Labs

We've already reviewed the Apple TV (web ID: 113177), but it's a true contender that deserves its place in this Labs - and with its new firmware, it's even better than before.

There are no buttons on this diminutive device - it's entirely controlled by the tiny Apple remote. Setup is simple, too: connect a power cable, hook it up to a TV using the HDMI output, and you're immediately greeted by a slick introduction video that makes you feel you've spent your money wisely. A foolproof wizard steps you through connecting to a wired or wireless network and draft-n is built in, making the Apple TV the most future-proof device here.

The interface is simply superb - it's crisp and clean with large, easily readable text. The new firmware adds a YouTube item to the menu, and makes it easy to search for videos. You can also watch movie and TV trailers from the

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iTunes store, and we found the experience flawless and lag-free. Prices for full shows seem reasonable, but they're almost double what American users pay, which rankles a bit. Fast-forwarding and rewinding videos is a little unwieldy, but works better than other devices.

Although the Apple TV does its job well, it misses out on an award for several reasons. The first is that you're stuck with using iTunes as the source of your media. This is understandable - and could even be a bonus if all your music and videos are already organised in an iTunes library - but it's a pain if your albums are all in WMA format.

Worse, video format support is the most limited here: only QuickTime or H.264/MPEG4 files can be imported. Indeed, during our testing we even found several MOV files that wouldn't sync with the Apple TV: iTunes claimed their format wasn't supported by the hardware.

Next, although there's a hard disk for local storage, it offers only a paltry 32GB of usable space. There's a 160GB version if you need more capacity, but this ramps up the cost to £270. And, despite the price, no cables are included to connect the Apple TV to your TV: all you get is a power cable. The lack of fans means the device is silent, which is great for the front room, but it did become extremely hot during our tests.

Despite its limitations, the Apple TV is a well-built, easy-to-use product, and relatively good value for what it does. Give it a look if you don't have an existing collection of DivX videos or WMA audio files.