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Web Series Junkie's Holiday Gift Guide!

Everybody has at least one web series junkie on their holiday shopping list. And they are a special lot. They like to watch video—and make video—anywhere, any time and on any device. So we put together Tubefilter’s Web TV Junkie’s Holiday Gift Guide. No sponsored entries here, just a list of what we want most this holiday season (though in full disclosure, Kodak is a Streamy Awards sponsor). And since the Boxee Box

doesn’t hit shelves till January, it didn’t make the list for this Holiday season. With tomorrow the first day of Hanukkah, it’s time to start shopping!

Roku HD-XR Player

Now that Roku rolled out its Channel Store, the floodgates of web series goodness have opened up on this set-top box —Blip.tv, Revision3 and more look even better on the HD flat screens. With no TiVo-style subscription fees to worry about, once you have a Roku box you can tap thousands of original web TV shows right into your big screens, in HD, for free. And even though they make a $79 standard def box, if you’re going to get one of these go for the king daddy of the group. The HD-XR comes with Wireless-N dual-band, designed for next generation high-speed networks, which is twice as fast as regular Wi-Fi. The company’s even offering a 30-day money back guarantee on the off chance you can’t handle this much streaming goodness.

$129.99

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Flip MinoHD / Kodak Zi8 HD

Call it a tie here. Both of these HD pocket video cameras are lightweight and small but pack a powerful punch of full 1080p crisp goodness. They both have a no-cables-needed USB jack that pops out like a switchblade. The Flip MinoHD is clearly smaller, weighing in at a slim 1 pound even. But for the lighter size, the trade-off is less recording space on the built in flash drive—120 min of HD on the Flip MinoHD versus 10 hours of HD room on the Zi8 with the optional Expandable SD/SDHC card slot up to 32 GB. To stomach that extra add-on, Kodak did just lower the price of the Zi8 by $30, making it the better priced option (for now).

Flip: $229.99 / Kodak Zi8: $209.99

Web Series DVD Sampler — The Guild: Seasons 1 & 2, Dorm Life: Semester One, Angel of Death, Star-ving: The Complete First Season

All four of these hit web series have bonus-filled DVDs on shelves just in time for the holidays. And while season 3 of The Guild didn’t make it out in time for stocking stuffers, the complete seasons 1 & 2 DVD is loaded with 22 full length episodes, gag reels, full script PDFs, cast and crew commentary and even audition tapes from the casting sessions. For those looking to learn from the best, these DVDs are the top sellers of the year for a reason.

$13.99, $17.99, $19.99, $19.94

Blue SnowBall USB Microphone

Veteran podcasters know this baby well. It’s the first professional grade plug-and-play USB mic on the market, and its three pattern switch (cardioid, cardioid with -10dB pad and omni), can handle “everything from soft vocals to loud garage band.” The retro-styled SnowBall, which oozes out an old school radio feel, comes with a tripod stand and swivel mount. Works on both Mac and PC, so no need to pick a favorite. Now there’s no excuse for crappy sound from your hosted web series.

$139.00 ($71.37 on Amazon)

OWLE Bubo

The camera on the iPhone 3Gs is pretty slick, letting you shoot video and stream it live online, right from your trusty phone. But when your production standards are a little higher than the stock option, you need the OWLE Bubo. This hot iPhone add-on, that’s built to hold like a camera, comes standard with a 37mm macro and .45x wide angle lense whiche means you can get everything in the shot.

$129.95

Nixon Trooper Headphones

Design meets function. The Trooper is the latest from Nixon’s headphone line which first launched a year ago. These collapsible headphones give top-notch over-the-ear quality you’d expect—none of this ear bud nonsense—but packs up light enough for web series nomads to stash in their laptop bags. Plus, who doesn’t love a custom, on-ear, full size volume knob? Five new bright color options means even Bernie Su could work these into his outfits.

$49.95

Sony BRAVIA Z Series KDL-46Z5100 46-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV

The convergence of internet and TV is upon us, and the OEMS (TV makers) are getting in on this action too. Sony’s Bravia Z-series of 1080p HD TVs are probably the most internet friendly TVs on the market, right out of the box, with its impressive BRAVIA Internet Video service. All you need is a broadband internet connection and you can f premium and free on-demand online video and web series from over 20 providers like blip.tv, YouTube, Crackle.com and more. As web TV invades the living room, it’s now time to sit back and catch up on Tiki Bar TV in beautiful HD and Dolby 5.1 from the comforts of your couch.

$1689.00