gift guide
Latest
'Tis the season for the Distro Gift Guide -- 125 geeky giving ideas
We've been doling out or holiday gift giving advice in installments, but instead of making you wait, we're speeding things up a bit, and offering the full 14 categories just in time for Black Friday. Before you go into a turkey-induced coma, download our very latest special edition, the Distro 2011 Gift Guide, to find out what we've got on our wish list, and what you should have under your tree. From TVS to tablets, from smartphones to Lego sets, we've compiled a list of our favorite gadgets, gizmos and gear for every price range. Consider this your manual for fighting turkey-induced giving indecision. Now, go forth and spend! (Just don't go crazy.)
Engadget's holiday gift guide 2011: e-readers
Welcome to the Engadget Holiday Gift Guide! We're well aware of the heartbreaking difficulties surrounding the seasonal shopping experience, so we're here to help you sort out this year's tech treasures. Below is today's bevy of curated picks, and you can head back to the Gift Guide hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the holiday season. The e-reader space is really -- if you'll pardon the expression -- heating up just in time for the holiday season. Industry leader Amazon dropped the gauntlet yet again, with the introduction of three new devices, including the entry-level fourth generation Kindle (which starts at an enticing $79 for the ad-supported version) and the Kindle Fire, which is helping to further blur the lines between the e-reader and tablet worlds. Not to be outdone, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and Sony are also offering up impressive new devices for the holiday season. All in all, there's never been a more exciting time to give the gift of reading.
Engadget's holiday gift guide 2011: fun stuff!
Welcome to the Engadget Holiday Gift Guide! We're well aware of the heartbreaking difficulties surrounding the seasonal shopping experience, so we're here to help you sort out this year's tech treasures. Below is today's bevy of curated picks, and you can head back to the Gift Guide hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the holiday season. For some, it's easy to forget about having fun -- fretting over buying the "right" tablet, e-reader or DSLR can strip the joy of unbridled silliness that Christmas allows you. This is your handy guide to stuff you can kick back and enjoy some crazy fun with. There's no ecosystem wars here, no desire to have the loudest or fastest plug-in gadget; just things you'd prefer to give and receive instead of a Sharper Image motorized tie rack... or back-hair shaver. So join us past the break, if you will, for a look at this year's collection of fun stuff!
Engadget's holiday gift guide 2011: headphones
Welcome to the Engadget Holiday Gift Guide! We're well aware of the heartbreaking difficulties surrounding the seasonal shopping experience, so we're here to help you sort out this year's tech treasures. Below is today's bevy of curated picks, and you can head back to the Gift Guide hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the holiday season. We imagine many a PMP or smartphone will be changing hands this holiday season -- iPhone 4S or Galaxy Nexus, anyone? And what better way to accessorize your brand new mobile gadget than with a set of headphones? Fret not audio lovers -- we've rounded up nine of our top picks that we think you'll really enjoy while on the move. We're talking headphones that'll let you control your playlists and chat with friends, all without exposing those precious new gizmos to the harsh winter elements. It's all just past the break, so what are you still doing here? Click on through to the other side!
