you should check and Google before buying any of these products. Concerning monitors, obviously, go on the back, look at the back of their monitor, look up their model and see what it currently is capable of doing. And the second thing is go find out what video card they have. This is a little bit more involved. Sometimes you may want to ask a friend that can help you with this.

Speaker 2: 30:35

Find out what graphics card, especially if you don't want the person you're buying for to know I know what video card it is. Google that video card. A lot of times it'll be either Nvidia or AMD Radeon, and then it usually has like a number. And then you go, google that card and find out what that, how powerful that card is. Maybe, if you're really unfamiliar, have someone assist you to determine whether or not buying a monitor would be beneficial to the person who owns that computer in that video card. So I just want to check both their current monitor and what video card it is, because you can't just buy a $400 monitor and expect the gaming experience to be different if they have a graphics card that's six, seven, eight years old. Yeah right.

Speaker 4: 31:14

I mean, the beauty thing is, when in doubt, I always tell people to get a free sync monitor. Nowadays it's adaptive, adaptive refresh rate, most video cards. Since it's open source, most video cards supported. It doesn't matter if you've got an Nvidia or an AMD. Free sync will work on both.

Speaker 2: 31:35

Yeah, that's yeah. So if all of those items were really pricey and you're like gosh, dude smash, you came in here with some really expensive stuff, here's some some stocking stuffers I think would be would be really nice to get somebody. Mouse pads, I think, are a great gift to give them a really good quality mouse pad, the ones that I like. Right now, Steel Series has an extra large mouse pad. It's the QCK mouse pad. It's a 36 inch by 16 inch mouse pad and they basically call it a desk pad. At that point, yeah, $27. The if you have someone who's a little bit more elegant they don't just want a cloth desk mat there is a leather fold leather mat. It looks beautiful. The Galloway leather mat Galloway GA-LL-A-W-A-Y. It's leather like. It's very durable 36 by 17 inch, $24. Comes in several colors. Looks very elegant. So if they would have a really nice room or set up the office, that does look nice.

Speaker 3: 32:50

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 32:50

Okay, and then the final one for ultra cheap the Acer Predator XXL, 36 inch by 12 inch. It's a little skinny here, but it's only $10. So there's a good stocking stuffer and and one more bonus to go on with the gaming stuff. Let's say you don't want to buy them a thing. Steam gift card for you, for PC gamers out there.

Speaker 4: 33:13

I was going to say that steam, it's a steam holiday season. That's what. That's what my family actually give me. They've been giving me a steam gift card for the last 10 plus years because the steam holidays, steam Christmas sale, is always on and the games are so cheap and constantly you can get games for a dollar, two dollars. You pick up someone a $20, $30 steam gift card. There's potential they could buy 10 games plus.

Speaker 2: 33:38

Absolutely.

Speaker 4: 33:39

It's, it's, I forgot about that.

Speaker 3: 33:41

That's my game on.

Speaker 4: 33:42

Xbox.

Speaker 2: 33:43

Yeah, or maybe it's just, or maybe they've been holding off because a game that they really wanted is a little more expensive than they wanted. That $30, $25 goes towards a $50 game. And they're like now I'll get that game I want because it's it's. You know it'll make it only $25 for me, so you can get those in the US. I know you can get them at Walmart, best Buy, gamestop, I think, target, walgreens, things like that.

Speaker 4: 34:05

Everywhere outside the country, I don't know pretty much anywhere. Anywhere that sells a gift card, you can get one.

Speaker 2: 34:12

So I highly recommend those.

Speaker 3: 34:16

Smash. Thank you so much for all that great info.

Speaker 2: 34:18

Nice, you're welcome.

Speaker 3: 34:20

All right, thank you, sir.

Speaker 2: 34:21

Hey, thank you guys. Have a great evening.

Speaker 3: 34:23

You too. Um. Lots of great advice there from smash. Um. You know it's funny. You know we're talking I. I made this mistake when I first started streaming. You know I talked a lot about um, why is my mic level looks so low?

Speaker 4: 34:41

anyway on of mine.

Speaker 3: 34:42

Um, I talked a lot about like Gear people should get like smash is doing, but I I as an adult with a job in discretionary income just talked about Get, get a sure, go, just just go get a sure. And I'm talking like 18 year olds who work part-time at Retail store, you know, and like they don't have all that money I forgot.

