New Products

Panasonic

No more scrambling for a videocassette when there's a TV show you want to tape for later viewing -- Panasonic's 27-inch PV-SS2710 is the first set that includes a ReplayTV hard-disk recorder. It can store up to 30 hours of programs and has all the regular ReplayTV features: the ability to pause playback of TV shows still being recorded, 7-second instant replay, and a QuickSkip button to bypass commercials. You can control both the TV and recorder via front-panel buttons or the supplied backlit remote. Price: $900. 800-211-7262, www.panasonic.com

Kenwood

It takes up the same dashboard space as a regular car stereo DVD/CD receiver, but at the touch of a button Kenwood's Excelon KVT-910DVD raises a 6 1/2-inch LCD that serves both as a widescreen (if small-scale) video monitor and a touchscreen control interface. (There's also a full-function remote control.) The receiver, rated to deliver 45 watts each to four channels, not only pulls in AM and FM but also includes a TV tuner. And besides DVDs, it plays CD-R (write-once) and CD-RW (rewritable) discs. All of the outputs, including a 4.5-volt preamp output, are gold plated. Price: $2,800. 800-536-9663, www.kenwoodusa.com

Yamaha

It can play music from CDs, CD-Rs, and CD-RWs, but Yamaha's DVD-S510 player really wants to bring DVD movies to your TV. It has both optical and coaxial digital audio outputs as well as TruSurround virtual surround sound for playback over only two speakers. Hookup flexibility is provided by two composite-, one component-, and one S-video output. Picture zoom with magnitudes of 1.33x, 2x, and 4x can entertain you when DVD content does not, and a screen saver dims the image by 75% when the program is paused. Price: $299. 800-492-6242, www.yamaha.com

Note: All prices and product information are supplied by the manufacturers. Dealers prices may vary. (Originally published in: Sound & Vision, June 2001)