All Video Players and Recorders

The Bottom Line: While Sony has cut a few corners to get its entry-level PlayStation 3 below $400, it's still a great game console and Blu-ray player for the money--so long as you can live without backward compatibility for PS2 games.

Specs: Sony PlayStation 3 - Game console, BD-ROM, CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, Cell Broadband Engine, 256 MB - Integrated, 1920 x 1080

The Bottom Line: The Philips DVDR3575H is pretty much your only choice if you want a DVD recorder with a hard drive these days, but it's not as good as it could be.

Specs: Stereo, Remote control, JPEG photo playback

The Bottom Line: The Panasonic DMP-BD30 offers excellent video quality and is Blu-ray Profile 1.1 compliant, but those who want high-resolution audio will need a cutting-edge AV receiver.

Specs: Blu-Ray disc player, Tabletop, Universal remote control, Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital, DTS-HD decoder, Dolby Digital Plus, Surround Sound, 7.3 lbs

The Bottom Line: Sony's latest LocationFree TV product adds compatibility with HD video sources, but its two big distinguishing factors--built-in wireless networking and PSP compatibility--aren't enough for most users to choose it over the competing Slingbox.

The Bottom Line: The Samsung DVD-AR650 is a solid DVD recorder with a nice collection of features for digital video archivists.

Specs: DVD recorder with TV tuner, Tabletop, Universal remote control, Surround Sound, Black, 7.1 lbs

The Bottom Line: CNET has not reviewed the Toshiba HD-A35, but we have reviewed the similar step-down model, the HD-A30.

Specs: HD DVD player, Tabletop, Remote control, DTS decoder, Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital, DTS-HD decoder, Dolby Digital Plus, Surround Sound, 7.3 lbs

The Bottom Line: CNET has not reviewed the Toshiba HD-A3, but we have reviewed the similar step-up model, the Toshiba HD-A30.

Specs: HD DVD player, Tabletop, Remote control, DTS decoder, Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital, DTS-HD decoder, Dolby Digital Plus, Stereo, 7.3 lbs

The Bottom Line: The Toshiba HD-A30 is a solid third-generation HD DVD player, but for most people it's not worth the extra dough.

Specs: HD DVD player, Tabletop, Universal remote control, DTS decoder, Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD decoder, Dolby Digital Plus, Surround Sound, Black, 7.3 lbs

The Bottom Line: An evolutionary upgrade of past Slingbox models, the Slingbox Solo remains an excellent way to stream your home TV programming to an increasingly wide variety of broadband-connected computers and smartphones.

Specs: Digital multimedia receiver, Stereo

The Bottom Line: The Nu CinePlayer PDP100 is an extremely small DVD player with a great feature set for traveling, but it lacks the niceties of larger standalone players.

Specs: DVD player, Wall-mount, Included, Dolby Digital, DTS decoder, 0.9 lbs