Although Fathers Day is one day of the year which is reserved for treating your dad to a good time and perhaps a gift, it is worth remembering that the presents you give will always be well liked if they can be of some use for the 364 other days. If you want to give a gift that your dad will love, have a look at these practical, durable options for some inspiration.
Everyone knows that dads love gadgetsand perhaps the coolest gadget on the market is the Spy Pen. Ever since James Bond burst onto screens in the 60s, men of all ages have been lusting after the gadgets used by 007. Now with the Spy Pen these dreams can become reality. On the outside this gadget looks and works just like a normal pen, but thanks to some clever technological gubbins packed into its small frame it can also capture high quality video in a clandestine manner. The pen measures six and a quarter inches longand so will not look out of place peeking out of your dad`s shirt pocket. The camera lens is barely visible, obscured as it is behind a pinhole sized aperture, so it is one of the most discrete video capture devices on the market.
You can get the Spy Pen in either red or blueand each comes with 4GB of internal storage, which is enough to record plenty of footage without filling it up. It is estimated that about four hours of footage can be stored on the Spy Pen before its capacity is reached, which should be enough to meet the needs of most users.
Perhaps most impressive is the Spy Pen`s video quality, as it can capture video at a consistent 30 frames a second in the640×480 resolution, which is in line with the capabilities of most standard digital camcorders. The Spy Pen uses the common AVI video codec to encode the clips, which means it will be compatible with the media player software that you have on your PC.
As well as recording video, the Spy Pen can capture audio to provide a full audiovisual experience during playback. The image sensor is a 2 megapixel unitand if you do not want to shoot video, you can always take still photos at a resolution of 1280×960, which is another useful feature that harks back to adventurous tales of espionage.
The Spy Pen comes with a USB cable which allows you to transfer the files to your PC as well as charge up the internal battery to facilitate further recording. The Spy Pen developer suggests that you can use the gadget to record the goings on at a family party, keeping a record of your conversations, although it does recommend that you let people know about your recording activities to make sure everyone is happy.
If your father is not too keen on the spy technology in this gadget, but might still enjoy the ability to record video in a less secretive manner then there are plenty of other cameras and camcorders on the market to suit his tastes. At the entry level end it is possible to pick up low cost devices that perform the basic functions well without offering too many frills or extras. If you spend a little more you will be able to pick up camcorders that store images on the internal memory and offer high definition recording abilities that produce excellent results, with the likes of the Flip HD range leading the way. Many people consider this when looking into the image capture marketand buying a digital camera or camcorder for Fathers Day will result in a very happy dad.