Holiday Gift Guide 2010: Home Theater

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Today I bring you a little something special to help with your shopping–I know, you’re probably all shopped out after the Black Friday bacchanal for at least a good few days, but still–a special gift guide geared toward the home theater buff in your life. We’re going to take a look at some massively expensive items, so brace yourself–and your wallet–well in advance, but take heart, because there will also be some lower-cost items here for those of you who emphasize frugality and reason in your lives. There’s no need to go into hock for Christmas, after all, and you’ll have plenty to like here.

Nostalgia KPM-508 Old Fashioned Retro Kettle Popcorn Maker, $49

Folks, plain and simple, a movie without popcorn is a sad, sad thing, and if you’re going to go to all the trouble of making a proper home theater then you might as well have proper home theater popcorn. The best place to start with that is something like the Nostalgia KPM-508. It’s one of the lower-priced kettle-style popcorn makers (you can easily go into three figures or more on this particular part of your home theater), and this one will let you make high-quality batches of popcorn with as few unpopped kernels as possible due to the built-in stirring system. A measuring spoon for oil and a measuring cup for kernels lets you get the best popping batch you can get every time, and better yet, it fits just about anywhere yet still makes two quarts of popcorn in every batch.

Streaming subscription to Netflix, one year, $84

Without movies and TV shows, folks, your magnificent new home theater amounts to little more than a fancy paperweight. But thanks to Netflix’s newest subscription option, assuming you have an internet connection without caps, throttling and a “fair access plan”, you too can keep your movie buff in the grandest style they could ask for with all the movies they can stream. How well it will work, of course, depends on how well your Internet connection works, but for $84, they’ll have just about as many movies as they can stand. And given how fast Netflix gets new streaming movies in, well, that’s icing on the cake. You can go up from there, of course, to include DVDs with the streaming, and the prices change accordingly.

Logitech Harmony 700 Advanced Universal Remote $89

Sure, most of the things you’re seeing here will come with their own remote. And unless you want to try and work with a stack of remotes, you’re going to want a universal remote to take care of the mess and keep things nice and regulated. The Logitech Harmony 700 is going to give you the best shot at doing just that. One, no more buying and replacing batteries–the Harmony 700 is rechargeable. No worrying about not having your gear represented–the Harmony 700 works with over 225,000 devices from 5,000 brands. You’ll get a full color screen, one-touch activity buttons, and the ability to replace as many as six remotes with this one. Keep your home theater well regulated, and do so for a pretty nice price besides.

Roku HD-XR Player N1101 $100

When you want to do streaming video, the best place to start has to be with the Roku HD-XR Player N1101. Not only is it available at a really good price, considering what you get, but you’ll also get access to an incredibly large quantity of materials, from Netflix, Amazon Video on Demand and plenty more besides. You’ll get wireless access, both high defintion and standard definition, and of course, the added bonus that it’ll work with any television out there. So if you want access to a massive library of content, and at a decent price besides, then you’ll want a look at the Roku HD-XR Player N1101.

Sony Playstation 3 Slim $250

It’s strange to think of a gaming system as a part of a home theater system, but there are good reasons to do so. One, it’s available widely and at a decent price besides. But the big thing about this one is that it serves two purposes simultaneously–not only is it a gaming system, but as no less than Kevin Butler will be quick to remind you, it also serves as a Blu-ray player. You can play games and watch movies on the same system, and it’s that utility that got it a nod on the home theater gift guide ahead of most any other Blu-ray player, or gaming system. Plus, you’ll even get Netflix streaming access, which is great if you took my advice earlier.

Bose 3-2-1 GS Series 3 $849

If there is one thing you can say about most any Bose home theater system, it’s that it will blow your mind. The speakers are usually tiny–I saw one set in which the speakers would fit in the palm of my hand–and though the Bose 3-2-1 is slightly larger than that, the end result is still the same: huge and amazing sound from patently tiny speakers. And this time, I’m giving your wallet a little bit of a break. Just a little bit, mind you–if you want amazing sound you’re really going to have to pay for it, and the Bose 3-2-1 is no exception. The sound will amaze you, thanks in large part to the Bose Acoustimass module as well as a subwoofer, and considering that it even comes with a DVD player, you’ll have a mostly complete and incredible sounding home theater system all in one convenient package.

Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 8350, $1299

When it comes to home theater visual, there are two schools of thought–one in which you use a projector, and one in which you use a television. There are upsides and downsides to each, so to that end, I’m going to be including one of each in this gift guide so you can make your own call. The Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 8350 won the Editor’s Choice Award out at ProjectorCentral.com, and offers 1080p performance in a small package for under $1300. Just barely under, but still. Plus, replacement bulbs can be had at around $300 each, which is a pretty good price as projectors go. So between relatively low maintenance costs, and a comparatively low overall cost, matched up with incredible image quality, it’s the projector you’ve been waiting for.

Mitsubishi Diamond Series WD-73838 $2088.99

The other school of thought, meanwhile, is well represented by the unnecessarily large yet thoroughly epic Mitsubishi Diamond Series WD-73838 television. The picture is both huge and fantastic, the sound quality is unsettlingly good (when you’ve got sixteen two watt speakers all firing in sequence, it’s hard not to like it, and that’s before you add on the home theater speakers), and the price, frankly, could be a whole lot worse. It will not only display in 2D, but also 3D once you pick up the right extra components, it’s got plenty of ports for all your various peripherals, uses the same DLP technology as most movie theaters, and in short, it’s a whole lot of television for, considering what you get here, a halfway decent price.

And that’s the 2010 Holiday Gift Guide for Home Theater, folks–you’ll have a lot of possibilities out there, and a great plenty that we didn’t cover here today. If we did actually cover all the great possibilities you can use in building a home theater we’d need a server devoted specifically to it and you’d probably get bored and stop reading by about your third day in. But starting with these eight items, you’ll have plenty of great ideas and great directions to look in for the home theater buff in your life.