Samsung Blu-ray player series (2007)

7.1-channel all-in-one home theater system with built-in Blu-ray player; built-in support for latest Dolby TrueHD and DTS Master Audio surround processing; elegant styling, with four tallboy speakers; full-size subwoofer; upscales DVDs to 1080p.

Very expensive; only Blu-ray Profile 1.0 compliant, so it will not play some bonus features on some new discs in 2008; few jacks for connecting external sources; slow disc loading; no auto speaker calibration.

The Samsung HT-BD2T delivers the sort of top-notch video quality you'd expect from the world's first home theater system with built-in Blu-ray--but its high price, average audio quality, and lack of extras make it tough to recommend.