Father’s Day Gift Guide: Gadgets for Dad

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Father’s Day Gift Guide: Gadgets for Dad

From rugged outdoor radios to a digital running coach and James-Bond-worthy hard drive, we round up the gadgets Dad can’t wait to unwrap this Father’s Day.

Whether father’s day conjures up memories of fishing and camping trips at the lake, or images of Dad accidentally stepping on razor-sharp Lego pieces you left on the living room floor causing him to erupt in profanity, you owe the old man something after all he’s done for you – or all you’ve put him through. A card and an awkward hug will do just fine, but if you want to step your gratitude up a notch, gadgets are the key to a dad’s heart. Make sure yours won’t end up relegated to the attic over the garage like last year’s croquet set, by choosing from our hand-picked list of gadgets for dads of all types – including yours.

Bosch Power Box 360, $220+…for the handy dad.

Nothing makes time go by faster when power washing the deck, mending fences and replacing outdoor light fixtures like a little Bruce Springsteen. But without any outlets nearby, your resident jack-of-all-trades may be high and dry for the juice he needs to run that 1983 boombox. Bosch’s Powerbox has built-in speakers for blasting music in all directions, runs on its own internal battery, and includes a sheltered compartment and input for an iPod, plus a USB port for charging cell phones, and even an SD card slot. Not bad for a roll-cage-enclosed bit of work equipment that looks like it belongs in a cargo bay on the USS Enterprise.

Adidas miCoach Pacer, $139…for the active dad.

Though getting up there in the years, your proud, grizzled old man pounds pavement right beside the young guys. And places ahead of them in some his 5Ks. Invigorate his training runs with Adidas’ miCoach system, which works in conjunction with an MP3 player to literally coach him through his workouts using a heart-rate monitor for feedback. A number of fitness plans – like de-tress, finish faster and lose weight – help customize his runs to what he wants to achieve and keep him there. Unlike the competing Nike + iPod system, Dad doesn’t need an Apple product to supply the tunes: Any MP3 player will do.

Kiwi Wifi and Rev for iPhone/iPod Touch, $190…for the dad with 10W-30 in his veins.

The “check engine” light in the car is on again, and now your shade tree mechanic needs to drive all the way to Autozone in the pouring rain just for a code scan to figure out the first place to start turning a wrench. This Wi-Fi connected OBD II scanner and software will not only let him snag the code from the comfort of the garage, read it from his iPod Touch or iPhone and get cracking, it will give him access to more data than most mechanics would dream of. Revolutions per minute, forward acceleration, wheel horsepower, fuel trim, you name it, all in real time. You’ll need to drop $150 on the hardware and $40 on the app to get access to all the features, but if this won’t make Dad feel like a pit mechanic, nothing will. (And on a selfish note, you’ll be glad you did when the light in your car flicks on next time).

Nintendo Wii, $200…for the dad who’s a kid at heart.

Even if the old man swore off gaming during the heyday of Atari and hasn’t shown a spark of interest in blowing up aliens or commanding undead armies, the Nintendo Wii might appeal where other systems have failed. Besides dead-simple operation, it hosts an endless number of casual games, from bowling to trivia and virtual fishing. If he’s a movie fan, a recent partnership with Netflix will even let him stream movies from it instantly (though not in HD, as the Xbox 360 will). Just don’t introduce it with well-intentioned but cringe-worthy line, “They use these things in nursing homes, Dad!”

Check out our Nintendo Wii Review.

Garage Door Murals, $229+…for the dad with a sense of humor.

OK, so it veers a little bit from the strictest definition of “gadget,” but if your dad is the kind of guy that likes Whoopie cushions, practical jokes and treats “tacky” as a compliment, these garage murals might quite literally be right up his alley. The mammoth-garage-sized graphics turn any vanilla garage door into a drive-through portal to the beach, Italian vineyards, or just a fantasy garage with a firetruck, jet or racecar parked in it. At $229 and up, it’s a pricy gag to play, but still definitely cheaper than a real boat, Mustang or stable full of horses. Just be prepared for the impending war with neighbors, egging by teenagers and inevitable garage door destruction when grandpa drives the Buick through it thinking it was really a door to the beach.