Digital Trends

Blu-ray home-theater-in-a-box (HTIB) systems are still a rarity—there are currently only a few models available from Panasonic, Samsung and Sony. What’s more, they’re pricey. Sony’s BDV-IS1000 lists for $1,000, keeping it just outside the realm of most mainstream consumers. But the biggest hurdle, as we found out, is simply that they don’t always work. Despite trying two systems, spending an hour on the line with a support specialist, and about half that time again on a conference call with a product manager, we were unable to make the system’s rear wireless speakers connect with the main amplifier. Other than that one, rather significant inconvenience, it’s a sweet system.