Speaker 4: 35:07

No, even this might even this boom boom arm that I've got see up my. My setup has always been a mixture of high and and low end, and all over the place where I can cut corners I will cut corners. So you know that's a yeah about the light. This boom arm, for example, it is a From from max or something.

Speaker 4: 35:29

Looks exactly like the blue, the 80 mic blue yeti Mike over here, the boom, the compass arm over here is a $250 arm. Yeah, the family picked this one up for $60, was strong and it looks exactly same exactly same.

Speaker 3: 35:45

You wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Yeah, no matter what it is, if you're, if you or someone you know is into gaming or Content creation of whatever variety, there's a lot of gear they need and that gear is not none of it is cheap and there's a lot of things they need. So, like, figure out what your budget is, what their budget is, and Be smart about what you're getting. Like, don't break the bank, you know, um, when I think what bearded saying what, what smashers thing is, you can get some good quality things without Getting top of the line.

Speaker 4: 36:20

I put smash onto this last year and I still will. Anyone that's into you know You're buying for someone in the content creative space. These things here smorg. They're on Amazon, they're about $10. $10. Space is just a multi flex arm. You know you can use them wherever. You don't even know what they need to give it to. I guarantee you just give it to anyone who's doing content creation. Yeah they will find a use for that thing and they will love it.

Speaker 1: 36:42

Yeah, you know, I have five, three, four yeah spread out around here.

Speaker 4: 36:46

They're all over the place.

Speaker 3: 36:47

This one's yeah currently not used for anything, but like I have two of them that are holding up the Elgato key lights in front of me, like they're bound into the ceiling and they're facing down. So yeah, this is like I have low ceiling.

Speaker 4: 37:01

This light needed yeah listen, listening.

Speaker 3: 37:05

You can't, but I'm above.

Speaker 4: 37:07

I'm in the second floor of a garage, so I have sloped ceilings so, yeah, well, my, my, my studio light actually has to be on the stand, because I just don't trust anything Strong enough to support it at the moment.

Speaker 3: 37:20

Yeah, so what, what kind of plans do you have for the holidays coming up here?

Speaker 4: 37:28

Um, very, this year everyone's coming to my house. So I love. Normally yeah, I have to suffer on to Normally we spread it out. So one year will be my mother's house, the next year or my house, purely because of, like that was talked about, with Daily dad when he's on we've got a mix mix family. So this year my two of my children won't be with us on Christmas Day, so we do Christmas on the boxing day of the day after. So everyone's coming over to our house then and I'll do a bit of a barbecue. Well, smoke, smoke up some dirt brisket, honey ham, ribs yes, you'll do ribs Shrimp on the barbie, shrimp on the barbie. That's about it. Just a very, very, very relaxed day. For us. It's hot, it's in the middle of summer for us, you know, we're in hell, as it were, like you know we talked about that the other day forget our seasons

Speaker 4: 38:25

are opposite. Yeah, it was the other day. I was saying hey, we've got a heatwave, you know it's 115 Fahrenheit, it's going to be with the, with the humidity of Florida, across most of Australia, and then you, you've responded with it's freezing.

Speaker 3: 38:38

Yeah, it's like 30 degrees Fahrenheit, it's zero degrees Celsius, it's nuts. So we do the same thing every year we go out to my relatives with my mom's house and we celebrate Christmas there, or Christmas Eve at her house, and then Christmas Day we're here at our you know, just just our family, my wife and my kids and then the the week, the few days after, we might go to other people's houses her friends, my friends, whatever but we keep it fairly low, low key, because we, we don't like people, nova, we don't, we don't like people.

Speaker 4: 39:18

I, we before children, we and my friends actually used to have a big, used to be the Boxing Day celebration We'd call it okay which is the day after Christmas where all of us would get together and it just be. You know It'd be an all-day in tonight drinking. Yeah, first bases, just drink as much you can to your policy. Oh, that's, that's what I used to do when I was younger. Not anymore. I don't have that in me anymore to do that type of stuff. I'll have a few cheeky drinks on the day. That's probably about it.

Speaker 3: 39:50

It's it's. That is sad. I can't. I don't think I can drink as much as I used to and I don't even know if that it's like physically, can't it's that like? No matter what it is, I always fear like, what if I'm drunk and I have an emergency with the kids? Like, even if it's at night? What if someone falls out of bed and breaks an arm or something you know like?

