Crave loves gadgets that plays nicely with the other kit we adore, and the TVMax sits so perfectly under a Mac Mini you could forget it was even there. Apart from looking cute, it enables you to record analogue TV via an aerial or from your cable box. You can give it your cable feed for up to 125 channels, …

“We’re gonna to need a bigger chimney”, Santa might say, in his best Chief Brody (Jaws) impression, at first sight of my Christmas wish list. But, as far as anyone knows, I’ve been a good boy, so even if it takes a few extra elves to cram my ultimate home-cinema system beneath the tree, I deserve it! The centrepiece of …

Like the fable involving the hare and the tortoise, there are two routes you can take to home-cinema happiness. There’s the long, arduous but ultimately rewarding trek taken by separates, or the quick, convenient shortcut offered by all-in-one systems — but as Aesop will tell you, speed is often undone in the end. Most home-cinema systems give you affordability at …