LATEST ADDITIONS

Universal Pictures and Vudu made high-definition history with The Bourne Ultimatum on December 11. The Matt Damon vehicle is the first major movie to be released at the same moment online, on DVD, and on HD DVD. The online version will be in high-def, placing it in direct competition with the HD DVD.

Hopes for a disc that would play in either HD DVD or Blu-ray players died a few weeks ago when Warner suspended plans to market what it had called a Total HD disc.

Once upon a time witches were acutely schizophrenic old hags who lived alone in the woods, fiddled around with poisoned apples and magic mirrors, and spooked lost little girls from Kansas. Wizards wore pointed hats, looked like a mouse, conjured up armies of brooms, and had major plumbing problems.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/UAV_POTY_250.jpg" WIDTH=250 HEIGHT=281 HSPACE=6 VSPACE=4 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Drum roll, please! This is more than an award feature, and more than a list of components. We get to experience the best components in the most controlled settings, in our own reference systems. And yes, we love our job! These are the top components in each product category we've reviewed this year. We're exprienced and we're hard to please, and this is a tough list to crack. The components that made the cut here are truly the best of the best.