If you get a bunch of geeks and around a table who are really in the home theater and HDTV’s, at some point of debate over the pros and cons of plasma versus LCD TVs will take place. The plasma fans say their preferred technology is brighter and offers more contrast. The LCD brigade will say their preferred technology last longer.

The life span argument may finally be settled thanks to Panasonic. It announced that new plasma 1080p TVs have been added to its VIERA plasma line that can last for up to 100,000 viewing hours before the TV dims to half brightness. Panasonic’s 720p VIERA TVs are good for up to 60,000 hours.

If you use one of the small notebooks that fall into the ultraportable category, you may not have an optical drive onboard. Some cheap computers could lack a DVD burner as well. When it comes time for a new DVD drive or an upgrade, an external USB DVD burner is the way to go for many users.

Buffalo has a new external USB Super-Multi drive called the DSM-SL20U2. The drive does what you expect a DVD burner to do — like burn DVDs and read them. It also adds a feature that you don’t expect from a PC DVD drive — upscaling for DVD movies.

I am not much of a music fan. I like music well enough in the car or on long flights, but in my home, I don’t generally listen to music. Some people I know always have music playing in their homes, even when they are watching TV or movies.

If you are one of the types who always have music, playing in the home Sonos introduced a pair of new network music players that will send music all around your home wirelessly. Sonos has introduced the second generation of its network music players and a new dual room bundle. The bundle is called the BU150 and the new players include the ZP120 and ZP90.

I am a big fan of movies; especially HD movies form my PS3 Blu-ray drive. I was glad when Blu-ray won out over HD DVD, not so much because I liked Blu-ray better, I was simply glad to see one format win despite the fact that I am now stuck with a worthless HD DVD player.

Now that Blu-ray is the standard, we are starting to see players with some cool features show up. LG announced an interesting player called the LG BD300 Network Blu-ray Disc Player. The BD300 does everything you expect a Blu-ray player to do like play full 1080p resolution Blu-ray movies, upscale standard DVDs to 1080p, and it supports BD Live.

I am a DVR nut and record everything — even if I plan to watch it right then. I like to let the show get about 15 minutes ahead of live TV so I can skip all of the commercials. I also have kids so we tend to collect gobs of Dora episodes as well. When we start running out of space on the DVR, everyone gets nervous that their programs will be deleted.

Hitachi has announced some new hard drives that are aimed at the DVR user in its CinemaStar line. The more interesting of the two new drives is the CinemaStar 7K1000.B. This drive has a massive 1TB storage capacity and can hold 247 hours of MPEG-4 encoded HD video and support ten simultaneous data streams. My pathetic DVR drive can only hold 30 hours of HD programs.

With the digital transition coming in 2009 the LCD HDTV market is booming as people upgrade to new TVs. When it comes time to buy a new HDTV you have to decide between LCD or plasma technology for the most part. Samsung has introduced several new HDTV models recently including some new plasma sets.

Samsung didn’t leave the LCD HDTV fan out either and introduced a new Series 8 line that includes models 850 and 860 both in 46-inch or 52-inch screen sizes. The new TVs feature the Samsung Touch of Color design that puts color inside the plastic housing of the TV rather than simply painting it on. Both the 850 and 860 models share similar specs with 50,000:1 contrast ratio, 120Hz refresh rate and four HDMI inputs as well as other input types. The TVs are also very thin at only 1.9-inches at the thickest part.

I have reviewed lots of TVs over the years and by and large I find myself a plasma TV man. In my home right now I have both a LCD HDTV and a plasma HDTV and I prefer to watch on the plasma much more than the LCD. The plasma TV is brighter, has better blacks and colors as well. The catch with the plasma is that it puts out lots of heat, which is an issue during Texas summers when it is already 150 degrees outside and not much cooler indoors.

Despite the heat I’ll take a nice plasma TV over a LCD any day and Samsung has come to the plasma fans assistance with a new series of plasma sets called the 7 Series. Engadget reports that the 7 Series includes sets with 50-inch, 58-inch and 63-inch screen sizes.

If there is one thing we can count on when it comes to the digital transition for TV broadcasts next year, it’s that some folks will wait until the last minute to get a converter. Lots of us don’t need to worry because we have new TVs with digital tuners built-in, cable or satellite service. Your grandma on the other hand with the TV from 1970 and rabbit ears you need to worry about.

Sears and Dish Network announced today that the Dish Network DTVPal converter will be sold through Sears stores across the country. The little DTVPal box has lots of features like analog pass through so it will work before the transition and will still work with low power stations not making the switch to digital next year.

Many city parks offer movies outside during the warm summer months and you can offer your own outdoor cinema experience to your family too with a new Open Air cinema kit. The CineBox Home outdoor theater system has all you need for movies in your yard. The kit includes a 10 or 12 foot inflatable screen.

In addition to the screen you get a digital projector, DVD player, sound mixer, Goose Neck LED light, cables, carry case, blower fan and a muffler for the fan. The screen alone sells for $399 for the 10-foot version and the kit pricing starts at $1499.

One of the biggest problems most people have with a home theater is all the wires that run between the components and the TV. The other problem is that often in a home theater we run out of connections to plug all of our components into the TV.

Belkin has announced a new device that address both of these issues called the FlyWire. The device will be available in two versions, one is simply called the FlyWire and the other is called the FlyWire R1. The normal FlyWire is able to stream wireless HD programming in resolutions up to full 1080p to any room of your home through walls and windows.