Next Gear: HDTV on the Cheap

HDTV for $500 to $999

Not many sub-$1000 LCD TVs can display true HDTV, but the number is growing as new players such as Syntax (maker of Olevia brand sets), Westinghouse Digital, and Zenith, and traditional PC powerhouses like Dell and HP, enter the market. If you want to watch HDTV in a small space, try the Dell W1700, a 17-inch, wide-screen, HD-ready LCD that is capable of producing a 1080i picture and a 720p picture, for a street price of about $700. The W1700's Faroudja line-doubling interlacing technology produced a smooth-looking image that garnered high marks from our reviewer .

If space isn't an issue, look at a model such as the Philips 30PW8402/37, an attractive 30-inch direct-view CRT suitable for a bedroom or any other spot that can accommodate a set that has a depth of 22 inches. The unit's bright and clear picture will look just fine in a well-lit room. And like any direct-view CRT, it has a wider viewing angle than an LCD.

If even $500 is a stretch--and you own a PC with decent graphics and a good monitor--consider an HDTV tuner card such as the ATI HDTV Wonder (pictured at left). You'll need to have a graphics card with 64MB or more of video memory and Microsoft DirectX 9 support. The ATI card's scaler will adjust the picture to fit both 16:9 and 4:3 monitors in a range of screen resolutions.

As an extra feature, the card can record HDTV programs to a PC's hard drive à la TiVo or ReplayTV (but you'll need 8.6GB of space per hour for HD recorded at best quality).