Speaker 4: 40:11

I always think of that even when, if you don't have family around you. At this age I'm more of the the point of. I don't want to deal with the next day anymore. You know, a drive through McDonald's for a drink and a burger is not gonna Is not gonna solve my problems the next day anymore. I'm gonna regret my life choices for three, four days after drinking that much.

Speaker 3: 40:35

No, yeah, your body changes it well. It withers and deteriorates as you get older exactly. But it also like if I do drink too much one night, the next morning, if I'm hungover, not feeling well, my wife always says you're too old to be like that. Yeah, basically, why did you do that the night before?

Speaker 4: 40:54

stupid choices you made. Yeah, I'll say yes to bring it back on to Christmas, though. My wife made does a really good job at hinting throughout the year and we're not really hinting actually telling me what you want, yeah, and then it gets this period and I forget Everyday it's. This is ticking in the background of my mind is like, okay, what was she talking about? I gotta remember this. I've got to buy it at some point.

Speaker 3: 41:24

So and if you, when you're people, listen to this, I know when this episode is gonna be released. If you haven't bought anything for your significant other yet, run. Stop listening to this right now. Come listen, finish it later, but go buy stuff or go on Amazon while you're listening to this, chuck you are running out of time driving. Yes, but you probably got about a lesson a week left.

Speaker 4: 41:49

You know, we took the little bit before the show about the gifts for the children. What we're thinking where? We're taking a quite simple approach this year because we're sick of being, you know, buying stuff and feeling like they don't like what we brought, even though it's usually what we asked him throughout the year. Things they like, we always seem to get it wrong. So we're only doing one or two gifts and a few, a few Stocking fillers and that, and we're actually just gonna be giving our kids a gift card this year. So just a big gift card. All the kids will have a big gift card and they can just go buy what they want and I know I have done a good job. This is usually usually we buy them all like a big gift and lots of small, you surrounded that they have that one Showpiece gift or the other thing they really wanted.

Speaker 4: 42:38

We can't think of that for our children this year and they really haven't is. Oh yeah, it's a weird grunt thing that I'm getting out of them. There's no words, it's just a noise like a moan. So, yeah, instead, gift cards seem to be a winner in our house this year. That's, that's. That's gonna take the plate.

Speaker 3: 42:55

Yeah, and for any parents that feeling I can't give them a gift card, it feels it's lazy. When I was younger, that's what I wanted, because people just kept fucking up the gifts they gave me, like I don't want this, just give me money, yeah exactly, exactly.

Speaker 4: 43:10

I just want to be able to buy what I want. I could. You brought me the thing. That isn't really what I want. It's close but it's not really what I want. Do you have the receipts? I can return it, type of thing.

Speaker 4: 43:18

My whole family's doing the kids gift cards, that's, you know everyone. My sister, sister, she's gonna buy the kids some gift cards. I said I'd buy her kids actual present because they're a little bit too young for a Gift card. Yeah, I've worked that out with her. Close, it's a Christmas but it's just easier. You know I have. You know, we talked about boxing day. Here is really our black Friday in terms of sales. So the day after boxing and the boxing day, sales run to the new year. It's not just one day, though. It's like black Friday, you know. I mean, black Friday is no longer black Friday anymore. It runs for two, three weeks, depending on the business. Nowadays It'll run all the way up to Christmas. I swear some of the things are still black Friday, no-transcript. So it'll be a couple of days after Christmas. Or just chuck all the kids in the car, drive down to the wall shopping center, go for it, go buy what you want, meet back here in an hour or something. That's probably going to be the plan.

Speaker 3: 44:16

Yeah, that's a good plan. Then they're happy and, like you said, you know you did a good job because they got what they wanted to get. Without your, you know you pick it up by the wrong.

Speaker 4: 44:28

You give them a small little stuff, but just the money that you're going to spend. If you're going to spend $100 or $50, whatever your budget has the big gift. You know most people do one big gift, a special gift that's more important than the rest. Just give card it, yep just give card it.

Speaker 3: 44:45

Just remember this too For all the parents that like buying there's a big, expensive gift and it comes in the big box. You know that your kids are going to like the box more than the thing. Right, that's what they're going to play with. You put that box away and you can play with the thing that came in it. Oh my God, it drives me nuts.

Speaker 4: 45:04

She doesn't even know what she's going yet. Obviously she doesn't know the clue. But I think it's just, yeah, a lot of little stuff, even more so we're not going to go too stupid for her this year. She doesn't really know what's going on.

Speaker 3: 45:16

Right, you could give her a spoon.

