LATEST ADDITIONS

Dual ATSC tuners, dual cable card inputs, a 250 GB SATA drive that will give you 32 hours of high definition programming, HDMI output and that THX logo, a first for any DVR. What did THX do? They gave Tivo notes, and Tivo redesigned their circuit boards to reduce interference and noise as the good folks at THX found it. The thing next to the remote that looks like the world's smallest cell phone is really a wireless transmitter that hooks via a USB cable to the back of the Tivo unit and "joins" your wireless network allowing you to get program guides wirelessly. Really cool. $799. Can't wait!

Onkyo's HT-S990THX is a whole Home Theater in a Box. Actually, it's a Home Theater in a Really Big Box. For $1,099 you get a 7.1 110 watt per channel receiver, three LCR two-way speakers (with two woofers and a single tweeter) for the front channel, and four smaller two-way speakers for the surrounds and a 10" powered sub as well. There's no HDMI inputs, but there <i>is</i> a THX logo on the front panel that speaks volumes about the quality you should expect. Absolutely amazing at this price. I heard a rumor that Home Theater magazine has one in for review (hint: check your newsstands or better yet, subscribe!)

I just watched a short high definition demo on SIM HT 3000. That's their new 1920 x 1080 7 segment color whell DLP projector. With dual HDMI inputs and a 1.5-2.0 lens (a 2.0-3.0 lens is coming soon as well). The picture on a large screen was excellent and the unit's bluer than gunmetal finish was attractive as well. Price will be around $16,000.

Silicon Valley based Niveus Media made compelling announcements of its new media servers, which are based on Microsoft’s Windows XP Media Center platform and also use Intel’s Viiv technology. While digital photos and music are on tap, as with many media servers, what will separate Niveus’ machines is the ability to handle HD DVD and other high-definition content.