It's been the same story since the '60s. The home-audio receiver is a rectangular box whose primary purpose is to amplify and control the sound—and now video—coming into your living room. Aside from the notable addition of surround sound and digital inputs such as HDMI, this home-entertainment nerve center has endured a rather stagnant existence. But that's about to change. These receivers satisfy your desire to access thousands of songs stored on your portable player, to place a PC next to your TV, and to add the features you need without paying for ones you don't.

HDTV sets are stunning—until you pop in a movie and are reminded that DVDs are not recorded in high definition. At 480 lines of resolution, they don’t even begin to take advantage of a 720- or 1,080-line display. That will change later this year when Toshiba introduces the first high-def disc player for the U.S. market. Toshiba’s breakthrough box, an HD DVD player that at press time was still unnamed, will cost about $1,000 (toshiba.com).

First there were big screens. Then big flat screens. Now there are big flat screens packed with tricks, like the ability to record TV or access your home network. It’s all part of the push to minimize the number of decor-busting black boxes while maximizing entertainment choices—movies, slideshows, your music collection. Here are five reasons to chuck your TV in favor of a multitalented model.

1. The Laptop Impersonator
This 2.7-inch-thin flat screen takes its cue from the computer world, with two PC-card slots to handle its latest features.