Speaker 4: 45:18

She'd be like, oh yeah yeah, it doesn't matter what I give her. So yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3: 45:24

So that's. My wife did the same thing. She's like we got to buy him this, this, this, this, and when they're like under one years old, I'm like they don't know anything.

Speaker 4: 45:32

We don't have to do, we don't even have to give her a Christmas that we could give them. We could give it two weeks off to Christmas and they weren't any of the difference.

Speaker 3: 45:39

Yeah they don't have the concept of Christmas. So yeah, my sons are interesting. One will write us a list of everything he wants for his birthday and Christmas, yep. And the other will be like when I say, how was your day at school? It was fine. What do you want for Christmas? I don't know. Like he's impossible to get anything out of Impossible.

Speaker 4: 46:01

But they change. The kids change over time. You know what I mean. Like that one stage that they're impossible to get conversation with. You might be able to have a great conversation with your child this year, coming into Christmas and you're getting every word and I get you know at one point it might not be next year, it may be the year after that, but at one point it's just going to change. They're not going to tell you anymore, they're just going to shut up.

Speaker 3: 46:21

Yeah yeah, change your kids a little bit. Do you have any Nova family traditions? Or around the holidays?

Speaker 4: 46:34

Trying to think actually, no, no, really no, really. Normally just white kids, yeah, they'll have the Santa sacks and stuff. That'll happen, that they can go through. But why is it a little bit weird. We've been still trying to work that out over years. Sometimes I'm all keen for hey, here's, you know, they can just go into the Santa sacks and pull out what they want and get into it before we're awake or whatever, whereas my wife, at times she likes to like wait, wait, wait, wait or all around to see what you got.

Speaker 4: 47:04

That for me, only thing I care about waiting for is the gear underneath the trees, like anything that's wrapped, don't unwrap it until we're all. We're all here. That's pretty much as as in terms of traditions. That's it. We might go not this year. We used to. You used to go out a couple of nights before Christmas and drive around and see all the Christmas lights. Yeah, not going to this year because she doesn't like the car, so it was just a little bit of a mess. She doesn't like the car, so we're just going to put that on ice for a year. That's, that's as far as it goes for us. While we go for the drive, though, you know, I'll go through McDonald's and I'll get a coffee, wife, and I'll get a coffee. The kids will get a Sunday or something, just driving around. That's, that's our tradition, as far as it goes.

Speaker 3: 47:50

Yeah, we do the lights thing. You know there's a couple of spots where you drive around you will look on the lights and stuff. So we use you that. But like on Christmas day, it's the same thing. Like you know, my wife is like you cannot open gifts until we're there. You know they're up at like three AM or something, like you got to wait, you got to wait you got to wait, she goes down.

Speaker 3: 48:09

She's very, she's very particular about messes. So she has, we get the garbage bag ready for the wrapping paper, you know, and she's there with a camera or the phone already to take pictures of every single thing. They open and they're look happy, you know, and take a picture and that's. And then when it's done, you know, the day after Christmas, like all right trees coming out, like she's very like boom, boom, boom done. Let's get this in, let's get in, let's get done.

Speaker 4: 48:35

Yeah, yeah, okay, okay. No, I, I put the lights up a little bit early this year. The tree went up a little bit earlier in the house, but that's, you know, people who have family gone away, bits and pieces like that. So it's like you know, let's just, let's just get it over and done with now.

Speaker 3: 48:51

Yeah, yeah, Um, we, we keep a. Yeah, she runs a pretty tight ship, tight ship around um, around what happens during, uh, during Christmas day. Yes, I remember when I was a kid, you know, we opened most things on Christmas day, but like I was such an annoying little fucker that I was like I want I. They got to a point where they just let me open one gift before the day before Christmas because I was relentless. Yeah, yeah, Okay, you know, that's that just came.

Speaker 3: 49:19

And then I was also the kid that would speak into the room and like tear the package a little bit, see if I could figure out what it was.

Speaker 4: 49:24

I did that a few times. I did that a few times around like just touch it, just just touch it a little bit and, oh, my fingers just gone for the paper. Uh, it's one of what I could. I wonder what I can see in this hole. None of my children have drawn that, actually.