Engadget's holiday gift guide 2011
<div style="text-align:center;"> <a href="http://www.engadget.com/holidaygiftguide2011/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2011/11/2011-hgg-2011.jpg" style="border-width:0px;border-style:solid;margin:4px;"/></a></div> Welcome to Engadget's Holiday Gift Guide hub! Sure, there's nothing more exciting than tearing off crisp winter-themed paper to reveal the packaging of a shiny new gadget, but from the 4AM department store Black Friday queues to the stress of last-minute shopping online, figuring out what to buy your loved ones (and how to pay for it) can take all the fun out of this beloved wintertime tradition. We've rounded up some of this year's hottest tech toys, from TVs to tablets, bringing you a curated collection to help simplify the purchasing process. You've stumbled upon our main hub page, and we're glad you're here. Each week in November we'll be adding three new product guides to our home page, and we'll collect them all below as well. In the meantime, you can click on over to our available category pages, and stay tuned for those to come -- identified by a faded graphic for now.<br /> <br /> <center> <table border="0" style="width:630px;height:281px;"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;"> <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/24/engadgets-holiday-gift-guide-2011-accessories/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2011/11/p-x2anglepro-rgb.jpg" style="border-width:0px;border-style:solid;margin:4px;"/></a></td> <td style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;"> <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/23/engadgets-holiday-gift-guide-2011-bags-and-cases/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2011/11/thule-backpack-2-200x200.jpg" style="border-width:0px;border-style:solid;margin:4px;"/></a></td> <td style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;"> <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/16/engadgets-holiday-gift-guide-2011-desktops/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2011/11/apple-imac-hero-leftside.jpg" style="border-width:0px;border-style:solid;margin:4px;"/></a></td> <td style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;"> <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/25/engadgets-holiday-gift-guide-2011-digital-cameras/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2011/11/nikon-j1-01.jpg" style="border-width:0px;border-style:solid;margin:4px;"/></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;"> <h5> <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/24/engadgets-holiday-gift-guide-2011-accessories/">Accessories</a></h5> </td> <td style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;"> <h5> <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/23/engadgets-holiday-gift-guide-2011-bags-and-cases/">Bags and Cases</a></h5> </td> <td style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;"> <h5> <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/16/engadgets-holiday-gift-guide-2011-desktops/">Desktops</a></h5> </td> <td style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;"> <h5> <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/25/engadgets-holiday-gift-guide-2011-digital-cameras/">Cameras</a></h5> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <font color="white">.</font></td> <td> <font color="white">.</font></td> <td> <font color="white">.</font></td> <td> <font color="white">.</font></td> </tr> <tr> <td style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;"> <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/28/engadgets-holiday-gift-guide-2011-docks/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2011/11/jbl-on-air-airplay-speaker-dock.jpg" style="border-width:0px;border-style:solid;margin:4px;"/></a></td> <td style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;"> <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/21/engadgets-holiday-gift-guide-e-readers/ "><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2011/11/272770-amazon-kindle-2011.jpg" style="border-width:0px;border-style:solid;margin:4px;"/></a></td> <td style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;"> <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/17/engadgets-holiday-gift-guide-2011-fun-stuff/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2011/11/motorola-motoactv.jpg" style="border-width:0px;border-style:solid;margin:4px;"/></a></td> <td style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;"> <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/15/engadgets-holiday-gift-guide-2011-gaming/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2011/11/nindsimages.jpg" style="border-width:0px;border-style:solid;margin:4px;"/></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;"> <h5> <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/28/engadgets-holiday-gift-guide-2011-docks/">Docks</a></h5> </td> <td style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;"> <h5> <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/21/engadgets-holiday-gift-guide-e-readers/ ">E-readers</a></h5> </td> <td style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;"> <h5> <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/17/engadgets-holiday-gift-guide-2011-fun-stuff/">Fun Stuff!</a></h5> </td> <td style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;"> <h5> <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/15/engadgets-holiday-gift-guide-2011-gaming/">Gaming</a></h5> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <font color="white">.</font></td> <td> <font color="white">.</font></td> <td> <font color="white">.</font></td> <td> <font color="white">.