Broadly speaking, a media centre is a personal computer capable of receiving and recording TV, along with a host of other multimedia features. It’s also seen largely as the province of PCs running Microsoft’s Media Centre software; this used to go under the unwieldy title of"Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition”, but the same functionality is now found in the Home Premium and Ultimate editions of Microsoft’s Windows Vista Platform. Crucially, the Windows Media Center interface - which is essentially an additional program running on top of XP/Vista - can be controlled entirely via a Media Center remote control. Many Media Centres - including two of our four test samples - look just like regular desktop PCs on the outside, perhaps adorned with an additional Intel Viiv logo. Viiv, by the way is Intel’s take on Media Centres, but by and large it’s more of a marketing term than a genuinely different technology. In essence a Viiv PC will have a certain set of Intel components within it. Intel’s rival in the CPU space, AMD, has its own version - AMD Live! - which specifies a set of, unsurprisingly, AMD components. Aside from some networking quirks, which only come into effect if you’re using a Viiv-certified router, there’s not much that should specifically compel you to buy Viiv-specific Media Centre gear, in our opinion. A Media Centre, then, is a PC with TV-recording and scheduling capabilities, kind of like what would happen if you successfully mated a VCR, DVD player, digital set-top box and computer all at once. The appeal - in terms of knocking all of that generally ugly hardware out of your living room – is pretty obvious, but what’s the experience like? We took four Media Centres of differing types for a test spin to see how well the Media Centre hype lives up to real-world expectations.
How We Tested
For this review, we looked primarily at the Media Centre-specific attributes of each PC; for most home/lounge room use they’re more than powerful enough as PCs, so this wasn’t as much a speeds and capabilities race as it was a comfortable-in-the-living-space race. Systems were also monitored to see how noisy they were - it’s not a consideration for an under-the-desk PC, but something that’s noisier than the TV just won’t do - and of course assessed on pure value-for-money terms.
Tested and Rate prices listed as RRP are those recommended by the distributor. Some odels reviewed are not sold in New Zealand but can be purchased at Australian online stores ($A = Australian price). You will save by shopping around. Check warranty details carefully. NetGuide is not responsible for changes in availability or pricing.
TOSHIBA QOSMIO G30
NZ approx. price: $5500
Site: www.toshiba.com.au
Pros: The Qosmio takes the Media Centre concept and turns it sideways; it’s a MediaCentre notebook, and a big one at that. That’s big in a physical sense, but also in a specifications sense - it sports 320GB of hard disk space, 2GB of memory and a HD-DVD drive. Our test system worked well as a Media Centre - and was running the older Media Center 2005 OS - with plenty of multimedia features that you won’t find on most regular notebooks.
Cons: The Qosmio is huge (and only barely portable in a notebook sense) and the addition of so many premium components, especially the HD-DVD drive, drives the asking price absolutely through the roof.
Verdict: A very nice Media Centre notebook for the well heeled, but a bit rich for our tastes.
HP PAVILION M8070
RRP: $1900 inc. GST ($2299 with 17” monitor)
Site: www.hp.co.nz
Pros: The m8070 - running Vista Home Premium - still looks like a desktop PC, albeit a bit flashier and more suitable for the living room than Acer’s e700. Most of the plug-in functions, such as media card slots and the DVD drive, are hidden behind panels, which gives the system a sleek look.
Cons: The m8070 was a touch noisier than the Acer (although not on a par with the Altech system) and only features a single TV tuner, so you can only watch or record one channel at once.
Verdict: A good-looking PC at a compelling price point.
ALTECH M2000
RRP: $A2599 plus shipping
Site: www.altech.com.au
Pros: Altech’s M2000 is the most expensive of our “desktop” Media Centres, but that’s at least partly because it’s the only one that looks good outside of a desktop context, with a case that’s more reminiscent of most home hi-fi equipment. The bundled Media Centre keyboard – which integrates a mousing control on the keyboard itself - lessens the clutter in your living room very nicely. It’s also the only unit to come with dual digital tuners, allowing for multiple recording of TV channels.
Cons: In our testing the keyboard itself, and especially the mouse part, was quite twitchy. The M2000’s hi-fi design may be eye-catching, but it also means it lacks the easy access to media card ports and the like of the HP m8070.
Verdict: A good-looking system with plenty of potential.
ACER E700
RRP: From $1749 inc. GST
Site: www.acer.co.nz
Pros: Acer’s e700 PC (our review sample was running Windows XP Media Center Edition, but shop models should include Vista Home Premium by the time you read this) was quiet and generally easy to set up. It’s also branded as Viiv-compliant.
Cons: We did struggle a little getting the remote control, wireless keyboard and mouse all talking at the same time. It’s also a very basic looking PC, and as such it’s likely to be a bit of an eyesore in most living room arrangements.
Verdict: A basic Media Centre at a basic price, but we reckon you can do a bit better with the HP m8070.
Best in Test HP PAVILION M8070 This was a tough one to judge, as we had a small field of very different competitors - the Qosmio and Altech systems don’t even play in the same price playground as the HP and Acer machines. In the end, we plumped for the HP by the slimmest of margins over the Altech, largely because of the hidden media card/DVD functions of the HP.
Highly Commended: Altech M2000Media Centre
Buyers’ Checklist
1) A decent LCD/Plasma TV. It doesn’t have to be huge, and it is possible to connect up a standard CRT TV to a Media Centre via S-Video or Composite connections, but the results are almost always ugly and unwatchable. Many of the standard PC vendors will sell you a Media Centre with a bundled LCD, which is fine for computing use, but generally too small to be a suitable lounge room telly, unless you plan on streaming your media centre out.
2) Digital TV Reception. Again, it’s not compulsory - many Media Centres do ship with analogue tuners - but matching an analogue signal with digital technology will again often look ugly, and as a result you won’t be getting value for your media centre network.
3) A home network. Like the previous two, not compulsory, but a home network and Media Centre will let you stream and share music, pictures and even TV to multiple TVs and other PCs, giving you the full Media Centre experience.
Expert Tip
Streaming TV
If you’ve purchased a Media Centre or Vista PC with the Media Center components, you don’t have to put up with an ugly box in your living room - or at least not two of them anyway. Owners of Microsoft’s Xbox 360 console can stream Media Centre content across a wired or wireless home network, including TV if your network is robust enough. See tinyurl.com/9vson for more details.