Checking my favorite technology oriented websites across the internet this Sunday, I noticed that everyone has published their annual “gift giving guides”, ostensibly to help those who know and/or love a technogeek type of person.

I also noticed that it takes no actual expertise whatsoever to author such a guide, just a willingness to share one’s opinion and in some cases (but not all) some actual hands-on experience with those items being discussed.

Since I’m sure someone wants my opinion on such matters, or at least is desperate enough to seek help in such matters from any source. So as purely a public service, I present to you my new annual tradition of product picks in the top ten categories I get asked about.

Consider it Kirk’s Guide to Geek Gift Giving.

Best Gift for Geeks and Even Non-Geeks:

Amazon Kindle 2

Priced at $249 Available online at Amazon.com by clicking here.

The “E-Book” reader is the electronic gizmo gift for this season. Barnes & Noble completely sold out it’s competing “Nook” reader in days and now is delivering really nice cards to put under the tree to tell recipients they will be getting their must-have holiday gift–sometime in early 2010! No problem, the Amazon e-book model is cleaner, a bit more developed and it just works. If your favorite person likes to read books, the idea that you can buy a book and start reading it in about a minute–without going anywhere–will just enthrall them. Trust me, this is a gift that will delight and amaze for some time to come. (If you’re really feeling generous, there is the larger screen DX model Kindle for nearly twice as much at $489.)

Best Laptop Computer:

MacBook Pro 13-inch

Priced at under $1499 Available from Amazon.com by clicking here.

Yes you can find cheaper laptops out there (and I will even help you do that in the next item listed here) but the fact is that the ads are true. Once you use a Mac, you will wonder why all computers don’t work this way. You can do anything you need to on a Mac except maybe play serious video games, and you should do that on a PS3 or XBOX anyway. This laptop is the perfect combination of power in a small, easy to lug around package. You want the more expensive of the two models here, because the upgraded processor, memory and hard disk are essential. If you need a bigger screen, you can get 15-inch or 17-inch models of the MacBook Pro, but this is the one I’d put under the tree for most people.

Best Laptop Computer if You Are a PC Only Person:

Lenovo Ideapad U450

Priced at $675 Available from Amazon.com by clicking here.

If you just can’t bring yourself to have the best laptop available, then let me point you towards this emerging class of Windows laptop that I have been using for the past few months when I have to live in the PC world. These laptops feature something called an Ultra Low Voltage or ULV processor, which means they trade processing speed for battery life. It’s like buying a car with 4-cylinder engine for gas mileage over a 6-cylinder one for performance. What it means in English is that this is a great lightweight laptop that can go much of a day without having to be plugged in. You can get one of these from a bunch of different makers in the range of $500 to $800 for a nicely equipped model. I’m partial to Lenovo, Acer, or Asus–and right now, Lenovo is a little better on price and reliability. (Make sure the model you choose is pre-loaded with Windows 7 rather than Vista.)

Best Desktop Computer:

Apple iMac 27-inch model

Priced at $1,699 Available from Amazon.com by clicking here.

OK, the only reason I recommend anyone getting a desktop computer over a laptop is that you have to have the larger screen to work on–or you just need to work in one place at all times. If that is the case for you, then yes I’m still recommending an Apple product, because the experience is just as strong on an iMac as it is on the Macbook laptops. Plus the screen on this thing is just freakin’ stunning. Aside from the computer looking like something from a modern art museum–this thing just rocks. (If you’re desk is a little smaller, you could go with the smaller 21-inch screen for a few hundred less dollars.)

Best Desktop Computer if you are a PC Only person:

HP Touchsmart 300

Priced at $850 Available from Amazon.com by clicking here.

If you have to have a desktop computer, and it has to be a PC, then try on this innovative model from HP. It features a 20-inch monitor that is an all-in-one design, but the biggest feature is that the entire screen is a touchscreen, so it is simple to use for many functions and downright fun. (Think very big touchscreen cell phone and you’ll get the idea.) HP includes a number of programs that take advantage of the touch technology and make this more than just a home computer.

Best Cell Phone (by national carriers):

AT&T – iPhone

Verizon Wireless – Droid Eris

Sprint – HTC Hero

T-Mobile – MyTouch 3G

Priced at $150 – 200 each, monthly service starting at about $70 a month–check with your preferred carrier

Yes, the iPhone changed the way cell phones look and how they work. If you want to buy a cell phone that just makes phone calls, then go to your favorite cell carrier’s website and pick a phone for either free or not much money and you’ll likely be happy. But if you want a cell phone that will do almost anything you can think of – then you want a “smartphone” and the iPhone is still the best of the class. Unfortunately, AT&T isn’t the best network for many people–depending on where they live. So for the rest of you, you want a phone running the “Android” software from Google. The Droid “Eris” on Verizon, The HTC “Hero” on Sprint and The MyTouch 3G on T-Mobile are virtually all the same Android phone, all with touchscreens and great functionality. If you don’t like typing on a glass screen, then you want a slide-out keyboard model such as the Motorola Droid (on Verizon) or the Motorola CLIQ (on T-Mobile).