</font></td> </tr> <tr> <td style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;"> <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/14/engadgets-holiday-gift-guide-2011-headphones/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2011/11/headphone-3.s600x600.jpg" style="border-width:0px;border-style:solid;margin:4px;"/></a></td> <td style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;"> <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/30/engadgets-holiday-gift-guide-2011-laptops/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2011/11/asus-zenbook-ux21e-dh71.jpg" style="border-width:0px;border-style:solid;margin:4px;"/></a></td> <td style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;"> <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/18/engadgets-holiday-gift-guide-2011-printers/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2011/11/epson-workforce-610-wifi-enabled-all-in-one-printer.jpg" style="border-width:0px;border-style:solid;margin:4px;"/></a></td> <td style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;"> <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/22/engadgets-holiday-gift-guide-2011-smartphones/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2011/11/samsung-galaxy-note.jpg" style="border-width:0px;border-style:solid;margin:4px;"/></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;"> <h5> <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/14/engadgets-holiday-gift-guide-2011-headphones/">Headphones</a></h5> </td> <td style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;"> <h5> <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/30/engadgets-holiday-gift-guide-2011-laptops/">Laptops</a></h5> </td> <td style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;"> <h5> <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/18/engadgets-holiday-gift-guide-2011-printers/">Printers</a></h5> </td> <td style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;"> <h5> <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/22/engadgets-holiday-gift-guide-2011-smartphones/">Smartphones</a></h5> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <font color="white">.</font></td> <td> <font color="white">.</font></td> <td> <font color="white">.</font></td> <td> <font color="white">.</font></td> </tr> <tr> <td style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;"> </td> <td style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;"> <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/02/engadgets-holiday-gift-guide-2011-tablets/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2011/11/ipad-1-landscape.jpg" style="border-width:0px;border-style:solid;margin:4px;"/></a></td> <td style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;"> <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/29/engadgets-holiday-gift-guide-2011-hdtv-and-home-theater/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2011/11/samsung9000.jpg" style="border-width:0px;border-style:solid;margin:4px;"/></a></td> <td style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;"> <h5> </h5> </td> <td style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;"> <h5> <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/02/engadgets-holiday-gift-guide-2011-tablets/">Tablets</a></h5> </td> <td style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;"> <h5> <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/29/engadgets-holiday-gift-guide-2011-hdtv-and-home-theater/">TVs / Displays</a></h5> </td> <td style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;"> <h5> </h5> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </center>
Engadget's Holiday Anti-Gift Guide: Stuff you don't want
Welcome to the Engadget Holiday Gift Guide! The team here is well aware of the heartbreaking difficulties of the seasonal shopping experience, which is why we've prepared a whole Gift Guide hub of product guides for this holiday season. Today, however, we're indulging in an exploration of the gadget world's worst offenders of the year. We're only a couple of days away from Christmas, you've taken care of every one of your loved ones' gadget needs with military precision, and now you can rightly put your feet up and relax. But while you're unwinding, why not spare a thought for those you keep even closer than your friends: your enemies? What if they need some last-minute advice on outfitting their tech boudoir? You'll want to be prepared with the year's worst possible gadgets, so as to inflict maximum damage with your "friendly" tips. Follow the break to be enlightened, you Machiavellian schemer, you.
Engadget's Holiday Gift Guide: Docks and Alarm Clocks
Welcome to the Engadget Holiday Gift Guide! The team here is well aware of the heartbreaking difficulties of the seasonal shopping experience, and we want to help you sort through the trash and come up with the treasures this year. Below is today's bevy of hand curated picks, and you can head back to the Gift Guide hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the holiday season. Portable media players: from grandma to the nieces and nephews, it seems like everybody's got one. But if they're only using it on the road, they're not getting their money's worth. That's why we've assembled this selection of alarm clocks and docks for every locale and every budget, with the features your loved one will need to get the most out of their device.
Engadget's Holiday Gift Guide: PMPs
Welcome to the Engadget Holiday Gift Guide! The team here is well aware of the heartbreaking difficulties of the seasonal shopping experience, and we want to help you sort through the trash and come up with the treasures this year. Below is today's bevy of hand curated picks, and you can head back to the Gift Guide hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the holiday season. You tech savvy lot may think PMPs are a dying breed, but funnily enough, the market's still going strong with a handful of products. There are certainly some benefits from using a dedicated media device alongside your phone: more battery juice, greater range of supported file formats, better audio quality, more form factors to choose from, etc. Perhaps our list of gift recommendations will be more convincing -- check it out after the break.
