Green Design
Prefer your TV not in view when not in use? Green Design’s Series 2 media armoire can keep it out of sight, but the beautifully finished solid cherrywood cabinet may catch your eye anyway. The top part can hold most 36-inch direct-view TVs, and the lower shelves are adjustable for the height of your gear. There are openings for internal wiring, and the back panels detach in case you need to make way for a tangle of cables out to your receiver. You can pick doors to suit your room: solid wood or rippled water-textured glass. Overall dimensions are 55 x 64 x 28 inches. Price: $4,940.
www.greendesigns.com, 800-853-4234

iSun
With the iSun portable solar charger, which can power portable devices that need 2 watts or less, you’ll be ready the next time your PDA, cell phone, or portable player runs out of juice on a long trip. Just be sure to get the window seat —the videocassette-size device unfolds to reveal its energy-capturing solar panels, and the supplied removable suction cups help it stick to a handy window. Charging time depends on sun exposure but is usually a minimum of 2 hours. A switch toggles the iSun’s output between 6 and 12 volts. The charger weighs 11 ounces and comes with a 12-volt cigarette-lighter socket and a power cable with seven different adapter plugs. Price: $75. www.isunpower.com, 514-270-5770

Cambridge SoundWorks
For less than $1,000, Cambridge SoundWorks’ Newton Theater MC100.2 will make for a cozy home theater. Four MC100 speakers, each only 45/8 x 6 x 43/4 inches, serve in the left/right front and surround positions, while the MC150 plays the center channel. All of the satellites have 3/4-inch tweeters and 31/2-inch midrange drivers (two on the center). The P200 subwoofer, powered by a 200-watt amplifier, has a 10-inch polymer-laminated driver. The system’s rated bandwidth is 25 Hz to 22 kHz. The speakers are finished in a slate color, though the MC100 also comes in white. Price: $950 (speakers also available separately). www.hifi.com, 800-367-4434

Sharp
These days, progressive-scan DVD players are as common as
Starbucks, but that shouldn’t stop you from sipping a lukewarm latte while watching The Matrix in 480p. You can do that (you’ll have to supply your own latte) with Sharp’s affordable DV-S2U player, which can also play home-burned CD-Rs and CD-RWs with MP3 files as well as DVD-RW discs. Besides its progressive component-video output, there are composite- and S-video outputs and a coaxial digital audio output. Price: $230. www.sharpusa.com, 800-237-4277

Marantz
Watching huge high-definition images is what the 61-inch Marantz PV6111W rear-projection TV was made for. The widescreen monitor still needs an outboard digital tuner to receive HDTV signals, but that’s why it’s got wideband component-video and VGA-type RGB inputs. The set has a high-def contrast enhancer said to improve picture sharpness and can perform 2:3 pulldown to compensate for frame-rate differences between film and video. There’s a built-in analog TV tuner plus six composite- and four S-video inputs. Dimensions are 565/8 x 577/8 x 281/8 inches; weight is 298 pounds. A backlit remote control is supplied.
Price: $4,999. www.marantz.com, 630-741-0300

Rotel
If you want to hear the back surround channel in the latest 6.1-channel DVD soundtracks, Rotel’s RSP-1066 preamplifer can give you access, provided you have the watts and the speakers. The preamp can decode Dolby Digital EX and DTS-ES Matrix and Discrete soundtracks, and there’s also Dolby Pro Logic II and DTS Neo:6 processing for multichannel playback from stereo sources. The 6.1-channel analog input lets you hook up a DVD-Audio or Super Audio CD player, and two wideband component-video inputs let you switch easily between an HDTV tuner and a progressive-scan DVD player. The back panel has five A/V inputs and three outputs, all with composite- and S-video jacks, plus two audio-only inputs and a tape-loop connection. It also has an RS-232 control interface and outputs for a second zone. Price: $1,499. www.rotel.com, 978-664-3820

Canon
If you’ve been holding out on buying a camcorder because of the price, take a look at Canon’s Hi8 ES8400V. This budget-price cam has several useful features, like a 21/2-inch color viewscreen, image stabilization, and custom keys for saving often-used settings. Its single 1/4-inch image sensor produces a resolution of about 250,000 pixels, and automatic focus and exposure make it easier to set up shots. You can add up to ten digital effects to your videos, or switch over to Photo Mode for still pictures. The cam has 22x optical and 800x digital zooms. Dimensions are 4 x 4 x 71/8 inches, and weight is 13/4 pounds. Price: $299. www.usa.canon.com, 800-652-2666

