As we were happily enjoying a hot cup of morning coffee, a press release from Pioneer landed on our virtual desk. In it, Pioneer announced that the ink was drying on its plasma panel agreement with Matsushita, best known for Panasonic branded goods. We knew that a deal to outsource Pioneer’s plasma panels to another …

For most people, the goal of consumer electronics is to keep the cost down as much as possible without compromising performance or quality. The problem with progress is that once everyone can afford a massive flat TV the footballers, hedge-fund managers and rappers have nothing left to prove they’re more worthwhile than the rest of us. Enter the great fashion …

Yesterday we got our hands on the Sony BDP-S500, the company’s step-up Blu-ray player. It boasts a host of cool features, not least a truly magnificent motorised front panel. The question is though, is the £600 S500 as good as the £300 PlayStation 3? What does the PS3 offer that the BDP-S500 doesn’t? Games aside, there’s the thorny issue of …

A while ago we found ourselves craving the Denon AVP/POA-A1HD AV receiver, which is extremely good but costs a merry old £10,000. If you need to eat, pay a mortgage and dress your children, however, the good news is Denon has a ‘budget’ version called the AVC-A1HD, and it will only cost you a piffling £3,800. What does the AVC-A1HD …

In the late 70s and early 80s, TVs had faux wood all over them. They went all matte black in the late 80s, then during the 90s a ghastly silver was all the rage. With the introduction of flat panels matte black made a comeback for a while and later went glossy, known as piano black. So what’s next in …

Let’s say first of all, that from the time we spent with it so far, we really like the 42PX80B, Panasonic’s new 42-inch 720p entry-level plasma TV. It arrived on Thursday last week and like excited (and fairly dorky) children, we hooked it up straight away. For a while everything looked good, the picture was sharp, the setup was really …

Here at Crave you can usually tell when an interesting product turns up, because a little crowd forms, making comments, coming over to have a look and possibly make noises like “ooohh” and sometimes even “aaahh”. So today, when the LG 50PG6000 50-inch plasma TV arrived in a box half the size of a car, a multitude of reviewers, subs …

Sony has always managed to create LCD TVs that everyone wants to own — its Bravia picture processing is some of the best out there for LCD screens, but increasingly other manufacturers are starting to catch up. Sony is hoping its new W4000 range will increase the gap again and persuade customers to give their hard-earned money to the Japanese …

Building your own home cinema is never going to be the cheapest decision you make. Once you factor in the cost of a Blu-ray player, an HD TV and a surround-sound system you’re going to be getting some very cross phone calls from your bank manager. One way to reduce the cost is to buy an all-in-one Blu-ray and surround-sound …

If you haven’t heard of Loewe you’re missing a treat, because the company specialises in some of the most eye-catching equipment you’ve ever seen. It’s probably fair to say Apple designer Jonathan Ive would be happy to have a Loewe in his living room. The German company’s latest is the innovative Connect 37, a 37-inch LCD TV with built-in media …