New Products

• Fatman iTube ($650; www.fat-man.co.uk, distributed in the U.S. via bluebirdmusic.com). So it's the holidays, and you want to get something that will truly impress your iPod pal.

MORE IS LESS Just a couple of years back, high-def front projectors priced less than 3 grand were seen about as often as a giant squid. Today, Mitsubishi's HD1000U is tagged at less than half that, and its DLP light engine can blast 720p-format HD images onto your wall larger than any TV screen.

SERVICE CENTER Harman Kardon's first media server takes your discs and makes them better. Any CD you feed it will be ripped to the convenient 160-GB hard disk. Any DVD you feed it will be upconverted to 720p HD format through the HDMI output. But streaming is this box's main mission: four rooms, four streams - mix 'em however you want.

SAY WATT Canton's CD 3200 is textbook modern speaker design: a slim aluminum cabinet, sexy styling, and ... an amplifier? Well, that's different. Once you've plugged this tower in, it'll deliver a nominal 200 watts to, uh, itself.

A NEW LIGHT So you think you know the big benefit of NuVision's 52LEDLP TV just from the name, do you? Well, yeah, having an LED "illuminator" instead of a regular lamp will get you better contrast, but did you know you also get a much longer life, full brightness as soon as you turn it on, and less power consumption?