Fire Your Imagination!
A low-down on some of the coolest, funkiest and technologically advanced home entertainment gizmos

Entertainment technology has reached the point where it can do everything we want. We are using multi-core CPUs to compose our emails, and we are carrying our entire record collections in our pockets on Apple’s iPods and walkman phones. Blu-ray and HD DVD have been launched; the iPhone is out and next generation game consoles hum quietly, or in the case of the Xbox 360 not so quietly. Home entertainment electronics can be a major investment, so you should get as much information about the product you’re buying as possible. The question is: where do you begin? Read on as we guide you through some of the latest home entertainment electronic gadgets.

Home theatre systems
Onkyo TX-SR304
This home theatre receiver delivers what it promises, both in terms of home theatre quality and music reproduction. It has excellent sound quality, HD-compatible component video switching for use with HDTVs.

Yamaha HTR-6030
It offers very practical audio features, including a powerful 5.1 channel amplifier, Dolby Digital, DTS, Neural, and XM-HD Surround Sound processing options, and XM Satellite Radio capability.

Flat panel TVs
Sony Bravia KDL - 40V2500
This LCD TV has a fashionable display that brings advanced video technology to your fingertips. Use it as a TV or a computer display that also enhances your room’s decor with its sleek design.

Samsung LN-T4665F
This has some impressive features, including a large 46-inch screen. It also includes NTSC/ATSC/QAM tuners, which allow reception of analog, HDTV, and unscrambled digital and high definition cable signals.

Sharp LC-52D64U
It measures about 48.7 inches wide by 30.5 inches high by 3.75 inches deep and weighs a feathery 62.8 pounds. Bolt on the stand and its dimensions expand to 48.7 by 32.9 by 12.8 inches.

Panasonic TH-50PH10UK
It matches the pixel count of most other 50-inch plasmas on the market. This set has enough pixels to display every detail of 720p sources; and all sources, from standard TV to DVD, to HDTV, to computers, are scaled to fit the native resolution.

Toshiba 52LX177
This is perhaps the best-featured LCD available today. Its 1920x1080 pixels can resolve every detail of today’s highest-quality HDTV sources.

Portable DVD players
Panasonic DVD-LS90
It has a 9-inch display with swivelling armature, excellent battery life, and two headphone outputs. It also plays CD-R filled with MP3 and WMA audio files or JPEG image files.

Sony DVP-FX810
It may not offer a great picture, but its sleek design, above-average battery life, and affordable price make it an attractive value in the portable DVD category.

Philips PET1002
A large 10-inch screen, a sleek design, and great battery life puts this at the forefront of the portable big-screen DVD player category.

Mobile Phones
Sony Ericsson K850i
This is Sony Ericsson’s first 5-megapixel camera-phone. It has HSDPA (3.5G) connectivity for high-speed internet access, and supports a 4GB Memory Stick Micro.

Nokia N95
It’s almost identical to the original N95 but comes with 8GB of onboard memory and updated GPS firmware. Having a shed load of onboard memory is particularly important if you are planning to take hundreds of pictures and shooting hours of video.

LG KU990 Viewty
It comes with a large colour touch screen that can be set to vibrate when you touch it, which makes it much easier to tell when you’ve pressed an onscreen key. Similar to the Sony Ericsson K850i, the LG Viewty has HSDPA and a 5-megapixel camera.

Samsung G600
Unlike the Viewty or K850i, this is quite simple in terms of features. There’s no HSDPA, touchscreen or Xenon flash–it’s just a camera phone. But at only 15mm thick, this is the most pocket-friendly camera-phone of the bunch.

Sony PlayStation 3
It’s a graphical powerhouse and Blue-ray movie player with an impressive array of extra features. It may be the most expensive next-generation game console, and its launch titles are not all that impressive, but its swanky design and bevy of features, including a Blue-ray drive, make it hard to resist.

iPods
The 2007 iPod release, the sixth-generation iPod classic, is a digital audio player, video player, photo viewer and portable hard drive, making it a full-fledged portable media centre. In addition, there are several other devices in the current generation of iPod players. These include, iPod touch, which is a touch-screen iPod with an 8-GB or 16-GB capacity. Then there is iPod shuffle, with a 1-GB capacity that plays only songs and has no display. iPod nano plays digital audio, displays digital photos and comes in 4- and 8-GB capacities.

MP3 players
Sony S2 Sports Walkman
Available in 1GB or 2GB memory storage sizes, it can hold a maximum of 1,350 of your favourite tunes. This sleek looking MP3 player comes with an armband so you can make the most of your workout without needing to place your player down.

Oregon Scientific MP121
This is an MP3 player with 512MB of memory, which is good enough to hold up to 16 hours of MP3 or WMA music files. Sports friendly features include a waterproof design, which is also shock resistant, a built-in pedometer with functions like a distance calculator and calorie counter.

DVD/hard disk recorders
Panasonic’s DMR-EH75V DVD/VHS/hard drive recorder is a solid choice for hobbyists who want top-notch recording quality and a subscription-free DVR solution. Features: Remote control, DVD recorder / HDD recorder / VCR combo, Stereo, JPEG photo playback. Sony’s RDR-HX715 comes loaded with good feature package that include TV Virtual Surround, Universal remote control, Stereo, JPEG photo playback, block noise reduction, 3:2 pull down compensation. JVC’s stylish new HDD/DVD recorder is the first with an integrated MiniDV deck. It comes with an impressive set of features like stereo, Universal remote control, etc.

Digital cameras
Nikon Coolpix S51c
It includes an 8-megapixels CCD sensor, a 3-inch, 230,000-pixel LCD, sensitivity of up to ISO 1,600, and optical image stabilisation. This new model also includes Nikon’s D-Lighting to compensate for imperfect exposures.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18
Featuring 18x zoom and a 28mm wide-angle lens, this 8.1-megapixel digicam packs enough features to satisfy both amateurs and professionals. Weighing 360g (or 407g with battery and memory card), it steps in with a footprint that’s considered compact for a camera of its class.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T100
The latest in a long line of stylish cameras, the camera shares the same slim, metallic profile and signature sliding lens cover/power switch as the rest of the Cyber-shot T-series.

Canon EOS 40D
This has an increase in resolution–the first since the EOS 20D three years ago–from 8.2megapixels to 10.1megapixels. It has a dust removal system and a Live View feature to enable framing with its 3-inch LCD monitor.

Digital Camcorders
Canon HV20
This high-definition MiniDV camcorder records 1920 x 1080 video and has an advanced accessory shoe, microphone and headphone inputs, HDMI terminal, and a 24p cinema mode.

Sony DVD508
This has a 10x optical and 20x digital zoom as well as a 2.7-inch touch panel LCD. The DVD508 uses a professional quality Carl Zeiss lens and has a manual focus for those who want a little more control over their video.

Panasonic SDR-H200
This hybrid camcorder has a 30GB hard-drive, one-touch DVD creation, optical image stabilisation, and has a shock mounted HDD to protect video from loss should your camcorder be dropped or mishandled.

JVC GR-DA20
It’s for all intents and purposes your basic consumer MiniDV camcorder except that the DA20 adds an extra twist with a rear-mounted LCD and joystick control.

iPhones
In some ways, the iPhone is more like a palmtop computer than a cellular phone. As with many smart phones, you can use it to make and receive calls, watch movies, listen to music, browse the Web, and send and receive e-mail and text messages. You can also take pictures with a built-in camera, import photos from your computer and organise them all using the iPhone’s software.

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