So you've walked into an electronics store or decided to find a system online, and now you're confronted with scores of HTiB choices. Now what? Well, remember that HTiBs exist for two basic reasons. The first is cost; the other is convenience. If cost is your only concern, find the least expensive system that looks the coolest for the money (just stay away from the guys selling them out of the backs of white vans). The entire experience will be painless, mindless, although it might leave you feeling cheap and dirty – not to mention the fact that you run a high chance that it will sound like pig doo-doo on a swelteringly hot day.

If you're like my son, no matter how big the hard drive is in your DVR it's not big enough. Humax USA announced today the nationwide availability of the T2500, the first TiVo Series2 DVR with a whopping 300 hours of recording capability. (Although it doesn't record HD, that's still over 12 days of continuous couch-potato bliss.) It'll cost you $699 for that kind of storage capacity; but when you compare it with what it would cost to 300 hours of Super Bowl commercial air time over the next 50 years, it's a steal. Since the T2500 (and the 80-hour T800) is a TiVo Series2 unit, subscribing owners can use TiVo's new Home Media features and online scheduling as part of TiVo's standard $12.95/month service package. The new features let you schedule recordings from any internet connection and move content between two or more TiVo Series2 DVRs in your home. You can also listen to music or view photos stored on your PC if you're so networkingly inclined. Now Humax just needs to release an HD DVR, and my son won't ever have to leave the couch.

Although it's hard to see from the picture above, Fiberoptic Studio's iSky Panels are acoustical panels that include built-in LED star fields. The pre-built panels (24", 30", and 48" square) hook together in a grid using daisy-chain wiring, so it's supposed to be extremely easy for an installer to turn a home theater's ceiling into a night sky for significantly less than it used to cost. In addition to making your home theater look very cool, it'll help with the acoustics, too. The installed system in the StJohn Group's booth was definitely a "highlight" of the Show so far.

Taking the term "multi-function" to new extremes, LG Electronics has given its TV Refrigerator a fresh-not-frozen digitally converged makeover. The new side-by-side unit, the LSC26990TT, includes a built-in, cable-ready, 15-inch standard-definition LCD TV on the right-side door. There are also inputs for an external DVD player (sorry, you'll have to provide your own) and a built-in FM tuner. LG says the combination will provide "hours of cooking and kitchen entertainment."