Engadget's Holiday Gift Guide: Toys and Neat Stuff
Welcome to the Engadget Holiday Gift Guide! The team here is well aware of the heartbreaking difficulties of the seasonal shopping experience, and we want to help you sort through the trash and come up with the treasures this year. Below is today's bevy of hand curated picks, and you can head back to the Gift Guide hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the holiday season. Technically, you can toy with just about anything, so the items that follow aren't necessarily the ones you'll find on the shelves of your average toy store, though there's certainly a few of those too -- mostly, they're items that we thought were simply too awesome to escape your notice this year, but didn't make it into our standard categories. Read on!
Engadget's Holiday Gift Guide: Gaming
Welcome to the Engadget Holiday Gift Guide! The team here is well aware of the heartbreaking difficulties of the seasonal shopping experience, and we want to help you sort through the trash and come up with the treasures this year. Below is today's bevy of hand curated picks, and you can head back to the Gift Guide hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the holiday season. Sit back, relax, grab a controller, and enjoy some obsessive-compulsive button mashing while you work in that body-sized groove into the couch... that's not the M.O. for the console makers this year. You don't have to embrace the jumping, hand-waving, and other methods of physical exertion, but it's definitely the "it" gaming hardware of this holiday season. Be sure to triple-check just what box your loved ones play on, and click on through for our gaming gift suggestions.
Engadget's Holiday Gift Guide: E-readers
Welcome to the Engadget Holiday Gift Guide! The team here is well aware of the heartbreaking difficulties of the seasonal shopping experience, and we want to help you sort through the trash and come up with the treasures this year. Below is today's bevy of hand curated picks, and you can head back to the Gift Guide hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the holiday season. E-readers have really started to come into their own in the past few years, and there are now a bevy of options ranging from the utilitarian to the multi-tasking. If you're thinking about getting a reader for a friend or loved one, look no further: we've got our best picks below.
Engadget's Holiday Gift Guide: Accessories
Welcome to the Engadget Holiday Gift Guide! The team here is well aware of the heartbreaking difficulties of the seasonal shopping experience, and we want to help you sort through the trash and come up with the treasures this year. Below is today's bevy of hand curated picks, and you can head back to the Gift Guide hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the holiday season. Accessories. One word, two Cs, three Ss, endless possibilities. Thankfully, we're here to bring order to the chaos, and recommend a few products that are best when paired with something other than themselves -- be it your computer, your car, your phone, or yourself. Head on past the break for our complete guide.
Apple Stores have no gift registries. Bummer.
Lauren and I were chatting with Megan over on iChat today and trying to figure out how to set up her gift registry for her upcoming nuptials with her hawt Astrophysicist boyfriend. Of course, Megan is dying for one of those awesome iPhone remote dodads but we thought that we'd just go for more of a general Apple Store registry thing. I gave my local Apple Store a call to ask how we could get it established. The gentleman at the other end of the phone was polite. Perplexed but polite. "Um...A gift registry? I don't think we've ever been asked THAT before," he said. "We don't have one. We're kind of a specialized store, you know." Yes, we do know. And it's the kind of specialization that we like. But even Home Depot has a gift registry service, so what's the hold-up Apple? Don't you realize that geeks get married and have babies too? Sadly, it looks like Megan must rely on word of mouth instead. Don't forget, Apple does have a limit on how many gift certificates you can redeem at any one time online. I think it's something like 4 cards for online purchases but unlimited for in-store ones. Check with an Apple representative for details.
