It’s that time of the year again when the biggest consumer computer show — IT Show ’09 — hits Singapore.

Running from March 12th to 15th (today to this Sunday), the IT Show takes up floors one to six of the Suntec convention centre. The show opens daily at 12pm and ends at 9pm during this four-day period.

IT Show is really huge this year. All three Singapore telcos have big booths. M1 and SingTel are on floor 2, and StarHub is on floor 3. Floor 4 is the main hall with all the big consumer brands like HP, Canon and Samsung, whilst floor 6 hosts all the small chapalang IT gadgets vendors, from computer games to memory cards to GPS gadgets.

It might be a down economy, but it sure didn’t seem like it as the place was thronged with people this morning when I went. In certain places — especially on the fourth floor near the popular booths — you will get stuck in a human traffic jam trying to squeeze past the milling crowd. This weekend will be a nightmare to find parking if you’re visiting the show, so public transport is advised.

…

What’s a geek to do before Christmas? Buy a Techgoondu-approved gift to make others – and ourselves – happy of course. Granted, this year-end is shaping up to be more austere than the past few with the financial downturn already upon us. But austerity driving shouldn’t mean no giving for Christmas, right? So here’s a list of diverse geek gifts mooted by us, and we promise it is a cool one:

…

Do check out Part I, Part II and Part III of Techgoondu’s coverage at Sitex ’08 if you haven’t, where Alf did a bang-up job covering most of the stuff. Here’s my additional two cents:

Sitex isn’t a show just for electronic gadgets it seems. I saw cars, handbags, exercise equipment, and even one booth selling spa treatments(!).

…

My latest tech splurge is not exactly high on geek-factor, so I’ve decided to call it a goondu buy instead. But boy has it saved me a ton of time since I got it, saving me from doing the goondu thing of filing loads of name cards I collect weekly.

If you are looking for an idiot-proof name card scanner, then take a serious look at the CardScan range. My guess is that this is the best in the market now. It has unerring accuracy over a broad range of card designs, will flip-flop cards that you scan so that they are right-side up, scans snappily, and can work with other applications such as Excel, Outlook and even Word’s Mail Merge feature.

Only drawback is price: the CardScan is among the most expensive available. The model I bought – CardScan Executive – left me nearly $400 poorer.

But it will be worth it if you have a voracious appetite for namecards – like I do.

This is the first of our Geek Buy series, where we bring you the best buys in town whether it’s a laptop, cellphone or pair of speakers.

Let’s start with one of the best bang-for-buck PC speakers you can get – the Acoustic Energy Aego M. I went down with my pal Marcus yesterday to Sim Lim Square, where he bought himself a pair of these little wonders for a nice S$250.

Though small, these PC speakers produce some of the sweetest music you can expect from a PC desktop setup. You’d expect clarity and tonal range that is beyond the grasp of most PC speakers from Creative or Altec Lansing, which are more interested in producing the “noise” of explosions, gunfire, and other special effects. …