We featured a few weeks back a Nikon digital camera with built-in pico projector. Here we go again, but this time one that works with thr Apple iPod.

It’s the PK101 Pico Pocket Projector from Optoma. Smaller than any iPod and weighing only 4 ounces, this little baby displays images as large as 60 inches up to 10 feet from your iPod.

At 4.1 x 2.0 x 0.6 inches, it is not much bigger than the remote control bundled with many larger projectors, yet it’s able to accommodate not only a DLP imaging engine and an LED lamp but also a rechargeable battery capable of powering the device for 1.5 hours—and even a tiny speaker.

We were very impressed with the image quality and ease of use. We were able to get images up to about 8 feet diagonally from about 12 feet away. Color was good, but the better the resolution of your images or video the better the projection quality will be.

Based upon the latest LED illumination advances and DLP imaging technology, it’ll give you two hours of viewing time. it’s got a built-in, re-chargeable battery that you hook up via USB or with the included AC power adapter.

Buy for $219 from Amazon

It’s energy-saving power management system with integrated iGo Green Technology automatically reduces wasted standby power. It automatically powers down outlets when not in use and powers back up again when devices need power – reducing standby power by up to 85 percent.

It includes an instant wake-up button to immediately power the outlets with iGo Green Technology, in addition to two USB ports to charge mobile phones. It features four fixed and four rotating outlets to accommodate all sizes and shapes of wall plugs.

Buy for $80 from iGo

Now there’s the Flip MinoHD 2nd Generation camcorder with eight gigabytes of capacity (versus 4GB) and a bigger two-inch LCD display (up from 1.5 inches). The double RAM capacity gives users now two hours of 720p (1280×720) video.

In addition to its signature, flip-out USB plug, it also now comes with an HDMI connection (despite them being cheap and not including at least one, short, HDMI cable). Also new: a “Magic Movie” software mode that “automatically trims and arranges a user’s selected video content into their own movie.”

So compared to the Apple’s iPod nano the new Flip Mino HD v2 is more expensive ($50 more), but does have HD video where the nano doesn’t. On the ‘flip’ side, it doesn’t play music or have an FM radio or have the looks of the nano.

It all comes down to the features you want in your pocket. That’s something you should do in the privacy of your own home.

Buy for $229 from Amazon

It’s time to shoot like a pro. The Panasonic HDC-TM300 is a full high-definition camcorder that records to Flash memory or an SD card. It’s a camcorder with pro features that the entire family can use.

It’s got a newly-developed 3MOS system that previously was only available in Panasonic’s higher priced models. It packs three full HD sensors to process red, green and blue color elements individually so video comes out more vibrant, yet natural, even in low light situations.

The video quality is superb…1,920×1,080-pixel resolution at 30 frames per second at 17 megabits per second. Don’t worry about storage. You can record about eight minutes of video per gigabyte, or approximately four hours of video in the internal memory.

It features a 2.7-inch touchscreen, 32 gigabytes of internal Flash memory and a SD card slot, takes still images at 10.6 megapixels, has a time lapse recording mode at one second up to two minutes, a pre-record function of up to three seconds before the ‘record’ button is pressed, plus a manual control and intelligent auto mode.

Buy for $1177 from Amazon

We recently told you about five Blu-ray players below $200. But here’s a player plus surround sound system that delivers majestic picture quality and an absorbing sound stage.

The Panasonic SC-BT300 is a 1250 watt, 7.1 channel system that integrates a Blu-ray player and an audio receiver with a built-in iPod dock. The system is made up of two tall-boy speakers that sound fatter than they look, four small speakers for the surround/surround-back channels, a center channel and the subwoofer.

The receiver uses Panasonic’s VieraCast system that lets you download additional content via the Internet from services like Amazon’s Video On-Demand.

It’s a well-thought-out system that combines the same excellent video quality of the standalone Panasonic DMP-BD60K Blu-ray player with a solid ‘above-par’ 7.1 surround-sound speaker package.

Buy for $489 from Amazon

Everyone expected it would happen in the last month and it did…Blu-ray player prices have plummeted with many feature-packed, entry-level models now going for well under $200.