Best Smartphone or Media Player Accessory:

Agent 18 StandHear Stand

Price $25 Available Direct from Manufacturer by Clicking Here.

If you’ve got an iPhone, Droid, or other phone–or a media player like an iPod Touch or Zune HD–any handheld device which you can play games or movies or whatever on, you’ll find that on a trip you’ll want to set the phone down in such a fashion that you can continue to watch whatever you’re into–without having to hold the thing for an hour or more. That is where the “StandHear” device comes in handy. It’s an adjustable stand that you can place your device into for setting down on a flat surface, like an airline tray table. But even better, the “StandHear” also allows you to plug in two sets of earphones, so you can share the sound of whatever you’re watching with a friend.

Best Digital Camera (High End):

Nikon D90

Priced at $1,050 with lens. Available at Amazon.com by clicking here

At various points in my life, I’ve been both a fan of Canon and Nikon, the two big names in photography when it comes to cameras. Over the past few years, I’ve firmly grounded myself in the Nikon camp–and that was even before I saw the Nikon Girl in the music video. These days when it comes to a high end camera (and by high end, I mean one with a price tag of over $500, but less than $1500) the one I would carry would be the Nikon D90. At just about a thousand dollars, it straddles the line between an entry level Digital SLR and the pro models that cost much more. It shoots amazing pictures out of the box if you don’t know anything about photography, and the more you learn the more it can do for you. Plus, the camera also shoots HD video as well, so it can cover just about all of your imagemaking needs. Canon fans, you’ll gravitate more towards the Canon EOS Rebel T1i which is an equally fine camera, costing a few hundred less than the Nikon but sadly featuring a dorky looking guy in the previously mentioned video next to Nikon Girl.

Best Digital Camera (Under $500):

Canon G11

Priced at $450 Available from Amazon.com by clicking here.

If there is a digital equivalent to those famous rangefinder cameras that the master photographers used in decades past, this would be it. The Canon G11 is simply without comparison in this category. It’s gone through a series of revisions over the years, and now in its 11th incarnation, it is a great camera for anyone even slightly serious about shooting pictures. You can get smaller cameras that will slip into your pocket from Canon, Nikon, and a host of others (though my experience is that Canon is almost always the best choice in this category.)

Best Digital HD Camcorder that fits in your pocket:

Kodak Zi8

Priced at $175 Available from Amazon.com by clicking here.

Thinking about getting a Flip video camera? They are great for having on you all the time and being at the ready to shoot some video of just about anything. But for my money–this Kodak competitor is a better buy. It shoots full 1080p HD video but also decent 5 megapixel stills. The big reason to go with this, Kodak’s newest model over Flip is that the Kodak uses standard SD format memory cards, so you can shoot more by just plugging in another card. Plus the screen on the Kodak Zi8 is a little bigger and brighter. This is a camera/camcorder that everyone from 9 to 90 can use and enjoy.

Best Accessory Gift for any Photographer in Your Life:

Eye-Fi Pro 4GB SD Wireless Card

Priced at $100 Available at Amazon.com by clicking here.

The Eye-Fi looks like a standard SD memory card, but it does so much more than just store pictures. Slip it into almost any camera or camcorder that takes the SD format and you’ve made your camera wireless enabled. That means as you take pictures or videos, your camera can send them to your nearby computer via Wi-Fi wireless. Computer not nearby? No problem, Eye-Fi will wait until you’re back in the vicinity of your computer and do the same thing. It can also automatically send the photos via your computer directly to Facebook, Flickr and a number of other online sharing sites. Hard to describe this magic, but it works like a charm and is very cool. There are cheaper models of the Eye-Fi available, but the Pro version does everything a little better than those do.

Bonus Pick! Best Place for Geek Stocking Stuffers:

ThinkGeek.com

If you need a source for the hard-to-find stuff for that hard-to-please geek on your list, allow me to introduce you to the amazing variety of gifts from “BuckyBalls” to every kind of cool T-Shirt a Geek could love, including one that you can play like a guitar! They all are available at ThinkGeek.com, the website that bills itself as “Stuff for Smart Masses”. I’ve found their prices to be reasonable, with cool items ranging from a few dollars to over a hundred bucks (or more). Just poking around on their website can be a blast. Don’t blame me if you end up buying a ton of stuff from ThinkGeek.

OK, that ought to get you through Cyber Monday and the next few weeks in terms of buying gifts for the geeks (and would be geeks) on your Christmas list.

It will be up to you to determine who was naughty or nice.