The Samsung HT-X715 gives you a good reason to stay home instead of going to the cinema. This 5.1 surround-sound system with built-in DVD player could be a great all-in-one complement to your nice television, handling movie soundtracks plus DVD and Blu-ra...

Styling; picture quality; movies sound great

Subwoofer lets down the music reproduction; separates system would produce a much better sound on all material

The Samsung HT-X715 is very easy to set up and it does make your movies look and sound good. We just didn't care for the music sound quality, which was fine in the mid and high end but sounded flabby at low frequency

The Grundig freesat receiver (GUFSAT01) is an excellent option for the 27 per cent of UK who do not get a Freeview signal to switch over from analogue to digital. The box itself is pretty fast at responding to the remote commands and is a good size, with...

Good number of outputs including Ethernet for future use; relatively quick; Freeview-level picture quality

Should be £20 cheaper; small installation and interactive niggles

If you're stuck on analogue, the Grundig freesat receiver is a good way to go digital, especially if you already have a satellite dish on your wall

The freesat satellite service is finally here and so is the Humax Foxsat-HD receiver. Although it's one of the first to hit the market, it already feels like a mature product. It's fast, user friendly and offers great picture quality, all while managing t...

Great picture quality; good range of outputs; easy to use; compact and stylish

Remote control could be better; EPG presentation could be improved

The Humax Foxsat-HD is a top class high-definition receiver and gets the freesat service off to a great start. All that's needed now is more freesat HD channels to truly make the most of its high definition capabilities

High-definition digital media streamer with HDMI output

Simple interface; good video playback quality; easy to set up

Doesn't work with BBC iPlayer content; no support for subtitles; no Wi-Fi

The DMA-1000's low price, broad file format support and easy-to-use interface make this high-definition media streamer a decent budget option. Still, it's a shame it can't play DRM content such as the videos you can now download using the BBC's iPlayer se...

Pioneer's DVR-545HX gives you the flexibility of recording analogue or digital TV channels using the integrated 160GB hard drive or to blank DVDs, including DVD-RAM and dual-layer discs. HDMI out enables video upscaling too

User-friendly features; integrated Freeview; 160GB hard drive; HDMI video upscaling; simple remote; excellent recording performance in high-quality mode

Average build quality; redundant low-quality modes; motion-tracking difficulties

Pioneer's DVR-545HX offers all the recording and playback features you're likely to use. But, in this competitive market, there are similarly priced rivals that do the same thing but better

Stylish front panel; quiet operation; records subtitles; decent TV and recording performance

Average build quality; no CI card support; basic functionality

Sharp's TU-R160H is a standard twin tuner recorder that does what it says on the box. It's easy to use and effective but light on features and the design appears to have been borrowed from a budget model

250GB storage space; universal disc compatibility; upscaling video; user-friendly functionality; excellent recording and playback performance

Comparatively pricey; poor analogue tuner

Panasonic's DMR-EX85 is crammed with more recording and playback features than you can imagine, including an enormous 250GB hard drive, universal disc compatibility and integrated video scaling. The impressive on-paper specification is supported by qualit...

Cool design; fuss-free functionality; excellent overall performance

Average connectivity; noisy operation

Toshiba's RD-85DT offers a versatile and convenient way to make high-quality recordings. It's easy to use and overall performance is excellent -- although connectivity could be better

Streaming device that lets you watch your TV remotely

Contemporary styling; works with PSP

Lacks internal TV tuner; pricey; lack of input options; non-customisable on-screen remote

The LocationFree performs well and can be recommended to PSP owners who want to use their console as a second home TV, or as a client to their home TV while they're away. Unfortunately, its lack of features and excessive price means it doesn't stand up we...

Exceptional build and style; recording versatility; extremely easy to use; decent DVD performance

No integrated digital tuner; limited connectivity; no HDMI; poor analogue tuner performance effects recordings

Sony's RDR-HX725 is a decent recorder held back by a slighted specification. Not having an integrated digital tuner is restrictive and you can expect HDMI connectivity at this price. But it's well constructed, incredibly easy to use and performs capably