LATEST ADDITIONS

Looking to continue the sales tear that was sparked by recent promotions that included a $100 in-store rebate on its HD DVD players, Toshiba has made its price reductions on its HD-A2 and HD-A20 permanent. On the other side of the HD fence the Blu-ray camp is responding with a summer-long promo campaign that offers consumers five free Blu-ray titles with the purchase of a player.

It's hard to get too excited about most inexpensive HTiBs. That's not to say a system has to cost a lot to be a great value. In fact, there are plenty of one-box-fits-all systems that pack a lot of punch for what you pay. But there's usually so much emphasis on quantity of features that the quality often suffers. In some cases, the system is a hodgepodge of gear thrown together by a manufacturer that sees how popular HTiBs are with the general public and doesn't want to miss out on grabbing its share of the pie.

Until recently, Sony's popular LCD video projectors carried the Cineza brand name. Apart from the fact that I always wanted to say, "bless you" whenever someone said Cineza, it was perfectly fine name. But Sony has now extended the "BRAVIA" moniker, once used to designate only its flat panel displays, across its line of displays.