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.

The dream of a fully high-definition existence—an admirable vision, to be sure—has long been stymied by the wait for the right equipment. Well, the right equipment is here. Arrayed on these pages is a suite of products that allow you to capture, display, record, and store visual media in eye-popping HD.

Reports of the VCR's death were greatly exaggerated in the past, but all-new combo devices could finally put it out to pasture. This new class of video machines combines hard disk recording with DVD playback, covering all the VCR's bases. They have built-in TV tuners and timers, and you can start playback before they're done recording.In addition, the Panasonic and Toshiba machines not only play DVDs but record them as well-a handy way to archive from the hard disk. Here's a look at how these next-gen video machines stack up.