This Father's Day is a chance to honour Dad for all he does and all he is: Strong, selfless and addicted to gadgets and gizmos. Perhaps no other expression best sums up Dad's perspective than: "If all else fails, read the directions." So to be sure that Moms and kids are shopping in the right direction The Royal Gazette went inside and out searching of ideas for gifts that will have Dad happily ignoring instruction manuals and fiddling with one of their brand new 'Toys for Big Boys'.

The GPSMAP 76 from Garmin is a rugged, marine friendly, hand-held GPS device with an LCD display and 8 megabytes of map storage. It can be loaded (at extra cost) with Bermuda specific information including the Island's navigational markers, buoys, lights and channels as well as coastal and reef mapping. The GPSMAP 76 floats in water, and can withstand the accidental dunk over the side. It will also travel well with its preloaded basemap of principle US, European and Pacific cities, interstates (including exits), highways and roads so that Dad won't only avoid reading directions but asking for them as well. The GPSMAP 76 is available at the Marine Locker for $425.

Also at the Marine Locker is another hand-held gem for the boating Dad. The Hawk Eye Handheld Sonar System PX ($275) gives instant depth readings, from 2.5 to 199 feet and at the press of a button the display will give real time temperature (water or air) and fish readings. Use it while diving as a rangefinder and temperature meter and as a backup depth sounder when scanning for channels between the reefs or finding the drop offs and holes where fish hide out.

Moving to interior entertainment P-tech AV presents the Panasonic P50X1 plasma screen HDTV, with a whopping 50 inch screen, 720p HD resolution and the 600 MHz sub-field driver for increased focus and superior viewing of fast action sports. Sounds like it was made with Dad in mind, and all this for the relatively reasonable price of $1650. C-net reviews said: "P50X1 delivers the best black-levels-to-dollars ratio of any HDTV we've tested." And they test a lot of TVs.

P-tech AV sales associate Jason Bento said the plasma screen "delivers more vibrant and lifelike colours". He also points out that when choosing a new TV size matters — size of the room that is.

"It depends on how far you will be sitting from the TV and people should consider this when buying a TV," he explained.

In case Dad already has the TV he most desires perhaps he'd like the Samsung DVD F1080 ($179 at P-tech AV) to go with it. A stylish and space saving DVD player that upconverts standard discs to 720p, 1080i or 1080p. This means you can now watch your DVD movies in beautiful near high-definition. It also plays the most popular multimedia formats like DivX, MP3, WMA, JPEG and MPEG-4 clips. Mr. Bento says Samsung are "known for their design" and the F1080 is no exception.

In the unique to Bermuda category maybe Dad would like one of the offerings from www.unqueflashdrives.com, a business venture operated by Bermudian Gavin Kennedy. Located on the Internet and at Gallery 135 (135 Front Street) the store is delivering flash drives, MP3 players, USB and Blackberry accessories and much more. His Bermuda themed flash drives are sure to be a hit.

"It's a gadget so dad will get a kick out of them," advised Mr. Kennedy. "And they're made of rubber which means they're durable enough for the dads who drop them and the kids that find them."