This development may surprise some, but it shouldn’t when you realize the holiday buying season we’re about to enter. Industry estimates are as many as six million standalone Blu-ray players will be sold before year’s end.

So without further ado, here’s a list of five Blu-ray player under $200 that are worth taking a look at:

LG BD270 Blu-ray Disc Player: Buy for $137 from Amazon

Sylvania NB530SLX Blu-ray Disc Player: Buy for $160 from Amazon

Sharp AQUOS BD-HP22U 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player: Buy for $167 from Amazon

LG BD370 Network Blu-ray Disc Player w/Netflix: Buy for $170 from Amazon

Panasonic DMP-BD60 Blu-ray Disc Player: Buy for $172 from Amazon

So Blu-Ray players below $200. Not only will consumers be happy, but so will retailers and especially movie studios and producers of Blu-ray discs. Blu-ray disc prices have fallen as well, with many new titles available for around $20.

The BD390 is LGs top of the line Blu-Ray player with wireless network connectivity. VUDU is a US-only, on-demand, high-definition video service that you use via the Internet. The service and device are now married as VUDU announces you’ll be able to use the BD390 to access its service.

As for the BD390, its got excellent image quality, loads DVDs super fast, and has a number of features that make it rich indeed.

You’ll be able to get 1080p, Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 surround sound movies from VUDU with no monthly subscription fee. This isn’t the first partnership announcement VUDU has made with consumer electronics manufacturers like LG and it won’t be the last. But as we get closer to the launch of VUDU later this month, now’s the time to look at a Blu-Ray player that offers more than just playing DVDs and this is it.

Buy for $292 from Amazon

So we’ve now got our TVs mounted on the wall. Why not everything else hooked up to it? The 1.5-inch Samsung BD-P4600 Blu-ray player ditches the traditional black, brick-shaped design for something more, shall we dare say, Apple-like.

Comes with a USB port on the side and under the back to add a $80 WiFi dongle so you can access Pandora or Netflix, uses a low 16-watts of power when watching a movie and less than one watt in standby, discs load fast, and has great picture quality.

Buy start at $399 from Amazon

Apple’s newest Mac mini is not only a great stand-alone computer, but also an impressive media center rig. The new Nvidia 9400M graphics chip is optimized for x264 playback… which in regular English means the mini can play back gorgeous 1080p movies and not skip a beat doing it (unlike older minis).

Upgrading a mini ain’t easy (you need a #0 Philips screwdriver, a putty knife, and a combination of patience and confidence), so if you want the easy route pick up the $799 model which comes ready with 2GB of RAM and a 320GB hard drive.

If you’re not intimidated by upgrading the mini, score the $599 model then add two 2GB DIMMs from Crucial (via NewEgg) for about $60 shipped. This will take you to 4GB of RAM for a fraction of what Apple charges ($150).

While you’ve got the Mac mini open, take out that stock 120GB 5400RPM drive and replace it with a 320GB 7200RPM model. Not only do you get almost three times the storage, you also get a 20% faster drive. We like the HITACHI Travelstar 7K320 for $67.89 from ZipZoomFly. Or buy the same drive from NewEgg for $59.99 if you want to purchase all your upgrades from one place. (Apple charges $175 for the 320GB upgrade, and it’s a slower 5400RPM drive.)

As for the Mac mini itself, there’s not any deals to be had so keep things easy and order from Amazon. You won’t pay for tax or shipping and you save a few dollars over Apple’s prices.

Buy 2GHz/1GB/120GB model for $594
Buy 2GHz/2GB/320GB model for $790

Let me save you some time: I already know Logitech’s Harmony 880 Universal Remote is one of the best out there because I spent copious amounts of time last year shopping around for a universal remote, and finally settled on this one as having the best features for the price.

Last year, this remote sold for $200 ($250 retail). This year, Circuit City is dishing them for just $99 for a limited time. Update 12/1 Amazon has it for just $79.99 at the moment!

At that price, I’m not even going to see what the competition looks like in the single-Benjamin category because I have better things to do, like finding other great deals out there for us to spend our money on.

