Plantronics DSP-500 + The Gift of VoIP

Look, we know that there's a good chance that you don't want it to make it even easier and cheaper for your family members to call you up and harrass you all year, but let's face it, they're going to call you anyway, so you may as well save them a few bucks, right? Right. That's why you're going to introduce them to the wonders of VoIP and get them all set up with a decent headset and a Skype or Gizmo account. There are about a zillion PC headsets out there, but you've got to go USB if you want decent sound quality, which is why we're all over the Plantronics DSP-500. This headset combines a solid pair of stereo headphones with a noise canceling microphone and will only set you back about
$50 if you shop around.

Once you've got your headphones picked out, you should probably hook up your parents/siblings/whoever you're buying these for with some VoIP. After they unwrap their new headset, walk them over to their computer and install either Skype of Gizmo for them. It doesn't matter which, really, each has their advantages and disadvantages, what's really important is that you both use the same client so you can talk as long as you'd like for free. Bonus suggestion: If you're really feeling the holiday spirit this year, you can buy them some minutes so they can make phone calls to people with regular phone lines.