With the holidays fast approaching you might be wondering what gift to get that special techie in your life. While tablets like the iPad are in high demand this year, that doesn't mean that giving laptops as gifts would mean the equivalent of getting coal in the Christmas stocking. Here are some laptop picks that are suited for the type of person you're going to give them to.

For the Gamer

There's no denying that when it comes to dedicated gaming PCs, you can't do better than Alienware. Make any gamer happy by getting them the Alienware M18x. This gaming laptop has a 2.5Ghz Intel Core i7-2920XM processor that can overclock to 4Ghz in Turbo Boost Mode, 16 Gb of RAM, and two 750 Gb hard drives. The M18x has an enormous 18.4 inch, 1920x1080 WLED display that is positively enchanting to look at. The keyboard has five macro keys and a full keypad for maximum efficiency during gaming sessions. However the biggest draw here is in the graphics cards. The M18x can support dual Nvidia GTX 580M graphics cards in SLI or dual AMD Radeon HD 6990M in CrossfireX. Both video cards are excellent graphics card but Alienware charges about $150 more for the Nvidia configuration. Shoppers can get this laptop from Dell at the starting price of $1999.

For the Professional

Billed as a large enterprise business product the HP EliteBook 8460p will certainly be a great gift for any professional. The EliteBook has an Intel Core i5-2520M 2.50 Ghz processor, 4Gb of 1333 Mhz DDR3 memory, a 320 Gb hard drive and a 14.0 inch LED-backlit HD anti-glare display with a resolution of 1366x768 pixels. It also has an AMD Radeon HD 6470M graphics card with 1G of dedicated DDR3 memory. The HP EliteBook has a lot of ports for connectivity, including connections for USB 3.0, USB 2.0, eSATA and USB combo, VGA, DisplayPort, FireWire, modem, headphone and microphone. HP also added DuraFinish smudge, wear and scratch resistant coating on the chassis to make the EliteBook a very rugged laptop that can endure many business meetings. HP has a starting price of $959.00 for this laptop.

For the Budget Conscious

For shoppers who are tightening the belt a little this holiday season the HP Pavillion dm1z is the laptop for you. It only retails for $399.99 but it actually has a pretty good set-up for its price. The dm1z has an AMD dual core 1.6Ghz CPu with an AMD Radeon HD 6310 graphics card, 3Gb DDR3 memory, 320 Gb hard drive and an 11.6 inch 1366x768 HD screen with LED backlighting. The audio system is good because it has the Beats Audio technology. The Beats Audio software actually provides EQ and other sound settings so you can get the most of the limited speakers in the laptop. This laptop provides the best video and gaming capability you can get for the price range.

For the Student

The Asus X32A is a pretty decent laptop for the college bound student. It has a 13.3 inch display, Celeron 1.2Ghz processor, 3Gb DDR3 RAM and a 320 Gb hard drive. The display is excellent for long study periods or just plain surfing the internet. It also comes with a Linux-based operating system that you can switch to if you find the Windows 7 system too heavy for the laptop to handle. The Linux system will boost the battery life and can actually have an "instant on" feature. For the price of 354 Euros or $476, it's not hard to consider this the perfect gift for your hard working scholar.

For the Frequent Flyer

Frequent travelers will want a laptop that is slim, durable but still has the computing power for basic tasks like document editing and surfing the internet. If you're willing to spend the money the Apple MacBook Air is the fastest ultraportable laptop you can find. The entry level $999 11-inch MacBook Air is affordable but it has a 2 1.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i5, 2Gb of RAM and 64 Gb of storage. It also has the new OS X Lion pre-installed. If you don't find the limited storage a hindrance, then this is the ultra portable laptop for you.