S&v Staff

IntegraWith Dolby Digital EX and DTS-ES decoding and seven 110-watt amplifier channels, Integra's THX Select-certified DTR-8.4 receiver has all you need to power and control a full 6.1-channel home theater system with two back surround speakers. Plus it converts all composite- and S-video signals to component video for easy switching between sources. Still not satisfied?

Toshiba When it comes to recording TV shows, Toshiba's RD-XS32 gives you plenty of options: you can store them on the 80-gigabyte (GB) hard disk for a short stay, give them a permanent home on a write-once DVD-R, or burn them onto an erasable DVD-RW or DVD-RAM disc.

BenQ Think of it as a portable CD player with benefits: BenQ's Joybee610 will not only play your tunes on the go (including MP3s on CD), but it also plays DVDs and can read CD-ROMs with JPEGs. For anything visual, however, you'll need to hook up the Joybee to an external monitor through its composite-, component-, or S-video output.

While there's certainly no shortage of people clamoring for dedicated home theaters they can fine-tune for optimum performance, there's also a growing number interested in creating flexible entertainment systems that can deliver sound, video, and even Internet-based content throughout the house.