Having said all that, if you’re looking for remote controls that don’t have fancy LCD screens and other features, check out The Register’s recent group test of some remotes. They range from cheap $25 models to $500 ones.

A huge feature of this camcorder, is the use of the P2 Card. According to Panasonic: “Basically, four SD memory cards are packaged together to create a single P2 card. When striped as a RAID 0 array, this gives the P2 four times the transfer speed and four times the capacity of a single SD memory card.” Additionally, the P2 card plugs directly into a Type II PC Card slot on your laptop (which isn’t available on my MacBook Pro anymore).

This camera is truly a Pro camera, but it’s still relatively affordable, and man does it kick ass. Go read all about it on Amazon, then just buy it.

Do you love using a remote with your MacBook Pro, but hate dragging it around with you on trips (or losing it in the couch cushions as much as we do?)

The SiK Rex Remote Control for Apple is your answer. This six-button remote is fully compatible with your Mac, but it stores easily in the MacBook Pro’s ExpressCard slot, meaning you’ll never have to “find room” for it in your bag, or lose it accidentally.

It’ll also work with any other Mac or Apple TV, so you it can do double duty for you when you really need it to.

Go ahead and pick up and extra battery or two for it while you’re at it from Amazon. It’s always nice to have a few extra batteries around for a tool you use a lot.

Prices: $30 from Amazon.com for the SiK Rex Remote Control and ~$5 for an extra battery.

Sanyo recently announced a new full-HD home projector that’s undoubtedly the one we’d pick up if we were in the market for one. Here’s what makes the PLV-Z700 so great:

• 1080p support
• displays up to 100-inch screen at either 3m or 6.1m away
• electronic lens-protecting shutter
• virtually silent (21dB) operation
• wide-area lens shifting (up to +/- 100% vertical, +/- 50% horizontal)
• Inputs: HDMI(x2), Component(x2), S-Video, Composite, RGB
• 1,200 ANSI lumens

In other words, it’s got everything you’d really want and nothing that you don’t. That includes its price tag, which might seem steep at $1,995 from B&H but is actually very reasonable full-HD projector.

The video processor on the Vixia HF11 can now capture video at the AVCDH codec’s max speed of 24Mbps (the HF100 and HF10 can only capture video at 17Mbps) and while this seems like a big upgrade, it’s really just a technological upgrade and doesn’t affect video performance that much.

The big upgrade is in the limit on the size of the memory card each camcorder supports. The older model only supports up to 16GB of memory, while the HF11 will take a 32GB memory card alongside it’s internal 32GB memory card, more than doubling the amount of footage you can capture.

And our standard disclaimer is that we recommend picking up an extra battery and a few extra memory cards (get 32GB or 16GB cards if you can) and you’ll be set.

Price: $1,000 – $1,200 at Amazon.com

With features like a 3.3 Megapixel Full HD CMOS, Canon’s Digic image processing, image stabilization, 12x optical zoom, and a huge 2.7-inch widescreen lcd screen, it’s hard to find a more capable flash-memory camcorder.

It records video in AVCHD (Advanced Video Codec High Definition) format, which uses an MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) video codec allowing you to get true 1080 High Definition resolution video. The compression algorithm of this codec lets you get twice as much video as a raw DV stream, in the same amount of space… which is what truly allows this camera to stand out against tape based video cameras.

Measuring only 2.9-inches wide, 2.5-inches high and 5.1-inches deep, and weighing only 13.4 ounces, with all of the controls in the right place, you’ll love holding this camcorder.

As always, we recommend picking up an extra battery and a few extra memory cards (get 32GB or 16GB cards if you can) and you’ll be set.

Price: $600 – $700 at Amazon.com

Remember back when people had “bookshelf hi-fi stereos” with reel-to-reel tape players (my Dad did) and the systems literally took up the whole bookshelf?

Thanks to micro-electronics and better engineering, things keep getting smaller and smaller all the time. Take for example, this Coby Compact DVD player.

