Other Source Component Reviews

Pimping Your HD Cable Ride

DISH Network and DIRECTV have poached a lot of cable customers using the allure of their premium HD DVRs. Bigger storage, more robust features, a slick user interface, no cable company to deal with—it’s an easy sell most of the time. But what if you can’t or won’t do the dish and still want an enlightened HD DVR experience from digital cable? Digeo’s answer is the Moxi HD DVR. At its core, the Moxi is a high-end HD DVR that has a 500-gigabyte hard drive with a 75-hour HD capacity and the ability to add a ton of additional storage. On paper, the Moxi would be a compelling device even if this was all there was to it. But its DVR functionality is only the beginning. The Moxi is also a media hub that aggregates content from your home network and the Internet without bringing a full-blown media PC into your living room. Yep. Those newfangled widgets are inside. Let’s take a look.

Hardly a week goes by that a big sale on HD DVD players from some mega-retailer or another doesn't make some screaming headlines. But it's been Toshiba's entry level, 1080i players that have lead that charge, with the HD-A2 getting famous overnight thanks to Wal-Mart's $99 sale, and the HD-A3 frequently seen at retail for around $199. But for my money, the real bargain in Toshiba's line could very well be the HD-A30.

The format war rages on. With the current stalemate between Blu-ray and HD DVD, and most studios exclusive to either one format or the other, the only options for the HD enthusiast would seem to be to sit on the fence, take sides, or pull out the old checkbook and buy two players.

• $399
• Audio Decoding: DD, DD+, Dolby TrueHD, DTS
• Ins and Outs: HDMI
• Feature Highlights: 3rd gen HD DVD player with 1080p/24 output, DD+ and TrueHD decoding/transcoding (output as PCM over HDMI), upconverting HDMI and component outputs for standard-def DVDs

It's hard to believe, but Toshiba is now selling its third generation of HD DVD players. That's two generations beyond the two models that launched the HD DVD format in April 2006.

In the video-game business, the stakes are high. So, the Big Three have detailed road maps and five-year plans. A new console usually remains unchanged for at least a few Christmases, save for possible software updates and minor technical variations. However, this isn't the case with the Xbox 360. After only a record 17 months in its original incarnation, it has transformed into the Xbox 360 Elite, with two noteworthy hardware upgrades plus a fresh style.

The past year and change has been an interesting time for home theater enthusiasts, with the introduction of two competing high-definition movie formats, HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc. The scenario is very reminiscent to the 1980's when VHS and Betamax had their own slugfest for the wallets of consumers, but in this new "war" the battleground has evolved.