ASUS UL30A-X5 Thin and Light 13.3-Inch Black Laptop – 12 Hours of Battery Life (Windows 7 Home Premium)

What caught my eye on this laptop was the fact that it has a whopping 12 Hour Battery Life. That means a blogger can unplug it and blog from just about anywhere – Starbucks, the back yard, movie theater . . .

The 4GB of memory also means it’s gonna be a speed demon.

Logitech ClearChat Comfort USB Headset

I own one of these and love it. I can groove to my tunes while I blog and do my work on the computer all the while not disturbing everyone else.

These headphones are as simple as plug it in and you’re done – that’s it! No programs to install or installation instructions. The microphone works well too, though not as good as a more expensive condenser microphone (see below).

Dell S2209W 22-Inch LCD Widescreen Monitor

Bigger is better, right?

Other than its size, there are 3 things I like about this monitor:

1. It has awesome screen resolution (i.e. images and video can be high definition)
2. The low 5ms Response time means motion on the screen will be smooth and not choppy
3. The price doesn’t break the bank

Assuming the blogger needs a new monitor, I think this would make a great upgrade.

Blogging For Dummies

If the blogger you know is just beginning their blogging journey, this would be a good book to get them.

Blogging isn’t as easy as just typing up some articles and hitting the publish button. You need to know how to get people to read your blog, understand the different parts of what makes a blog a blog, what hosting services you should go for, etc.

Plus, you can never go wrong with those dummy books.

WordPress SEO Secrets (eBook)

If the blogger you’re buying for is a WordPress blogger (you may have to ask), then one of the most important things for them learning how to do is to drive people to their blog.

WordPress SEO Secrets will help them learn how to set up their blog and insert key components into their articles so that search engine users can find them.

31 Days to Build a Better Blog (eBook)

I purchased this book and loved it, and so will the blogger you’re buying this for.

This book is written by probably the world’s most known problogger, Darren Rowse. If there’s one thing he knows how to do, it’s grow his blog and make money with it. In this eBook, he helps us blogger “build a better blog”.

Well worth the money.

Write For The Web (eBook)

If the blogger you know writes for a living, this is the eBook for them.

Master copywriter James Chartrand of Men with Pens shows in this eBook how to get your writing business started and how to turn it into a real business.

I have to say, this is the visually prettiest eBook I’ve ever seen, surpassed only by the content written in it. This book is a must have for not only writers, but bloggers who wish to learn how to write better articles for their blog and readers.

RoboForm Password Manager

I cannot say enough about this product. I’ve used it every single day since I purchased it – many times a day, and if you buy it (or buy it for someone), you will too.

Bloggers network on many different sites, such as Twitter, StumbleUpon, MySpace, Facebook, etc. All these sites require a blogger to have a username and password. For security purposes, it’s important not to use the same password for every site.

RoboForm remembers and stores all their usernames and passwords in one place, encrypted, and with one or two clicks a blogger can be taken to and logged into their accounts.

SyncBackSE (for easy backups of websites)

SyncBackSE is another product I use all the time and highly suggest for bloggers.

Bloggers put LOTS of time and effort into building their website and getting everything to look and read just the way they want. Unfortunately, sometimes blogs break and unless the blogger has a working backup of their site, everything could be lost. Furthermore, many bloggers don’t bother to keep updated backups of their files because, well, it’s not a fun process.

SyncBackSE makes it easy for them to back up all the files contained on their web hosting account. Once set up, it takes about two clicks and you’re done. Nice, simple, and effective. It can also be set up to work on autopilot, so the blogger never has to worry about it.

Audio-Technica AT2020 USB Condenser USB Microphone

This is the microphone I use to do my video tutorials.

The sound is crisp, clear, and has the right amount of bass to it. I love this microphone and so will the blogger you buy it for.

Logitech Webcam Pro 9000

So far I haven’t pointed the camera in my direction too much, but I plan to – I swear. After looking over a ton of webcam reviews, I finally chose the Logitech Webcam Pro 9000, and I’m glad I did.

Video shots are smooth and clear. It works well in low light, though the more light the better.

If you’d like to see some video I took with this camera, watch for my face in my blogging bloopers video (note I didn’t record it in the highest quality).

Camtasia Studio Version 6

Unfortunately, it costs about $300; however, if the blogger you know is serious about creating videos for online use, this is the program to get.

Camtasia is what many of the big time video creators use because, well, it’s the best at what it does. Capture video, edit the video, and save it in whatever format you need.

This is a must have software for video bloggers, in my opinion.