Exceptional Home Entertainment - Media Center PCs
I’m sure you’ve heard of them. Media center PCs are everywhere and it seems like Windows XP Home has gone the way of the dodo, being replaced by Windows XP Media Center. How does a media center PC fit into your home entertainment system, and should you consider getting one?
Media center PCs are designed to be the center for all your entertainment needs. They hold music, movies, and games with a great interface to access all of them. I’d like to go over the pros and cons of a media center PC, and then maybe you can decide whether one is for you.
Pros:
- Storage for everything you could ever want
- Internet connectivity
- Great interface
- Excellent Gaming Platform
Cons:
- Powering on/off takes a while
- Energy hogs
- Remote control is lacking
- Unable to rip DVDs
In my opinion, Media Center PCs have great possibilities. However, I have rarely seen them as the centerpoint of any entertainment center. I believe this is due to two main reasons. First, they offer no way to rip DVDs to the hard drive (unless you don’t fiddling with ISOs). This decreases their usefulness considerably. Second, these all inclusive devices offer nothing above and beyond the simple interfaces they replace.
For now, I think the best use for a Media Center PC is as a home jukebox. Until there is a way to rip DVDs, control your PC relibably from the couch, and simplify operation, many people won’t buy in.
As a disclaimer, I own a Dell XPS 600 with Media Center. I find I’ve only used the Media Center interface once or twice and generally use iTunes for all my music needs. If I could rips DVDs to my computer and control the cable directly through my TV inputs rather than with the necessary external box, I’d use it as the centerpiece of all entertainment. Until then, it remains an ordinary desktop.