Although we were just kids when all the world's computers connected to each other via a coax cable, we still recognize the throughput potential of the medium. This and the fact that just about every home in America already has coax running through its walls has always made us wonder why we couldn't utilize those wires to connect our computers. If you've wondered the same thing, then MoCA might just be for you. It is a CableLabe specification that allows devices to utilize the unused bandwidth on the coax at your house to send bits where no other medium can. So if you're sick of trying to stream HD via Wifi and power-line technologies, you're going to really want to click through and read about how these babies work.

While we got a quick look at the thing a few months ago, we were finally able to get our mitts all over Panasonic's new DMP-B15 portable Blu-ray player. With its bigger-than-a-laptop size and wild pricetag (for a consumer device), it's obviously a niche product, but that's not to say there aren't hints of consumer friendliness in here. Overall the hardware is light and strong, and while we felt a bit of heat venting out the sides, it's not uncomfortable, and the disc operation is virtually silent. Startup time and disc load times are comparable to most dedicated home Blu-ray players -- certainly not best in class, but passable -- and we couldn't get the player to skip despite our best efforts. The screen is really great, with a good amount of viewing angle and brightness for the category and plenty of resolution to differentiate HD content. We spotted a bit of pixel crunch in menus and stills, but once the motion started we could barely differentiate pixels. Sure, it's hard to imagine a reason for most people to pick up a DMP-B15 over a cheapish Blu-ray playing laptop -- the thing is monstrously thick, and can't even handle a traditional laptop-style screen orientation, only everything but -- but the hardware is reliable enough for kids to handle on the road, and the single-use makes it a good home Blu-ray player for plugging into that second HD-starved TV. Still, we're guessing most will wait to see what next year's (sure to be flush) crop has to offer.

In our world the only thing that stays the same is our desire to discover the next great thing. The cycle starts with new product announcements, which builds to anticipation, and eventually to disappointment once we realize the latest gadget isn't everything we hoped. This is more true in the DVR world than any other category we cover because although DVRs have been around for about 10 years now, it seems little has changed since. This is especially true when it comes to 3rd party DVRs which have been few and far between. In fact we are hard pressed to think of even a hand-full of DVRs that made a single dent in the market. TiVo is the most notable, but far from perfect and ReplayTV was great, but didn't last. Both LG and Sony had an HD DVR out there at one point, but you don't remember them for a reason. It's just a really hard sell to convince people to spend cash up front when their provider will give 'em a box for free. So it should come as no surprise that we couldn't wait to try out the Moxi HD DVR from Diego. We thought, finally a real competitor to TiVo, and now with a real HD interface for our HDTV.

We'll be honest, while others were predicting how poorly implemented the new Managed Copy system for Blu-ray would be -- mostly because the studios can charge for copies -- we were dreaming of new ways we'd like to enjoy our favorite movies. With DVD's CSS, everything was very restricted; simple tasks like transferring a movie to your PMP or storing 'em all on a Media Center PC was way, way more complicated than it should be -- not to mention a violation of the DMCA. Obviously we wanted to know more, so we went straight to the source and asked the AACS-LA exactly how it'll work, as well as how it'll handle things like rent, rip and return. Surprisingly, we were actually happy after the call and contrary to what you might believe, Managed Copy was actually designed with the consumer in mind.

Without a doubt, soundbars are a popular market. As we said in our ZVOX review, they certainly have an appeal -- better sound quality than the terrible speakers and amplifiers typically built into TVs, no-hassle installation, small footprint, and modest pricing. For smaller rooms, especially secondary setups, soundbars can be a really good fit. So when Samsung offered up its HT-WS1 model to us for review, we just had to check it out. Our time with the HT-WS1 was a kind of an up and down ride with, so follow us past the break as we relive the details, won't you?

Remember that trio of HDTV families that Toshiba told us about this morning? You know, those models that you've been waiting for since CES? Yeah -- we just spent a few quality moments with the gang at an unassuming New York hotel, and while we can't speak for the refreshments, we will say we're digging the panels. Have a peek yourself below.

We've had a few projector related questions before, but this one comes from a commenter on a previous post interested in upgrading his cinematic experience, lakersin2025 take it away:

"Can anyone recommend a decent 1080p projector that won't break the bank? Mainly for movies at night."

Not a whole lot to go one, with no particular desired technology or info on room size, but for someone trying to pick up a 1080p projector nowadays while spending something less than a million dollars, or perhaps something more resembling a couple grand at most, what's your pick?

Got a burning question that you'd love to toss out for Engadget HD (or its readers) to take a look at? Tired of Google's blank stares when you ask for real-world experiences? Hit us up at ask at engadgethd dawt com and keep an eye on this space -- your inquiry could be next.

We've had Paradigm's top-end Signature SUB 25 in our room for quite a while now, but trust us, coming to grips with how this beast performs has been truly challenging. Obviously, it goes really low, really loud -- the combination of a 15-inch front-mounted driver, an amp capable of cranking out 3,000-Watts (if your electrical service is up to snuff), and Paradigm's design and engineering chops pretty much guarantees that much. But after the novelty of cranking up the bass and making everything in the room rattle wears off, you've got to integrate the bass with the rest of your system. How well a sub can pull off this disappearing act is the true test of its worth. Read on to find out how well Paradigm's big dog pulled off this stunt.

