My favourite time of the year is back, when parents loosen purse strings and significant others look the other way as you get ready to plonk down hard-earned cash to indulge your deepest gadgety desires! And just in time, our time-honoured list of the picks for this festive season is back. Go ahead folks, splurge to your heart’s content!

Mobiles: Samsung Galaxy S

It was clear to me the pick for this year’s best phone would be an Android — just take a look at the mind-boggling innovation from the folks over at HTC, Samsung, Motorola, LG and Sony Ericsson. A clear winner is tough — the HTC Desire has the best user interface, the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 the best finish, and the Motorola Milestone rock-star design. But it’s really the Samsung Galaxy S, with its gorgeous 4-in Super AMOLED display, raw under-the-hood power and great battery life that more than make up for the occasional software glitch and weak GPS, which is the phone to buy this season. Unless, of course, the iPhone 4 launches in time, and it is strongly rumoured that it will…

Notable mentions: Samsung Galaxy 5 (budget), Samsung S5620 Monte (budget)

Personal Media/MP3 Players: Apple iPod Touch

Just in time for the holidays, Apple’s out with this year’s line-up of the iPod range, and even with the limited time we’ve played with the devices, they pretty much pulverise the competition. My pick for the best portable media player would be the 2010 iPod touch — with the addition of the iPhone’s famed retina display, the beefier A4 CPU, two cameras which allow for FaceTime video-calling and 720p video recording, and all the new features of the company’s latest iOS4.1 mobile operating system, the iPod touch has gone from the nice-to-have-variety to pretty much irresistible. Watch out for a full review soon!

Notable mention: Sony A840 OLED Screen Walkman

Netbooks: Asus Eee PC 1201T

Over the past year, more and more folks are realising that they don’t need the beefiest hardware on the move, and the pure portability and sub-25k pricing that netbooks offer really seal the deal for most students and working folks. Trouble is, netbooks are all pretty much alike, so which one do I recommend? You usually won’t go wrong with any of them, but I like the Asus Eee PC 1201T — with a 12.1-in screen and a super 1366x768 resolution display, you won’t have to squint while using this, and the keyboard is designed for the long haul. Performance, while netbook-esque, is still very respectable, and the approximately Rs 21,000 pricing just rocks!

Notable mentions: Lenovo X100e (business netbook), Acer Aspire One (budget, 10-in, excellent battery life)

Cameras: Sony Cyber Shot DSC-TX7

With phone cameras doing a bang-up job of taking pictures, camera makers have upped their game, and our pick of the new lot of compact cameras is the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-TX7. It features the Exmor R high-speed sensors, a 25mm-equivalent wide-angle lens, a high-resolution 3.5-in touch-screen LCD, and 1080i movie capture at 60 frames per second — all in a body that’s just 0.7 in thick. Images are good in normal light, but it’s really after hours that this baby shines, with excellent low-light images. And there’s even something for those with a need for speed — this is one rare compact in that it manages 10 — yes, 10 frames per second — most peers manage just a bit over 1!

Notable mentions: Canon EOS Digital 550D (digital SLR), Fujifilm F200 EXR

Home Entertainment: Western Digital WD TV Live

This is a category that barely existed last year, and suddenly every manufacturer worth its name is getting into the home media player space. So while you have the excellent A.C.Ryan player that has the broadest format support and the ability to add in an internal hard disk to support network sharing and direct Internet downloads, but for most folks who’re just looking to play their downloaded movies on their TVs, I’d recommend the Western Digital WD TV Live. An intuitive user interface, excellent home networking support and easy access to Internet video/photos earns the WD TV my recco. Perfect for the living room, and small enough to carry on your vacations as well!

Notable mention: Amkette FlashTV (budget pick)