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$1,300 YAMAHA DRX-1 If you're looking for high-quality recordings, shop here. Yamaha uses DVD+R (write-once) discs and DVD+RW (rewriteable) discs, like the Philips. The DRX-1's smart editing tools make home movies and TV shows more entertaining the second time. www.yamaha.com/yec
skimp
$40 ROCKY STREAM MOTION-PICTURE FRAME Long before smart frames, Spencer wowed us with this novelty art: a photo of water that "appears to be moving." Waterfall shot also available. www.spencergifts.com
splurge
$3,000 DIGI-FRAME DF-1710 DIGITAL PICTURE FRAME In the Gift for Bill Gates category, a 17-in. frame that displays photos or MPEG-1 videos, and plays MP3 tracks through a hidden speaker. www.digi-frame.com
FLAT-PANEL TVS
INEXPENSIVE
$1,200 SHARP AQUOS LC-13E1U Leading the what-to-get-for-those-who-have-everything category is Sharp's 13-in. LCD TV. The 3-in.-thin monitor even features an "image inverter" for upside-down mounting--handy for those who want to squeeze a TV underneath a kitchen cabinet. www.aquos.com
MODERATE
$9,000 PIONEER ELITE PRO-800HD Couch potatoes beware! Buy this TV, and prepare to become a homebody. The 43-in. set has everything: HDTV signal, progressive-scan DVD, even a monitor connection from your PC. And the price has plummeted; earlier this year it listed for $12,000. www.pioneerelectronics.com
EXPENSIVE
$25,000 FUJITSU PDS-6101 If the stock market ever rebounds and you lust after the Rolls-Royce of TVs, consider this 61-in. giant. Its processor works in two ways to enhance still and moving images, and it has inputs to fit any hardware you could possibly own. www.plasmavision.com
skimp
$40 MIDAS REMOTE-CONTROL WATCH This could win you the Geek of the Year award: a watch that doubles as a remote control. And you thought the calculator watch was cool. www.thinkgeek.com
splurge
$1,700 PHILIPS iPronto HOME "DASHBOARD" The mother of all remotes, iPronto uses infrared and radio frequencies to control everything but the weather. www.philipsusa.com
DVD PLAYERS
INEXPENSIVE
$70 APEX DIGITAL AD-1600 The popularity of DVDs has spread like brush fire, and the prices of players have suddenly started to tumble. The AD-1600 offers zoom and programmable playback and can read Kodak Picture CDs, CD-R and CD-RW discs. It will even play MP3s. www.apexdigitalinc.com
MODERATE
$280 TOSHIBA SD4800 The folks at Toshiba invented the DVD player, and they're still ahead of the curve. This machine's progressive-scan output looks great on any TV. It even recognizes those DVD Audio discs that offer high-fidelity surround-sound versions of classic albums. www.toshiba.com/tacp
EXPENSIVE
$1,500 MARANTZ DV8300 Once this machine debuts in your living room, the CD player is probably best put out to pasture. The Marantz offers more than just crystal-clear video images. It can also decode both DVD Audio and Super Audio CD--formatted surround-sound music discs. www.marantz.com
HD-READY TVS
INEXPENSIVE