After making sure there was a domain name locked down for Epix, the new premium movie network formed by Studio 3 Networks (Paramount, Lionsgate and MGM) it was all about taking advantage of an early peek at the 720p Flash powered site to see what a new generation of home movie distribution has to offer. The tech end (opening up to invited users this week for beta testing) is powered by Akamai's variable bitrate streaming streaming technology, delivering up to 3mbps HD video with stereo audio all the way down (6 different levels) to 500kbps encodes. Where it surpasses current online offerings from the competition is the ability, thanks to the aforementioned studio backers, to provide many of the recent movies you want to see. Our impressions of the service and a few more pictures of the interface are after the break.

It's been some time since CES 2009 and the requisite flood of brand new Blu-ray hardware flooding store shelves. Now that most of them are for sale, Scott has the same question I'm sure many of us are wondering - which one is the best?

"I'm finally ready to jump on the Blu-ray bandwagon and move up from DVDs, but I have no idea which player to buy. I'm not really looking for a universal player like the BDP-83, and I'm not sold on streaming services just yet and I'm not in need of discrete analog outs. I just want a high quality picture, support for all the audio codecs and fast load times. With a budget of around $300, where should I turn for the Blu-ray player that fits me, or should I just grab a PS3?"

You have your mission if you choose to accept it, now that many of us have some hands on time with the latest and greatest hardware so let him know which one you like.

Got a burning question that you'd love to toss out for Engadget HD (or its readers) to take a look at? Tired of Google's blank stares when you ask for real-world experiences? Hit us up at ask at engadgethd dawt com and keep an eye on this space -- your inquiry could be next.

We've put our ears to a variety of speaker solutions for delivering the audio portion of your video entertainment experience, but the virtual-surround soundbar category is one that we've missed. Just from the sheer number of these products in the market, you know this gadget genre is popular with folks, so when the Samsung HT-WS1 drifted by, we just had to grab it up for review. Out of the box it sure does look nice in the red "Touch of Color" design, and feels more solid than the Samsung AS730 HTIB we reviewed last month. This $350 soundbar + subwoofer combo is limited to a 3.5-mm stereo jack and a SPDIF optical feed. As we said in our ZVOX review, though, we'd rather have good performance on a few codecs than poor performance on all of them. We'll tell you if Samsung's HT-WS1 finds a good balance in the features-performance-price triad in due time, but until then, take a gander at the pics after the break.

As we can tell, not everyone is the type of person that gets ready for things ahead of time, there's always one guy waiting until the very end of the deadline to get things done and for once, it's not us. Enter Sam, owner of an older analog HDTV that isn't currently hooked up to satellite or cable. With a DTV converter coupon burning through his pocket, his question is simple, what's the best DTV tuner out there?

"I bought a brand new HDTV before the holidays and moved my old Toshiba down to the basement, right now there's just an antenna and an old DVD player connected to it. I figure a second Blu-ray player wouldn't hurt, and at least until I get another satellite receiver hooked up I'll just use an antenna to watch the game on Sunday. Of course, I didn't think of picking up a digital TV tuner until now and I'm already missing a few local stations, but there's so many to pick from, any suggestions?"

Alright, we know a few of you are still kicking it old school with strictly antenna setups and have been ready for the analog shutoff for quite some time, so you probably have plenty of experience with different digital TV converter boxes by now. Give Sam (and everyone else) the benefit of your knowledge before it's too late.

Got a burning question that you'd love to toss out for Engadget HD (or its readers) to take a look at? Tired of Google's blank stares when you ask for real-world experiences? Hit us up at ask at engadgethd dawt com and keep an eye on this space -- your inquiry could be next.

With all the bad news around Windows Media Center this week, many enthusiasts are wondering about the future of Media Center. To say that the past few years have had a few disappointments is an understatement, especially when you think back to the way CableCARD support was implemented and how poorly the Extenders have been supported. Although things look pretty grim for our preferred DVR platform, we're optimistic that things are actually about to get really good in the next year thanks to Windows 7 and some unannounced features and products. Part of the reason we think this is because over the years we've been watching Microsoft develop products that have taken years to catch on and gain dominance. But lets be honest, we're not on the inside and most of what we think will happen is based on rumors and conjecture. With that being said, we've convinced ourselves that the future of Media Center, and the key to wider adoption that we think it deserves, is with Windows Home Server.

There's little doubt that Yahoo Widgets took the HDTV market by storm at CES, in fact by the end of the first day of the show, it was news if a manufacturer didn't announce the feature. Initially we didn't understand what all the fuss was about, but after spending some time with the Widgets, we started to see the light. Unfortunately something has changed in the past five months and now that we have it in our home to play with, it just doesn't seem the same. The one word we'd use to describe the difference is "laggy" -- check out the video after the break to see for yourself. The demos at CES were down right snappy, but even in our hard wired tests connected to the internet via a 20Mbps FiOS connection, the widgets loaded so slow we're not sure we'd actually even use 'em. To make matters worse, because most people don't have internet connections behind their HDTV, they're going to need some sort of WiFi adapter to make this work. The Samsung 7000 series HDTV we tested has an optional USB dongle that sells for $80, but we couldn't even get it to work despite the hour of our life we wasted on it.

Samsung's sixth generation player is close to what some would call a complete player. It features support for all the audio codecs Blu-ray supports as well as internet streaming services such as Netflix and Pandora. The really interesting new feature is the fact that it supports a Wifi dongle, which to most means they can actually take advantage of the included internet features as well as BD Live -- this is because most don't have wired internet connections behind their TV. Of course the main point of the device is to play Blu-ray discs and we're happy to say that despite all the new features, the player doesn't lose focus on its core functionality.