It’s 8.8″ by 2″ by 9.9″. That’s roughly the size of a hard cover book, and it’s all you need for your home theater system, no matter how small or large your room. The Coby DVD player has all you’ll need, and it comes in a great form factor with all the needed features.

It plays movies (DVD, DVD R/RW) and music (CD, CD R/RW) and photos (JPEG Compatible) in NTSC/PAL Compatible TVs, and has a zoom function, parental lock, and progressive scan built in. It also has a Dolby Digital secoder and surround sound through coaxial or digital output (for use with compatible receiver/speaker). It also has a universal power supply, and a full function remote control for ease of use.

And you can’t beat the price: $30 at Amazon.com.

The Zi6 is sure to make a huge splash when it hits store shelves in October, for two reasons:

1. It captures video at 720p and 60 frames per second. Yes, it’s a real HD quality video camera that truly fits in your pocket (dimensions are 2.5 × 4.5 × 0.9 in.) unlike the Canon TX1 that “fits” in your pocket, but is a little bulky, to be honest (though we’re pretty sure it takes slightly better quality photos than the Zi6 will).

2. It only costs $179.99. That’s right… well under $200 for an HD quality video camera. You really can’t beat that.

PC users will get some software from Kodak that will let them edit and upload their video direct to Youtube, while Mac users will love that the video comes is captured in standard h.264 video format, meaning you can just dump it into iMovie, and away you go. It’ll also take still photos, so you don’t have to carry three camera’s with you just to capture all your shots and video.

It also supports up to 32GB SDHC memory cards, meaning you can expand it to capture hours of video, versus the lower time limits on the all-in-one Flip or Vado.

The Kodak Zi6 is powered by “AA” batteries, so you should never run out of power, and it comes with two rechargable AA’s and a wall charger. If you find yourself out of power, just grab two more Duracell AA batteries at a local store, and you’re back in business.

I can’t wait for this thing to hit the shelves.

Pre-order it on Amazon.com for $179.99 right now, and be one of the first to own it when it ships.

Oh, and pick up some big SDHC memory cards while you’re at it:

Try a 32GB SDHC memory card from PNY for around $130 or get these excellent 16GB SDHC memory cards from Transcend for around $60

(And yes, the HC part of the SDHC designation is important. It’s what makes the cards work for video at these large sizes… they’re faster than standard SD memory cards, so keep that in mind if you’re shopping at Fry’s or something and think you see a ‘good deal’.)

There are currently over 6,000 titles for sale or rent, about 100 of them in full 1080p HD quality.

Use the included HDMI cable to connect the VUDU to your Hi-Definition TV, and you’re off to the races. Connect the VUDU to your high-speed internet connection, and bam… instant access to the entire library of movies. Purchase or rent an movie, and start watching instantly.

VUDU uses it’s own proprietary encoding technology, and the only downside we can see to this device is that if the hard drive takes a dive, you might have to call VUDU support to get the machine fixed… but, thanks to the VUDU Vault, I’m not all that worried about them not being able to back up and reissue the movies I’ve paid for and need to download again.

And, the slick black box really does look pretty cool next to the slick black skin on my big screen TV.

Price: $295 for the VUDU with a 250GB drive, $999 for the VUDU XL with a 1TB drive (coming soon)

Would you believe us if we told you it was about the same size as a cigarette case?

Yep, that’s right. It’s freakin’ tiny!

Samsung is developing this little jewel of a projector with cell-phone users and traveling business people in mind. It’s said to be able to project an image of anywhere from 20 inches to 60 inches in size, depending on the light levels in the room.

According to the New York Times “Prices have yet to be announced. Matthew S. Brennesholtz, an analyst at Insight Media, a marketing research firm in Norwalk, Conn., says he thinks the projectors will initially cost about $350, then quickly drop to less than $300.”

I want one now, just so I can throw it in my bag, and always have a projector with me in case I need it.

Wouldn’t it be cool to be in a business meeting where you needed one, and instead of troubling someone to go find a big bulky projector they have laying around the office, and waiting the 20 minutes it took them to bring it in and set it up, you just whipped this thing out of your bag, and got back to business?

Ah, the promise of tiny: the Samsung MBP-100