ViewSonic VP2250wb

The VP2250wb ($430 street) is one of three new additions to ViewSonic's recently refreshed Professional series of desktop LCD monitors. This 22 inch model, geared toward the arts and engineering crowd, uses wide color gamut technology to achieve bright, bold colors, and it features a relatively fast pixel response and an adjustable ergonomic stand.

The display suffers from a few flaws though, including a terrible vertical viewing angle issue.

The 1,680 by 1,050 resolution widescreen panel is framed by a narrow, matte black bezel, which matches the rest of the cabinetry.

The sturdy base is also black, with a thin slice of silver trim around the bottom.

A telescopic mounting arm provides 4.7 inches of height adjustment and 270 degrees of swivel.

The screen has a tilt range of 5 degrees backward and 20 degrees forward. You can also pivot the panel 90 degrees for portrait mode viewing, which really comes in handy if you'd prefer to view documents from top to bottom rather than side by side, or if want to view Web pages without having to scroll down.

At the rear of the display are two PC inputs (DVI and analog) and five USB ports (one upstream and four downstream). I'm always grateful when a display features USB connectivity, but it irks me when the ports are hidden away on the back of the panel where they are hard to reach, as they are on this panel.

Side mounted ports are much easier to access and usually do not detract from the overall look of the monitor. Also missing is an HDMI port, which should be standard fare for any monitor that claims to be an HD display. The DVI port is HDCP compliant, though, so you can watch high def Blu-ray or HD-DVD movies without worrying about copy protection.

Four small function buttons located along the lower bezel are used to access the on-screen display setup menu, where you can tweak settings such as color temperature, brightness, contrast, and image size and position. There are also fine tuning and sharpness settings that let you adjust image focus.

The VP2250wb comes with Portrait Display's PerfectSuite Plus software, which provides access to many of the above mentioned settings via your keyboard and mouse, and it has a calibration wizard that makes it easy set up the display correctly using the resolution, brightness, and color temperature controls.

Love that fact that you can enable an auto pivot function from within the software that changes the image orientation on the fly. There's even a theft deterrent option that when enabled, requires the user to enter a PIN number when connecting to another system. Also included in the box are analog, DVI, and USB cables.

As always, ViewSonic backs the VP2250wb with a generous three years warranty covering parts, labor, and backlighting.

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JVC LT-42X898

LCD HDTV sets are popular because of their thin screens and bright, sharp pictures. But LCDs have traditionally faced many obstacles to image quality.

One of the larger problems they have is maintaining a clear and detailed picture when displaying video filled with lots of motion.

The 42 inch LT-42X898 ($2,600 list) from JVC seeks to make motion blur a thing of the past by using the company's second generation 120Hz display technology.

In the lab, the LT-42X898 proved itself quite capable of maintaining detail when displaying standard and high definition video sources. Still, its color accuracy wasn't jaw dropping, and the provided color controls were only somewhat successful in helping the set to produce a natural, realistic looking picture.

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Toshiba 37HL67 REGZA

For flat panel HDTVs smaller than 50 inches, liquid crystal displays (LCDs) offer at least 50 percent more pixels than comparably sized plasma televisions.

A TV with more pixels can produce a more detailed picture, but only if those dots are driven by quality electronics such as a capable video processor.

The 37 inch Toshiba 37HL67 REGZA LCD TV offers a detailed and colorful picture that delivers an immersive viewing experience when displaying HD video.

And though this set's treatment of standard definition video was better than that of some bargain priced TVs, it left some distracting artifacts in the picture.

In addition, the 37HL67's PC video mode displayed some disappointing quirks that make it ill suited for that type of usage.

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Pioneer Elite KURO PRO-150FD

It's been about a year since Pioneer Electronics announced a mandate to re-engineer its plasma technology "from the ground up." The result is a new series of plasma display panels that the company has dubbed "Kuro," which is the Japanese word for "black."

An HDTV that produces deeper, darker blacks offers better contrast and a more colorful picture than those that cannot, and the 60 inch Pioneer Elite KURO PRO-150FD delivers black levels like no other set I've seen.

In addition, the PRO-150FD's new video processor is the best I've seen for all HD sources; it minimizes distracting artifacts without sacrificing detail. If you're looking for the most pleasing plasma you can buy, and you can afford the steep $7,500 price, the PRO-150FD.

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Mondo Mint Digital Music Station

Here's how the system works. Two traditional stereo shelf speakers connect to an amplifier or iPod dock, which communicates with a second wireless iPod dock that uses 2.4 GHz range RF and proprietary technology to deliver music to the speakers within a range of 100 feet.

Since the wireless dock can't connect to the speakers independently, and since the remote doesn't navigate the content of your iPod (it handles only power, source, and volume controls), the usefulness of the Mint's wireless transmission is questionable.

The wireless dock could be on your desk and the speakers on nearby shelves, but you'd still need to use your iPod to move through tracks, and the wireless listening experience is limited to the distance at which the speakers can be heard, regardless of the 100 foot range.

The 70 watt speakers are wood enclosed, with 4 inch aluminum cone woofers and 1 inch neodymium textile tweeters. They measure 5.6 by 7.0 by 8.9 inches and weigh 5.5 pounds each. An 8 foot speaker cable terminates in banana type connectors to the amplifier, which measures 8.3 by 5.3 by 2.1 inches.

The top of the amp houses an iPod dock in front of that is a control panel. Controls include Power, Mute, iPod, USB, Wireless Audio, Line In, and Volume. The silver design makes the amp look a lot like an Apple TV.

Connectivity options on the rear panel include USB, 3.5mm line in (cable included), antenna (for wireless communication with the dock), left and right speaker connectors, and the power cable connector.

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