Keeping up to speed will be a continuing challenge to Realtors in the new century. Any of these top ten gifts will help you and your favorite team member compete better.

1. AudibleMobile Player

Realtors are very busy investing lots of time in the car where reading is impossible. Now that can change. The Audible MobilePlayer will let your favorite bookworms download books to their PCs electronically and then transfer them via a docking station to the small, easy-to-use Mobile Player. There's something about hearing an author read his or her books that gives the text another dimension, as listeners of books on tape know well. Other available content includes the daily New York Times and radio excerpts from NPR. It's perfect for commuters, frequent travelers, or anyone who already listens to books on tape. Or for that matter, anyone you think should be exposed to more literature but is too busy to read. $99

2. Kodak DC280 Zoom

Real Estate Agents are using pictures for almost all their marketing effort. If your Realtor has not ventured into the world of Digital Photography Maybe you should be the one to initiate him or her with the top-quality Kodak DC280 Zoom. This camera's pictures are among the best we've ever seen, and the controls are made with the experienced photographer in mind. It has a 1,760-by-1,168-pixel resolution (that's over 2 million little pixels in every picture), a 2X optical zoom, exposure controls, and a 20MB monster of a memory card that allows the user to hold up to 245 pictures in their camera. If you want to give the best, folks, this is it. $799

3. Sony DCR-TRV310 (Digital Cam Recorder)

The DCR-TRV310 is a member of Sony's D8 product line, which uses traditional 8-mm videotape instead of more expensive and harder-to-find proprietary formats. Even though the tape is the same kind used in analog camcorders, the recording is done digitally for the best possible image quality. As an added bonus, if you have a library of analog 8-mm or Hi8 videos, you can still play them back with this camcorder. This inexpensive model features a large, 3-inch LCD in addition to a small, black-and-white viewfinder. Help someone make the transition to digital the easy way with this digital camcorder that embraces analog compatibility. $829

4. Motorola StarTAC ST7760

Do you know someone who's impossible to track down? This fashionable, dual-mode StarTAC wireless phone will solve that problem in a jiffy. It's so small, it passes the crucial fits-in-shirt-pocket test without a snag. It's dual-mode, running on both the digital CDMA network and the analog AMPS network. The recipient of this phone will be able to take advantage of digital service in populated areas and analog service in rural spots. Best of all, it rates high on the coolness scale, thanks to the small size and the easy-to-use clamshell design, which lets you answer and end calls by flipping the phone open or closed. $199

5. 3Com Palm VII

The Palm VII is a special device. It is one of the first products in the coming wave of wireless data devices, with an integrated wireless modem as well as Internet apps that access data over 3Com's Palm.Net wireless network. The Palm VII's application list includes Address Book, Date Book, Expense, To Do List, and Memo Pad, but its Internet connection will be the gift that keeps on giving: sending news headlines from ABCNews.com, sports scores from ESPN.com, stock quotes (and someday, trades) via E*Trade, and driving directions from MapQuest. But all this connectivity doesn't come for free. It costs $599 before the monthly fees. Monthly fees average between $10 to $40, depending on bandwidth. If your road warrior is a business traveler with an expense account, this is one gift that will be great to show off. It will also be a big hit with the early adopter in your life. $599

6. Toshiba SD-3109 DVD Player

Buying a DVD player can be confusing, especially when salespeople push the expensive, feature-laden models on you. The Toshiba SD-3109 won't require you to sell your sleigh or hock your menorah to buy it, and it still sets you up nicely with the features you need. It's got both S-Video and component outputs, a zoom function, good D/A conversion, and great sound, thanks to Dolby Digital and Digital Theater Systems (DTS) support. If you've got only two speakers, a built-in stabilizer will help make it more like surround sound. It can make a living room sound like a movie theater, and the crisp image will make someone pretty happy. $500

7. Canon CanoScan 620P

Holiday shopping can be hit or miss: what looks like a bargain may actually be a poor-quality product. You can avoid opening that can of worms by getting the Canon CanoScan 620P. Its parallel port connector easily hooks up to your PC, and its 600-by-600-dpi resolution means sharp images. In fact, we found it to be the best in its class at scanning color pictures. The CanoScan 620P is also one of the smallest flatbed scanners around, so it takes up less space on your desktop. Moreover, you can purchase the Canon for less than $100. Even Ebenezer Scrooge would give the nod of approval to this one. $99

8. WebGear Aviator2.4 Wireless Networking Kit

Sometimes gift giving can be a stumper. For example, you may have someone on your list who loves computers and has five of them. Another PC clearly wouldn't make his or her eyes light up, but getting something to network all the existing systems should do the trick. With the WebGear Aviator2.4, your realtor will be able to share Internet access between computers, exchange files, and most importantly, stroll around the house with a notebook that's connected to the whole system. $161

9. Encarta Reference Suite 2000

Here's a great gift that your Realtor will love and anyone else in his or her family can enjoy. It's Microsoft's Encarta Reference Suite 2000 and it is the most comprehensive, dynamic reference software we've seen this year. Along with its three major source materials--the Encarta Encyclopedia, the World English Dictionary, and the Interactive World Atlas--the suite ships with a whole bunch of secondary tools--a thesaurus, a style guide, an almanac, and a quotation collection. Everything is searchable, and their tight integration makes cross-referencing (a task that might once have taken hours) practically a no-brainer. Plus, each reference tool contains a slew of interactive, multimedia entries, including guided, interactive tours of famous tourist sites around the world. Encarta Reference Suite helps make learning so much fun and easy that even reluctant pupils won't realize what's happening until it's too late. Knowledge is power--this holiday season, give it to someone you love. $65

10. High Speed Internet Connection

Although this is last item on our gift list I think it's the most important. Never has speed been so important in a Realtors life. Programs of all types are downloaded frequently from the Internet. The size of many programs today makes it impossible to download using convention methods. In my case I have my flyers completed by my assistant Amy who actually lives in another city. After emailing her the pictures and information, she designs the flyers and sends back to me within an hour. We do hundreds of promotional flyers, postcards and brochures.

The problem we had before high speed was available was the size of the file. We use Publisher in office 2000 which is a hog when it comes to size and the file was so large it took almost one hour to download and many times my server would time out. Now it takes just minutes using a DSL Line. Today's Realtor has several options. First most cable companies and satellite networks are offering high-speed connections as an option. The telephone companies have moved aggressively offering high-speed connections. In fact for the past 60 days the Bell South has a special offer. Where it normally cost several hundred dollars Bell South is charging a small fee of around 60 dollars.

Having a DSL line allow you to be always connected and allows you to use the phone at the same time. They usually cost about 45-60 dollars/month depending on what other options you purchase. Your other choice for high speed Internet connection is a Cable modem offered by Roadrunner (a time Warner cable subsidiary). This runs over your TV cable line and is also always on. It costs about the same as DSL, depending on what other options you purchase. They both run about 50-100 times faster than a normal modem. high speed connections at only a 60 dollar installation fee and as little as 45 to 60 dollars per month. This to me is the number one gift a person can give their Realtor.