Five no-ship gifts for the last minute geek shopper
At this point, midday on Christmas Eve, basically all shipping deadlines have passed. If you're lucky you can find a store that has items for people on your gift list, but let's get real: You're choosing between gas station beer cozies, dancing reindeer and clearance VHS tapes. If you want to find something that will please your peeps now, I have a few ideas for you below. * Paid upgrades. A lot of people of varying levels of geekitude are users of "freemium" services like Flickr and Evernote. They'd probably appreciate an upgrade to a paid account (or an extension of their existing paid account). This is nice because it's practically instant, and it isn't like the size or the color will be wrong. Print the email out and put it in a card, or get super creative with the presentation, and you're done. * Online smarts. You can get a gift account for something like Lynda.com or Safari and help your nerd friend achieve +5 Intelligence in the subject of their choosing. There are a wide range of topics here, so your recipient will likely find something they enjoy. * Software licenses. Know someone who uses the previous version of a particular application because they never got around to getting that new license? You can get a lot of software licenses online now, so buy someone you love a license for that program they love. Or encourage someone to dive into software you already love: Something like Scrivener (if they are writer-types) or TextMate (if they have been really good). * Geek Time. If you are a consultant by trade, or just the alpha geek in your particular circle, get a card for someone and offer them a block of time with unlimited access to your brain. Or give them a certificate for a specific task: help setting up that iPod, upgrading to Snow Leopard, or implementing a backup solution. (Tip: This can be a team gift, if you know someone else got them some tech.) There are a lot of ways you can go with this one. * Photo albums online. It always seems like someone is missing at Christmas time, so what better way to include them? Get some nice shots of all the gift opening and toss them on the photo sharing service of your choice. Get a short URL from someplace like bit.ly and customize it, then send it off in an email or give the person a call. Get extra points for having a group photo holding up a "Merry Christmas Uncle Albert!" sign. If you have any additional ideas for last minute gifts, let's see them in the comments. Update #1: ryemac3 has a great suggestion: vanity domain names. Get your parents the site they've always wanted at 'thewilkersons.net' and watch the fun!
Hub World: Holiday Gift Guides
Scared to warp? It's painless. Click on a pipe above to be transported to the corresponding gift guide. Each guide provides hardware, software and accessory shopping ideas for one of the major video game platforms. The guides are especially useful for designing the perfect holiday gift bundle for new console owners, or use the import guide to track down many truly unique gems. Bonus Warp: Check out our Holiday Joyswag giveaways!
Engadget's Holiday Gift Guide: Smartphones
Welcome to the Engadget Holiday Gift Guide! The team here is well aware of the heartbreaking difficulties of the seasonal shopping experience, and we want to help you sort through the trash and come up with the treasures this year. Below is today's bevy of hand curated picks, and you can head back to the Gift Guide hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the holiday season. If your BFF's HTC has a code name like Blue Angel, Harrier, or Canary, trust us: the time has come to intervene and forcefully bring that particular chapter of their technological life to a close. It's 2009, after all, and with devices like the Pre, iPhone 3GS, and Droid all coming to market in the past few months, there's never been a better time to be a smartphone lover, buyer, or -- in this case -- giver. Of course, in the States, giving a phone as a gift isn't the easiest thing in the world since you've got contracts to worry about, but it can be done -- even if you've got to drag the lucky recipient kicking and screaming into the store and hold their hand to the dotted line. So let's get to it, shall we?%Gallery-79790%
Engadget's Holiday Gift Guide: Cellphones
Welcome to the Engadget Holiday Gift Guide! The team here is well aware of the heartbreaking difficulties of the seasonal shopping experience, and we want to help you sort through the trash and come up with the treasures this year. Below is today's bevy of hand curated picks, and you can head back to the Gift Guide hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the holiday season. True smartphones like the Palm Pre, Motorola Droid, and iPhone are all chewing up a majority of wireless mindshare these days, which makes it particularly easy to forget that there's this huge, vibrant catalog of cool non-smartphone handsets sitting right below them in your favorite carrier's lineup. They can play music, games, sometimes last for days on a charge (try that with a G1 -- we dare you), and often take up just a fraction of the space in your pocket that a more powerful handset would. They're not for everyone, but odds are you know a couple folks who fit the featurephone mold, and... well, it is the season of giving, isn't it? Follow the break for a few of our recommendations. Note: Looking to give a few smartphones away to friends and family? This particular guide's all about regular cellphones -- but don't worry, we'll be posting our smartphone guide in the not-too-distant future!%Gallery-79784%
The Price is Right: PS2 gift bundles for under $200
For most hardcore gamers, PS2's drop into the $99 range is not really big news. Most of us, at one point or another, have owned a PS2. But, this guide isn't about you. No, it's about all the other people that Sony's trying to get into gaming and they're all around you. At $99, the PS2 has become a pretty attractive gift-giving option for your mom, your little sis, and the tons of people that haven't been able to afford a gaming console until now. The following gift guides will give your friends (and enemies) everything they'll need for under $200.
