DVD & PVR

Toshiba SD-490

For those who aren't yet ready to invest in a Blu-ray player, but want to eke as much detail as possible out of their current DVD collection, the Toshiba SD-490 is a good choice. It's cheap, it's stylish, its upscaling capability is good, and its overall picture quality is impressive

Editor's rating 8.6

LG HB954PB

The top-of-the-line HB954PB home-cinema kit with Blu-ray player, 5.1-channel speaker set, iPod dock and FM radio offers loads of features in a convenient package for a competitive price. We're not fans of its styling but its video and audio quality will truly do your movie collection justice

Editor's rating 8.9

Samsung HT-BD8200

One of the most compact Blu-ray player and speaker systems we've encountered, the HT-BD8200 is an excellent choice for those beginning to dip their toes into the home-cinema water. Although it could do with more inputs for other equipment, its sound and picture quality are great

Editor's rating 8.5

Pioneer BDP-LX52

Considering how pricy the flagship BDP-LX52 Blu-ray player is, it has a fair amount of flaws, such as its relatively slow disc-loading times and inability to play back media via its USB port. But such problems are all outweighed by its absolutely fantastic sound and video quality

Editor's rating 8.7

Philips BDP3000/05

Occasionally, the BDP3000/05 Blu-ray player's budget nature reveals itself -- you need to supply a 1GB memory stick before you can access BD-Live content, for example -- but, for the most part, it's a great machine. Its picture and audio quality are impressive, and it's clearly been built to last

Editor's rating 8.0

Panasonic DMR-EX89

The DMR-EX89 Freeview personal video recorder is pricey, although, if you can afford it, we doubt you'll be disappointed. We'd like to see a second Freeview tuner included, but this machine looks good and offers plenty of flexibility, letting you record to both DVDs and its 400GB hard drive

Editor's rating 8.0

Panasonic DMR-EX79

The DMR-EX79 is one of the better Freeview personal video recorders out there. We wish it were cheaper and sported a second Freeview tuner, but it's a sturdy machine that offers plenty of recording flexibility thanks to its 250GB hard drive and DVD writing capability

User rating 8.0

Editor's rating 8.0

Philips PET744

If you want to shut your kids the hell up during a long car journey, or are planning to take a lengthy trip yourself, you may well want to invest in the PET744 portable DVD player. It looks smart, the build quality is good and the 7-inch screen delivers truly impressive picture quality

Editor's rating 8.0

Sagem DTR 67500T

Although the DTR 67500T Freeview personal video recorder doesn't have the best design or most attractive menu system we've seen, we can't fault its actual performance. Easy to use, it offers plenty of storage space and excellent picture quality, while the ability to transfer your recordings to a USB stick is very welcome

Editor's rating 7.8

Digital Vision GiGo

The GiGo Freeview personal video recorder doesn't have the best build quality you'll ever encounter and it's a fairly ugly piece of kit. But it does what it does -- recording programmes to USB storage -- very well, and will appeal to those who want to take their TV out and about

Editor's rating 7.7

Panasonic SC-PT870

It doesn't look like anyone at Panasonic HQ had much fun designing the SC-PT870 but it's a good 5.1-channel home-cinema system nevertheless. Music played via the USB socket isn't much cop, but the system performs admirably otherwise, delivering particularly impressive sound with movies

Editor's rating 7.5

LG HT33S

The HT33S is a very likeable 2.1-channel home-cinema system. It's rather scratch- and fingerprint-prone, and music isn't its forte, but it handles DVDs with considerable skill, making film soundtracks a pleasure to listen to and offering impressive picture quality

Editor's rating 7.0

Panasonic DMR-BS750

We have no idea how Panasonic has managed it, but a box this size has surely never done so many things before. The BS750 lets you watch free high-definition broadcasts, record them to Blu-ray disc and play Blu-ray movies and all their cool online features. You can even watch YouTube. The only problem: the price

Editor's rating 9.0

Pioneer LX01BD

If you can afford it, the LX01BD Blu-ray player with surround-sound speaker system will prove well worth your cash. Disc load times are excruciatingly slow but it's a beautiful and cleverly designed package that offers fantastic picture and sound quality, with great audio-codec support

User rating 5.0

Editor's rating 9.0

LG HB354BS

The HB354BS Blu-ray player with a 2.1-channel surround-sound system is an incredibly handy all-in-one system. iPod fans are particularly well placed to enjoy the system's impressive sonic performance, thanks to the built-in dock, and picture quality isn't bad either. It's ideal for people just starting to get Blu-ray fever

Editor's rating 8.2

Samsung BD-P3600

The fantastic BD-P3600 is the fastest-loading Blu-ray player we've seen so far. It's also easy on the eye, with a sleek, curved design and excellent image quality. Its media-playback capability is a slight letdown, but the BD-P3600 would be a worthwhile addition to your home cinema

Editor's rating 8.7

LG BD370

The reasonably priced BD370 is one of the best-looking and best-specified Blu-ray players on the market, offering excellent media-playback capability and great image quality. It lacks analogue 7.1 audio outputs but, apart from that, we love every aspect of this machine

User rating 9.0

Editor's rating 9.0

Panasonic DMP-BD60

The DMP-BD60 Blu-ray player is a corker, offering a simple but stylish design, awesome picture quality and good online functionality. It's not the fastest-loading player available, but, if you want minimum fuss and maximum quality, you won't go far wrong with this machine

Editor's rating 8.8

Samsung BD-P4600

The BD-P4600 is the fastest-loading stand-alone Blu-ray player we've come across yet. Combined with a sleek appearance, and good picture and audio quality, it all adds up to a great machine. We just wish it were slightly cheaper, although we expect the price to fall steeply over the coming months

User rating 5.5

Editor's rating 8.7

Sagem DTR 64160T

The easy-to-use DTR 64160T is a capable Freeview recorder that represents extremely good value for money. It's a fairly hideous-looking machine, but it offers good picture and audio quality, plenty of useful features, and the 160GB of storage should be more than enough for the casual user

Editor's rating 7.1