Hot King Technology

You’ve bought the HDTV. You’ve set it up, plugged everything into it.

HDTV and computer display manufacturers aren’t shy about trumpeting their products’ size, resolution, and contrast ratio, but they rarely report another spec: input lag–the time a monitor takes to catch up to your keyboard, mouse, or gamepad.

At Christmastime we hark back to memories of gadgets past — technological wonders that were the most desired gifts of previous spending seasons: the VCR, the Sony robotic dog, the laptop computer, the iPod and its successors like the Nano and the Touch.

The Washington Post’s Rob Pegoraro discusses recent reviews, answers your personal tech questions and provides tips for buying the perfect gadget gift for the holidays.

Streaming media players that relay Internet video content to TVs are becoming increasingly common–but ones that do it well and reliably for HDTV over a wireless network are less so. That’s why the Roku HD-XR is a real gem: For $130 (as of 11/24/09), it delivers high-definition content from Netflix,..