I vote for Raspberry PI 4B also ...

Increasingly, in this modern age, I'd have to say Raspberry Pi, Arduinos (AVR and SAMD-based) and ESP8266-based development boards are my go-to gifts.

In fact, it would have been a year back when I had a bit of a gift swap with a friend. He sent me some old vintage computer parts he didn't need, but he wanted something electronics-wise to play with. So I sent him back a box containing an original RPi B+, an RPi2 B and an RPi 3B+, all of which I had on hand. I also sent him a pair of Arduino Uno R3 boards with one of those HD44780 keypad shields for some basic I/O. Needless to say, that went down well.

- Gough

My first gift was the Magpi magazine issue 57 that came bundle with the Voice kit. Since the pi was not included I had to purchase one. Back then to buy a pi wasn’t easy in my neck of the woods. That was the start of my tinkering years.

My go to gift for young makers is a set of Pi Zero W.

Thanks element14 for the wonderful gift.

I loved the story Dubbie told. As a child, my uncle was also given a radio-controlled car and when he grew up he handed it over to me and it still lies with me. This car was released in 1975.

Ralph,

I'd like to have both of these kits as I would like to find out more about these concepts, mostly by trying them out. Sadly, they are still too expensive for me, plus there are still many more robots to be investigated first.

Dubbie

I can't believe it has been a couple of years, but I received a Google AIY Vision Kit for Christmas because the family knew I was interested in AI.  I think Target was selling them back then.  It's a great gift and fun to assemble.  Don't know if there is an updated version now.

I also bought myself the Voice Kit to go with it .

Ralph

One of the best gifts I think that I have given (and received) was a remote control car of the size and robustness that could be used outdoors. One birthday, for my son I decided that I would get him a remote control car that he could play with outside and at that time they were about £45 each .This was a great deal of money then and it was at a time when my family had very little to spend once the mortgage had been paid, plus it was much more than I had spent on any present for anybody! This was also in the days before digital RC cars as well, so it was analogue.

It occurred to me while perusing which of the many available RC cars to purchase, that just having a single RC car wasn't that much fun, and that really, two were needed. So, I decided to buy myself one as well.

My wife was not too happy about me spending so much money on these 'toys' but my son (and daughter) had many happy times of playing with these two large RC cars. We could only really play with them after I had cut the grass so it was a relatively infrequent past-time, but I think that only added to the fun. Also, these were the days of Cadmium rechargeable batteries so they would take about 4 hours to charge and result in about 10 minutes of play. We played a game of 'crash' where the objective was to crash into the other car and smash it over until it was upside down. I did not always win. It is a fun game and if you have two large outdoors RC cars you should try it. I am surprised that both cars survived.

This must have been some 15-20 years ago now and as far as I know both these cars will still work - they just need charging - if I can find a charger somewhere. My son has been moved out for many years now but did not want to take his car with him, which made me happy. I have many happy memories of playing with these cars and my son and maybe one day in the not too distant future I will also be able to play 'crash' with my grandson too.

So, this is both a present that I gave and also one that I received.

Dubbie

My go-to gift are these Weicon Wire Stripper No. 5

Especially older engineers and technicians always tell me "Why would I use this, if I have a knife, and my teeth? " Then they try it and use it ever since.

It is great for small cables 0,2 mm2 as well as solid wires up to 6 mm2.

It is a master piece - toll that just works.

I think the Raspberry Pi 4B makes an awesome gift. It just has so many possible uses and applications.