Unlike Santa's Little Helper, you can include photos of the gifts on your list, which is an enormously helpful feature. It would be even more helpful, however, if you could share your list or back up the list by e-mail.

Neither of these applications requires a Wi-Fi, 3G, or EDGE connection for routine use (only Santa's Little Helper needs an Internet connection for e-mail backup). None of the most popular list-managing apps will actually help you locate your gifts or find the best deals. These are simply productivity tools with holiday themes. And there are, in fact, better list managers for the iPhone and iPod touch. (List Logic Software's springs instantly to mind.)

On balance, however, Christmas Shopping List offers a simple way of managing your holiday shopping and staying on budget. Santa's Little Helper might better live up to its name if and when the developer fixes some of its significant glitches.

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