The British are coming again–to your living room. Richard Branson, founder of the hip Virgin record label and the even hipper Virgin Atlantic Airways, has just introduced the hippest line of consumer electronics yet–Pulse. The Virgin Pulse TV/DVD combo ($500) is its premium product and looks to be the best TV/DVD blend on the market.

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The 10-inch TV and DVD player has color rich enough to make even a disk of familiar Looney Tunes cartoons seem fresh and also plays compact disks (prerecorded, PC-recorded, and those that have MP3 files recorded on them). There's also an AM/FM tuner. And the speakers sound good enough that you'll actually want to listen to music on them. An extra $50 gets you a harness to hang the TV/DVD player on the backside of a car seat: perfect for road trips (a car power adapter comes with the TV).

As versatile as it is, the Pulse TV/DVD is a touch unwieldy, a little too big to be truly portable yet not big enough to serve as a primary TV. Other manufacturers offer LCD TVs with better picture quality, including Sharp's fine AQUOS line. Sold exclusively at Target and Virgin Megastores, the Pulse line could be hard to find outside metropolitan areas, although mail-order is available.

Ever tuned in to the beat of the younger generations, Branson has produced the perfect gadget for space-strapped college students, recent grads, and pampered 'tweens.
–Kenneth Terrell