While it's a good entry-level home theatre system, the Samsung HT-XQ100 isn't ideal for bass-hungry users.

The Mediagate MG-35 is a combination portable hard disk and network media player. It works well; however, a relatively poor manual and tricky setup demands a tech-minded user to make the most of it.

As a basic CD, MP3 and radio player the XL-UH25H does its job admirably. If you’re looking for thrilling sound quality or advanced functionality, though, you’d best look elsewhere.

The CDTV400HD offers a great HDTV experience. Operation isn't as well integrated or intuitive as it could be, but the box itself still does absolutely everything it should.

As a 2.1 system the S-101 performs well, but the virtual 5.1 capability is not as good as having more speakers.

The Onkyo TX-SR701 represents superb value for money and can't be faulted in terms of features or performance.

A very decent media centre, however it is outperformed in terms of value for money by some of the competition.

While not quite as heavy duty as some hard disk DVD recorders, the pioneer DVR-720H is more user friendly than most.

The HX710 is an incredibly versatile and customisable recorder, but it can be difficult to use.

A cheap, small media centre that has a few problems with under-the-hood grunt, but mostly operates quite well.

Overall it's quite a respectable unit, which will suit casual users.

It does everything a remote should do and more besides, but costs about the same as the GDP of a small country