Best home video gear of 2007

When the TiVo Series3 finally arrived in September 2006, it was the first cable-compatible TiVo to record high-def programming. But that long-awaited Holy Grail of TiVos came with a prohibitive $800 price tag that, in a world where cable companies provide serviceable HD DVRs for just a few extra dollars added to the monthly bill, scared off all but the most loyal or well-heeled TiVo fans. That's where the TiVo HD comes in. Except for a smaller hard drive and more-generic cosmetics, the TiVo HD delivers, essentially, the same feature set as the Series3 model for a much more reasonable $300. Even better, a recent software upgrade has finally added the Multi-Room Viewing and TiVoToGo features that have been long available on non-HD models. Add those to a cavalcade of online features--access to downloadable videos from TiVoCast and Amazon's Unbox; Internet radio; Rhapsody; podcasts; streaming of music and photos from a networked PC; and online scheduling control--and you've got a full-service network media device that runs circles around those "free" DVRs from your cable company.

Can't spend any time away from your favorite TV shows? Slingbox is the answer to your prayers. This magic little box makes the TV signal from your cable or satellite box available anywhere you can get a broadband Internet connection--be it in another room of the house or on the other side of the world. View and control your home TV from any broadband-enabled Windows PC or Mac, as well as many models of Windows Mobile/Pocket PC devices, Palm Treos/Centros, and Nokia Symbian smartphones. New for 2007, the Slingbox Solo adds component video inputs (compatible with HD video) and passthrough outputs not found on previous models. Bottom line: it's the traveling couch potato's best friend.

This small set-top box connects to your TV and streams--for immediate viewing--your choice of any one of thousands of Hollywood movies, including titles from all the major studios (often released in the same week as they're hitting DVD). Video and audio quality is impressively above average, and the $400 box allows users to rent movies for $1 to $4, or to buy them (as a permanent download) for $5 to $20. To be sure, Vudu has its share of issues and caveats, but the easy-to-use Vudu avoids most of the pitfalls of earlier video-on-demand boxes (poor video quality, limited studio support, long download times). It may well be the closest thing to a video store in a box that we've seen to date.

Technically, the Toshiba HD-A2 was released at the tail end of 2006. But it's still widely available, often for less than the newer--and nearly identical--HD-A3. And if you can find it for $99 (or even for under $200), the Toshiba HD-A2 is a great way to get your feet wet in the high-def format war without having to risk a major chunk of change. Don't listen to the scaremongers telling you that the HD-A2 is only 1080i. The truth is, 1080i can look just as good as 1080p if your HDTV does deinterlacing properly, and you really won't get better video performance before you shell out more than $500 for Toshiba's flagship HD-XA2 model. The bigger problem is that, without any more Hollywood flip-flops, you won't be seeing any high-def movies from the likes of Lionsgate, Fox, or Disney, let alone the Sony-owned Columbia and MGM Studios (at least not in North America). And even if HD DVD does go the way of Betamax, the HD-A2 still plays standard DVDs, too--and they're not going away anytime soon.

Before you send us an angry letter, remember that this is our home video pick--not our gaming selection. That's because while the PS3 doesn't quite have the gaming library to support the hype (yet), it's currently one of the best values for high-def movie fans. New for the 2007 holiday buying season, the 40GB PS3 drops backward compatibility with older PS2 games, but it retains all the Blu-ray goodness of its predecessors: pristine picture quality, excellent load times, and upgradeable firmware. Oh, you also get a high-def gaming system and network media player thrown in as extra--and we think that the real PS3 games will start hitting in 2008 anyway. Of course, the opposite of the caveats to the Toshiba HD DVD player apply: don't look for Blu-ray versions of Universal or Paramount movies any time soon.