If all you want for Christmas is a little Mac something

It's time for my annual drop a hint to Santa column. Experience has taught me that Santa, or at least some of his better elves, read my columns looking for gift ideas for Mac aficionados. So I create this column just to be sure that any elves researching what you might like get it exactly right.

The procedure, assuming you have not been inappropriately naughty, is to read over this list of most desirable Mac toys, tools and treasures, and highlight the items you wouldn't mind finding under your tree or in your stocking. Then you cut out the column and leave it lying where one of Santa's elves can find it.

This actually works best if you get 20 or 30 copies of this particular column, as you wouldn't want to take a chance on the elves not seeing it.

Let's start with the basics. Had your Mac for a few years? The new ones are quiet and powerful. The iBooks - the best bargain in town - are now at 1.33GHz and are available in two sizes, 12.1-inch and 14.1-inch. They come with built-in wireless and a great graphics processor for under US$1,000. If you make heavy demands on your computer, the PowerBook line will get you up to a state-of-the-art level in three sizes from 12-inch to an awesome 17-inch and with processors up to 1.5GHz.

For those of you who don't need portability, the new iMac is beautiful. Designed in the iPod style, the entire computer - now with G5 processors - is integrated into the widescreen display that you can get in 17-inch or the drool-worthy 20-inch.

Of course, for those who have been really nice all year long, there is the G5 Power Mac. With dual 64 bit, 2.5GHz processors, ultra-high bandwidth system architecture and extreme performance graphics cards, these machines are ready-made for computational heavy lifting.