Last-minute electronics gifts under $200

Yesterday—with an extension today—we offered some ideas for presents $300 and under. Here's the second installment of recommendations from our editors: holiday gifts for $200 and under.

Subscription services
How about giving your favorite couch potato an annual subscription to a DVR service? Over the course of a year, the monthly service charge (about $10 to $15 with most cable companies, for instance) should run you $120 to $180 or so. They'll have to swap out their regular cable box for one incorporating a DVR, but there's generally no extra cost to do that. Take it from a DVR addict—it will change the way they watch TV forever.

Movie-lovers will love you for this one: a one-year subscription to Netflix. You can get a basic $9-a-month package that allows for one disc by mail at a time (but as many as you can squeeze in during the month), plus unlimited instant streaming to an Internet-enabled TV or Blu-ray player or a computer! One downside: They may never leave the house again.

If you've got a gamer in the house, Gamefly rents video games by mail for numerous console systems.  It works much the same as Netflix, only more expensive: renting one game at a time is $16 per month. —Eileen McCooey

GPS navigator
There are great deals available this holiday season on name-brand portable navigation devices (PNDs). Well-rated models from Garmin and TomTom can be readily found online and in stores for under $150, and even closer to $100 in some cases. The key to getting the best deal is to focus on the features that are gotta-haves, rather than the like-to-haves. Then look to models one-generation old. In the GPS world, this means they were the latest, greatest just a few months ago. Their prices have been lowered, yet the features and maps are current enough. For Garmin, consider the 2x5 series, with the Nuvi 205, 255, and 265T all being smart choices. From TomTom, great deals can be had on the One 140 and XL 330. Be sure to choose based on the GPS Ratings, rather than price, to ensure you're getting the right product. –Jeff Bartlett

(For more, see the GPS team's personal picks for the holidays.)

Printer
Give a gift that's actually three gadgets rolled into one with an all-in-one inkjet printer. These include a text/photo printer, scanner, and copier. You can print photos quickly for as little as 30 cents apiece. The HP OfficeJet Pro 8500 churned out text pages quickly for just a couple of cents per page, and we liked the quality of both text and photos. It's only $200, and it's got a built-in fax machine as a bonus. —Donna Tapellini

A bundle of laptop accessories
Just a few gadgets will make a laptop more robust and more comfortable to use, and you'll need less than $200 to do so. Add a wireless mouse from Microsoft or Logitech for $20 to $25. Grab a 4GB USB drive for easy transport and storage of files for about $40. SanDisk is a well-known brand. Headphones provide better sound (and peace and quiet for those nearby). We like Sennheiser's PX100 on-ear headphones for $50. To minimize hassles when traveling through airport checkpoints, pick up a laptop sleeve from BuiltNY, $30 to $45. —Donna Tapellini

Digital camera
The Canon PowerShot SD1200 IS ELPH is one of the top-rated point-and-shoot digital cameras, with very good image quality and overall performance. But it still keeps some very practical features, like an optical viewfinder, which can be helpful when composing in bright light. —Terry Sullivan

MP3 player
The 8 GB iPod Nano, $150, lets you carry around your music and video in a thumb-sized device.  It also has an FM radio and video camera.  Along with it, you might throw in a gift card for the iTunes Store.

Tomorrow: Gifts for under $100.