Speaker 3: 49:37

We, uh, last year we bought them a switch for it for Christmas. Um, and my little one decided to go in, where he knows we keep the gifts and my wife hadn't well, my wife and I had not wrapped them yet. He goes oh, I saw a gift in there, we saw a switch and and, uh, she's like well, it was for your father, but now that you've seen it and you told him, I'm just going to return it. So we told them that we returned it and they thought it was for me and my, my, I felt back as my little one, like he, was so sad like ruined my Christmas and it got returned but it was for them.

Speaker 3: 50:11

So then Christmas day, you know we bring it down at the last second and open it up and do like why did you give us dad's gift? Like no, it's for you, it's for you. Oh, it was. It was a mess, but you know they liked it.

Speaker 4: 50:24

Do do is your wife.

Speaker 4: 50:27

You, similar to me, like with my wife, she hates buying gifts for myself because you know, as we talked about adult, adult income, uh, and and decent jobs, it's like, well, I'm buying this for you, I want this, I'm going to buy me that, and you know I'm buying things as it goes through the years and when it comes to Christmas time, it's like what do you want?

Speaker 4: 50:46

It's like I've kind of just brought it as I needed it, yeah. And then she, you know I'm finding nowadays I'm prioritizing what I'm buying in terms of, okay, I don't, I'd like it, but I don't really need it. I've actually got a little bit of control there, where I'm leaving a, a, a handful of things off that I won't buy for the year, and then I then there's a pile there at Christmas like what do you want? And and I've actually made a list on Amazon so the wife can just see that as just my, the stuff that I, stuff that I want to buy for myself. I put it all on that list and, as I'm buying it, I just take it out, so then she can see what I haven't brought yet and that I, that she knows that I want.

Speaker 3: 51:27

Right, we do the same thing. We keep an Amazon list and we, you know, we share it with each other. And and again, I do what we want. And yeah, she's like what do you want? I'm like, oh, should I bought everything already. All right, I would like this, this. And then what I do is like the day after Christmas, I see what I got and I go, I just, you just go order the rest of the list because I'm I'm probably going to buy it anyway. You know.

Speaker 4: 51:49

So I'm going to put some expensive things out there. But yeah, I'm hinting at the stream pedal this year. I mean oh yeah, I've been wanting it for a while. Yeah, that's the one I'm pushing towards is the stream pedal.

Speaker 3: 52:02

Yeah, so I was telling you earlier. Wait, this is coming out when. Okay, it's the matter that my boys are getting into gaming racing. Yes, and I want. They don't have a wheel. I've never owned a wheel and we've already bought their gifts. But I'm I'm sorry, honey, I'm just going to buy a wheel, right, because they'll be happy, they'll like it. Yes, you know, and yeah, I'm trying to decide. Do I give it to them as a gift or I say I bought a wheel, I'm going to let them use it. I don't know which way to go which will get me less trouble, but if she's listening to this, I'm already in trouble. So, doesn't matter, I give up, it doesn't matter.

Speaker 4: 52:40

I look forward to hearing about this problem in the year, how this unfolded. Yeah, what excuse you use to get out of it oh man Um. I just want to say, before we do wrap everything up, that I hope everyone has a great and safe holidays with their family and loved ones.

Speaker 3: 53:03

I, I, I second that, I second that.

Speaker 4: 53:07

I feel like an asset, because it's something.

Speaker 3: 53:08

I do that. I do that at work.

Speaker 4: 53:11

I just walk away from people at work and I'm like, oh, I'd see you later. And then I'm like I'm not going to see them for a few weeks. I probably should have wished them the best, yeah.

Speaker 3: 53:19

I'm also the boss at work that forgets to say like Merry Christmas or happy Thanksgiving to my employees, like I forget, and then like my, my second, and command what are you going to call it? Some super tensions. But anyway, like he does that, I'm like, oh shit, I should have done that, damn it. Yeah, I'm not good at that stuff. Uh, so, so happy holidays everybody. I hope you have a good and safe time with your loved ones, and we will not be airing a new episode next week, but come back in the new year, january 2nd. We have an interview with M West coming up that week, so enjoy, be fantastic Happy holiday.

Speaker 1: 54:00

You've been listening to dad mode. Our passion is navigating this wild journey of parenthood and modern life, from balancing family time to managing your career and still squeezing in some gaming and content creation. And no matter what the women say, they will never be able to pry the controller out of our cold dead hands. Anyway, we hope you enjoyed the show. If you did find us on Twitter, TikTok and YouTube at dad mode podcast, and we can be found on every podcast site at dad mode podcast. Y'all be cool. See you next time.