Replacing an entire DVD collection with Blu-ray Discs or HD DVDs is a daunting and expensive task (not that you could with the limited titles available), especially for those of us who've spent our unborn children's college tuition feeding our addiction. So while the format war between those two rages on with no end in sight, it's probably a better idea to just sit back and enjoy the DVDs you already have with Oppo's DV-981HD upscaling player. For about 230 bucks — less than half the price of the cheapest Blu-ray and HD DVD players — Oppo's machine upconverts your standard-definition DVDs all the way up to glorious 1080p. That doesn't mean they'll look as sharp as HDTV, but the digital connection should ensure your picture stays free of messy artifacts.

It'll play many other disc types, too, with DVD-Audio, SACD, DivX, XviD, WMA discs, and Kodak Picture CDs doing most of the headlining. Sadly, the DV-981HD doesn't support component video, so if your TV doesn't have HDMI inputs, you're stuck using S-Video or even composite connections, caveman. For the fully equipped, Oppo throws in a 6-foot HDMI cable, gratis. — Drew Thompson