D-Link's DSM-330 is a product that excels at streaming media over a wired network, but struggles a bit with the combination of wireless connection and high-definition video.

The HT-CN650DVW is a well-priced home theatre system, which has a very musical sound and plenty of punch.

Panasonic's DMP-BD30 entry-level Blu-ray player offers fantastic video quality, but isn't able to decode high-resolution audio without a dedicated AV receiver.

The TX-SR805's can provide some of the best audio you're likely to hear outside a theatre — once you've managed to set it up.

As a receiver and speaker system, the LX70 performs fantastically. Setup is complicated, but it does excel in surround sound and digital decoding.

For a system aimed at casual radio and CD listeners, the NX4CD offers great looks and an easy to use interface.

The Pinnacle Video Transfer is a cute unit that's elegant at transferring analogue video to a USB storage device but thoughts of recording late night TV before an early flight are fantasies because you'll have to be there, recording. You may as well record TV to a PC and encode later, while you shower in the morning.

While we like the LinkSYS Media Center Extender with DVD Player DMA2200, we found using Media Center too unreliable to replace our Freeview boxes, let alone a service such as Sky+. And although media streaming and DVD upscaling make this a fully-featured device, its Media Center foundation prevents it from reaching its potential.

Sharp's ANPR1000H home cinema stand provides a solid stereo performer that can be used as a TV stand, but falls short for surround sound enthusiasts.

We like the new form factor, we like the Blu-ray player and we like the HDMI output, but the external USB TV-tuner should really be an internal device. That aside, the TP2G is a good performer and has a reasonable amount of space on board for media enthusiasts.

The HT762TZ is a fantastic-looking home theatre system in a box, which offers surprisingly good sound quality, and the ability to upscale standard-definition DVDs to suit new TVs.