Engadget's Holiday Gift Guide: for enemy
Your enemy. Who do you hate more than them? No one. So who better to direct your holiday rage towards than that pitiful excuse for a human. Sure, it's a gift, but with the selections we've picked out, the target of your scorn will wish they'd gotten something as useful as a stocking full of coal. This is the moment to unleash that torrent of backed up anger from a season of crowded malls, annoying caroling, and an ever-shrinking bank statement. Let Engadget guide you through the valleys of dislike, and bore you up onto the mountain peaks of loathing and execration. And when you're done with this hate-bath, don't forget to check into our other, less nasty guides right here!
Gift guide for amateur video producers
We all have a friend of family member obsessed with posting videos on YouTube. Their cats, dogs, babies and whatever else are all fodder for two minutes of teh funny. This holiday season, help them improve their craft and produce the next big viral hit with these gift suggestions.SoftwareQuality editing software is not cheap. So it's surprising, actually, that Final Cut Express 4 is reasonably priced ($199US) for the amount of power it packs. I recommend this over cheaper options like iMovie for two reasons. First, it's an extremely capable application that isn't missing much from its much pricer big brother. An amateur video producer won't quickly grow bored of its capabilities. Second, and more important, if the person you are giving this to has any ambitions of becoming a professional, familiarity with the Final Cut way of doing things will be a huge advantage in the marketplace. We are all too aware that the iPhone, in its unjailbroken state, doesn't record video. That doesn't mean it can't be used as a tool in video production. Slate is a simple application that replaces the iconic clapping chalk slate used for years throughout Hollywood. Reviewers in the App Store have some legit complaints about it, but it's still a fun application with a bunch of potential. HardwareLet's face it. You're not going to drop almost $5,000US on this badboy. (Note to wife: want!) But how about under $150US for a camera that captures 60 minutes of video, at decent quality, requiring no tapes or memory cards, and fits in your front pocket? Enter the Flip Video family of cameras. These little machines aren't going to do it for professionals, but for amateurs looking to record precious family moments or spontaneous news events, it'll do the trick nicely. And it's called a Flip for a reason -- it has a USB connector integrated into its design. It flips out and, with a little bit of adjusting (a dozen or so business cards tucked under one side of a MacBook) it connects easily to just about any computer. Flip Video last month announced a high-def version of the camera called the MinoHD. It sells for about $229US. There's also a competing Kodak camera, the Zi6, that has a fanbase of its own.One of the best presents you can give an aspiring video producer -- besides a gig at LucasFilm -- is more hard drive space. Digital video consumes sick amounts of storage. Luckily, hard drives in the terabyte range are coming into the realm of affordability. A quick poke around Amazon.com shows a few options for under $150US. Some of these may not cut it for actual production work, as speed is of the essence, but for nearline storage, they'll do the trick quite nicely. Stocking StuffersLast-minute shoppers rejoice. There are many cheap, easy-to-order products out there with which you can fill your aspiring video producer's stocking. Mini tripod -- Shaky video is distracting when it's not intentional. A tiny, tabletop tripod is very handy for any videographer to have in his bag of tricks; newer Flip Video cameras have a tripod mount built in. Personal telepromter -- I saw this demoed last year at a conference and I was blown away. It works great with any Mac laptop with a built-in iSight camera, it's cheap, and it's very cool. Snowball -- No, not the frozen kind. The Blue Snowball mic is one of my favorite pieces of post-production kit. It's great for laying down voiceovers, and works equally well for recording audio for video podcasts. It's a USB mic, so it's not going to hook up to a camcorder, but for studio work it gets the job done in style.
