They said that portable computers would never catch on, but they are already on the verge of outselling desktops thanks to small lightweight, energy-efficient and low-cost netbooks that have appeared over the past year.

The first of its kind, Asus Eee PC 700, is still on the market (available for 479 leva at Tehnomarket), but despite having been around for barely a year, it already looks like a venerable grandfather compared to the numerous copycats it inspired. Its keyboard has sometimes been described as cramped and the seven-inch display is on the smallish side, not to mention that it usually comes with only four or eight gigabyte hard-drives, but it still delivers basic web browsing and office capabilities, weighing under one kg. This makes it a good choice as a second laptop to take on business trips (one you can take into bed to watch movies on) or as a present for children.

Its successors tend to be slightly bigger (up to 10-inch screens) and suitable for more sophisticated work, but still lightweight (under 1.5kg). Of these, several are available in Bulgaria: the Acer Aspire One 150 (749 leva at Plesio Computers and JAR Computers); the Asus Eee PC 1000 (849 leva at Plesio Computers); and the MSI Wind U100 series (ranging from 759 to 849 leva at Technomarket and 799 to 829 leva at JAR Computers). The Dell Inspiron Mini 9 and Samsung NC10 are not yet available in Bulgaria, but can be ordered online with prices starting from $350 and $470, respectively. The HP Mini 1000 and MSI Wind U120, which promise to raise the bar even higher in this segment, will not make it into stores in time for Christmas, however, as they will not start shipping out until January 2009.

Power saving and battery life is one of the factors that make netbooks so attractive, but there is no reason why you could not further lengthen the period of time in between plugging it into a wall socket. The answer are Voltaic solar bags, which are covered in lightweight solar panels and come with a small power generator strong enough to fully charge your laptop, or any other handheld electronics device, since it comes with a wide array of adaptors, from a day of direct sunlight. Ranging from $199 to $599, with enough space inside to be used as a regular container, it can be ordered online at voltaicsystems.com.

And that is not the only environmentally clean way of charging your electronics. The Mini Kin Green Power Generator, retailed at iwantoneofthose.com, is essentially a wind powered battery charger that can be strapped to just about anything and then be used to recharge any gadget that has a mini-USB input. Currently available on pre-order for about $56, it is expected to start shipping in early December, just in time for the Christmas season.

Both the Voltaic and the Mini Kin generators are perfect for the outdoors, regardless of whether you want to surf the internet from a WiFi spot on a busy beach or work on a quiet knoll in the middle of nowhere. And just to make sure you won't get lost, pack in a dependable torch - from nightstaruk.com (no bulb, no battery, shake it for 30 seconds and get 20 minutes of light, all yours starting at $30).

Lost and found
Most GPSs (global positioning system) on sale in Bulgaria come preloaded with maps and software in Bulgarian, not really convenient for the average expat.
Local resellers however, offer a smaller range of GPSs that come with maps and software in English pre-installed.

The Blaupunkt travelpilot 100 and Mio Moov 200 both cost about 350 leva and come preloaded with maps of Eastern Europe and Central Eastern Europe, respectively, including Turkey.

For a little more than 100 leva extra, the Mio Moov 330V comes with maps and software pre-installed that will get you from Bulgaria to any place in Europe, all in English.

Got USB?
The USB (universal serial bus) has gone truly universal as hardware producers add more and more remarkable gadgets that connect to your computer.

For those nostalgic about their tape collection, what better way to spend the holiday season than transferring your archives of LPs and audio-cassettes to your computer with Ion Audio's LP2USB ($130 at ionaudio.com) or the Tape2PC ($150 at ionaudio.com)? Both systems come with Audacity audio software to make your archive sound as it once did.

With holiday season and winter ahead, now would be a good time to try out those USB heating gloves, with built-in heating pads ($22 at usbgeek.com, also available in ladies version). And what about USB heating slippers, which warm up to a maximum temperature of 48 degrees Celsius ($25 at usbgeek.com), or a pair of USB heating kneepads for defrosting your knees (now $23 on vavolo.com)? Combined with a USB heating shawl/lapblanket ($29 from cget.com), we're pretty much set for the Bulgarian winter.

But wait, how many USB ports does my laptop have?

Look mum, no wires!
When the first camera with WiFi support was introduced in 2005, a gripe was that it would only connect to the manufacturer's online services and did not provide any other network connectivity. Soon after, geeks and tinkerers at Make magazine (www.make.com) published a manual on how to publish your photos directly on Flickr.com and other sites.

Now, in 2008, things have become a lot easier with the Nikon Coolpix S610c camera (380 leva at Foto Svyat). Nikon promises easy upload, directly to blogs and web sites, and the ability to notify friends via email with a link to your pictures online.

Now the family back-home can see your holiday pictures in full 10 megapixel resolution within minutes of you snapping the kids singing Christmas carols.

Next on my personal wish list would be a built-in GPS for automated location-tagging of uploaded pictures.