Paradigm
Want to add some music to your backyard barbecue? Each of Paradigm’s Stylus indoor/outdoor speakers — the Stylus 100, 150, 250, 350, and CC center speaker — is both weather-resistant and magnetically shielded. The speakers pair either a 3/4- or 1-inch titanium-dome tweeter with a polypropylene-cone midrange driver ranging from 41/2 inches on the Stylus 100 to 61/2 inches on the Stylus 350. The latter’s frequency response is rated as 17 Hz to 20 kHz ±2 dB, and it measures 87/8 x 122/4 x 85/8 inches. Each speaker comes with a rust-resistant mounting bracket that lets you rotate it up to 90°. Prices: Stylus 100, 150, 250, and 350 — $249 to $549 a pair; Stylus CC, $179. www.paradigm.com, 905-632-0180

Sony
Once you’ve hung Sony’s 42-inch Wega KZ-42TS1 plasma monitor on the wall, you can start watching TV right away. Unlike most of the plasma sets on the market, the Sony has a built-in analog tuner. You’ll still need to hook up an outboard HDTV tuner to watch digital programs, but the widescreen set automatically identifies the format — 480p, 720p, or 1080i — and produces the best image possible on its 1,024 x 1,024-pixel screen, performing 2:3 pulldown when necessary. Audio played through the built-in stereo speakers can be given a 3-D effect by TruSurround virtual surround processing. The set has composite- and S-video inputs, a wideband component-video input, and a VGA-style RGB port. It comes with a detachable tabletop base (shown) that helps conceal wiring. Price: $8,000; wall-mounting bracket, $225. www.sonystyle.com, 800-222-7669

Quad
The monolithic shape of Quad’s ESL-989 flat-panel electrostatic speaker is sure to make an impression in your listening room. Instead of traditional cone and dome drivers, it uses a thin Mylar diaphragm that radiates sound equally in opposite directions. To simulate an ideal point source better than an electrostatic speaker driven by a single electrode, the ESL-989 has multiple electrodes arranged in concentric rings. Rated frequency response is 30 Hz to 20 kHz ±3 dB, and sensitivity is 86 dB. The ESL-989 stands 525/8 inches tall, with a footprint of 263/8 x 123/8 inches, but the panel section is only 5 inches thick. Weight is 551/2 pounds. Standard finish is a plastic top cap and a black fabric grille. Price: $7,999 a pair; also available as shown with a wood top and brown grille or with a machined-aluminum top and blue grille, both $9,199 a pair. www.iagamerica.com,
877-440-0888

AudioControl
Ready to deliver up to a kilowatt of total power,
AudioControl’s Pantages five-channel amplifier should have no problem getting your home theater speakers fired up. The amp is rated for 200 watts per channel into 8 ohms and has both balanced XLR and RCA inputs. The efficient Class H design means there are no noisy cooling fans, and it includes LightDrive electro-optical anticlipping circuitry. The all-metal chassis has an anodized front panel. Price: $2,500. www.audiocontrol.com, 425-775-8461

Apex
Portable DVD players will soon be as affordable as their home-component brethren if Apex’s PD-200 has anything to say about it. Its 7-inch (diagonal), widescreen LCD will look fine in an economy-class airplane seat, and its zoom function will get you closer to the fine details. In addition to DVD-Videos and CDs, it plays CD-Rs and CD-RWs with MP3 files. There are composite- and S-video outputs as well as a coaxial digital audio output for hookup to a home system. A single charge of its battery pack is said to last 31/2 hours. The PD-200 measures 71/4 x 23/4 x 7 inches and weighs 61/2 pounds. Price: $450.
www.apexdigitalinc.com, 800-284-8828

Rio
The Rio brand is synonymous with MP3 capability, so of course the first minisystem from SonicBlue to bear that name, the very affordable Rio EX1000, can play CD-Rs and CD-RWs with MP3 files. The system’s backlit LCD can show CD Text information and MP3 filenames. Its amp is rated to deliver a total of 120 watts to the speakers, with 80 watts going to dual subwoofers. Naturally, no “executive” minisystem would be complete without an AM/FM tuner, a cassette recorder, five equalizer presets, a 24-track programmable memory, and a full-function remote control. Price: $300. www.sonicblue.com, 877-737-5298

Dunlavy
If you like tall speakers, you might want to consider Dunlavy’s 52-inch-high SC-III.A for the main channels in your home theater or as a stereo pair. The three-way design combines a 10-inch down-firing woofer with a symmetric array of two 61/2-inch midrange drivers and a 1-inch silk-dome tweeter. Frequency response is rated as 27 Hz to 20 kHz ±1.5 dB and sensitivity as 90 dB. Each SC-III.A weighs 85 pounds and has a footprint of 11 x 14 inches. It comes in natural oak, black oak, or cherry hardwood veneers. Price: natural or black oak, $5,495 a pair; cherry, $5,995 a pair. www.dunlavyaudio.com, 719-592-1159