media center

Linksys Media Center Extender 2200: The wait is over

Crave Linksys recently sent us its Media Center Extender 2200 -- and shock of all shocks -- it doesn't suck. Any movies, music, photos or live TV on your Media Center computer can be enjoyed on your telly in another room over a wired or wireless 802.11a...

Tags: linksys, wireless, media center, wired

13 February 2008, 11:12

Creative Zen Vision: Buddha's media centre

Crave The portable music world has long had the iPod as its poster boy, but media centres have had no such public face. The Creative is aimed squarely at the novice thanks to Windows Media Player integration -- simply plug the device into a PC and it...

Tags: creative, hard drive, windows media player, vision

5 December 2005, 10:39

DivX 6.0: the MP3 of video

Crave It might not be as easy as MP3, but if you're as sold on portable media centres as we are, DivX is a must-buy. You think you're cool, sitting on the bus with your iPod Shuffle hanging round your neck like a piece of techno-jewellery.

Tags: divx, archos, divx video, played

1 August 2005, 11:49

Archos AV700: muggings guaranteed

Crave If the Archos AV4100 is the VW Golf of the portable media centre world, then the new AV700 is a monster truck waiting to run over it and blow fire from its nostrils. It's huge -- about twice the size of the PSP, but its svelte frame means that you...

Tags: archos technology, psp, portable, upgrade

26 August 2005, 12:13

Shuttle XPC G5 6801M: Media Center that swings both ways

Crave Shuttle is back with another Media Center PC, and this XPC G5 6801M is aimed at HD movie enthusiasts. Its major selling point is that it packs an LG Super Multi-Blue combi drive that can play Blu-ray movies and those dusty HD DVD discs too.

Tags: shuttle, hd, lg, hd dvd

7 May 2008, 10:57

Fear and Loathing: Media Center PCs

Crave Media Center PCs are supposed to replace your home entertainment system. While a recently born child could easily plug in a video recorder (and many do), it took two experts hours to get one of Crave's Media Center demo units to display video on a...

Tags: recorder, entertainment, plug, media center

27 April 2005, 11:03

Asus A33: Media Center PC with integrated hi-fi amp

Crave Its latest innovation comes in the form of a Media Center desktop with a built-in 500W amplifier. The A33 will ship with Windows Vista Home Premium, which has Media Center, but there will also be an alternative OS -- Linux plus Moxi.

Tags: asus, laptops, hdmi, media center

16 March 2007, 17:37

Hands on LG GGW-H10N: Super Multi Blue for Media Center

Crave Obviously a noisy PC isn't ideal in a Media Center setup. The tech stork dropped a sweet little package in our laps this morning -- LG's GGW-H10N dual-format optical drive. We previously waxed lyrical about the drive's ability to play both Blu-ray...

Tags: lg electronics, hd, ray, cpu

17 May 2007, 14:59

Upgrade XP with the WinTV-PVR 150 Media Center Kit

Crave Until recently, getting Windows Media Center Edition (MCE) on your PC has been pretty difficult. You can now buy the full version of Windows XP Media Center Edition from sites such as komplett.co.uk for around £85.

Tags: microsoft, tuner, media center, mce

19 December 2005, 10:55

Mac Mini vs. Microsoft Media Center: Round 1

Crave Microsoft has been desperate to claim the living-room as its trophy wife, but a series of attempts to nail the Media Center concept have largely failed. We've decided to pit Microsoft's Media Center offerings against Apple's new

Tags: microsoft, mini, remote control, fans

10 March 2006, 12:20

Moneual Imagine: Stylish, cylindrical Media Center PC

Crave Prepare to hit the plastic: this is a Media Center PC that you might actually consider putting next to your TV. It runs Windows Media Center, although Moneual will offer a model with its own alternative version of the software.

9 January 2008, 10:03

Win Things: Win a complete Shuttle Media Center setup!

Crave March is here, spring is springing and to mark the occasion we've teamed up with the good people at Shuttle for this month's competition to give away a sensational Media Center setup worth over £1,000.

Tags: shuttle, hard disk, setup, multimedia

1 March 2007, 12:27

Hands on: Asus Asteio D22 Media Center

Crave The hype behind Intel Viiv has died a horrible death (Joe Public still doesn't know what it is), but we're still seeing a regular stream of Media Center PCs. It looks as if it's been cut from the same generic mould as most Media Center machines...

Tags: asus, stream, media center, metal

4 December 2006, 10:39

Sony VGX-XL202: Blu-ray Media Center PC

Crave Never mind all that standalone Blu-ray guff though, Sony's just sent us its latest Blu-ray-equipped Media Center PC, the VGX-XL202, and a couple of DVD movies to play on it. Our only gripe was the fact we couldn't play Blu-ray films through Windows...

Tags: ray, samsung, blu, standalone

2 November 2006, 11:36

Apple snubs Media Center and looks beyond traditional PVRs

Crave At first glance it appears like a fairly unremarkable Apple equivalent of Windows Media Center, but it is in fact dramatically different from Microsoft's efforts. Steve Jobs specifically snubbed Windows Media Center in his presentation, showing a...

Tags: film, television, media center, row

13 October 2005, 11:40