KEEP IT TOGETHER Imagine having an iPod and a satellite radio in every room. The IntelliControl ICS system makes it happen with just one iPod and one radio tuner by distributing their feeds via the GXR2 receiver, which takes audio from up to six sources and streams it to six zones. Touchscreens in each zone display artist, title, and track information.
Americans love trucks. Whether they're for carrying stuff, commuting, or just cruising, pickups are so popular that they've been the best-selling vehicles in the US for almost 30 years. For this installment of System Builder, we picked the '06 Dodge Ram 1500 ST Quad Cab (sticker price: $22,050) for an audio-system makeover.
It really is a pit stop when you park your 'Pod in Corgi's Nissan Silvia iCar ($35). Yes, we're talkin' that Corgi, the British maker of die-cast scale-model cars, celebrating its 50th anniversary. Here, you get a 1:24-scale Silvia atop stereo speakers.
FULLY ARMED That sweet flat-panel TV you just bought demands to be mounted on a wall. Problem: The spot you've set aside for it has you seeing mostly glare. Don't give up and get a floor stand - get K2's X-Arm mount.
NET WORTHY Can the Internet improve your remote control? Hey, it worked for Harmony. Now Acoustic Research is taking the idea a step further by including Wi-Fi in its ARR2470 Wi-Q remote to keep it constantly connected to the Net.
ROUND SOUND Don't think of the radial as an iPod speaker dock - it's more befitting to call it an iPod stage, encircling the player with curved 60-watt speakers to bust out your tunes, but keeping the iPod front and center to remind everyone who's really the star of the show.
FROM DISK TO DISC It'll be pretty easy to get on the good side of any TV fan if you have Polaroid's DRM-2001G video recorder. Not only will it save TV shows to its 80-GB hard disk (up to 102 hours in the lowest-quality mode), but you can burn your recordings to DVD whenever you please.
So no one has to miss Lost as long as you're in command.
COLOR ME RAD Six primary colors? That can't be right, yet Mitsubishi insists on calling its state-of-the-art TV color control the 6-Primary Color System, since it creates yellow, cyan, and magenta directly, rather than by mixing red, green, and blue. The upshot: a wider range of richer, more vibrant colors.
NO FOOTAGE JVC's Everio camcorders ditch those archaic videotapes in favor of recording to a hard disk. The 30 gigs onboard the flagship model will hold 10.5 hours of DVD-quality material - captured in eye-catching color, thanks to the three CCD image sensors (cheaper cams have just one).
Watts... uh THE DEAL Promising 75 real-world watts for each of five channels, Rotel's silver giant has the power to justify its heft. And 7.1-channel home theater buffs needn't fear - you can add an extra two channels with an optional upgrade. Bring on those action flicks!