think inside the box no more separate dvd player, cd jukebox or vcr. adios, tv-recording service, video-editing console and slide projector. here\'s how to buy one of the new multimedia pcs that replaces--and even impro

(MONEY Magazine)
-It seems personal until recently-
Boring PC users have pushed the computer industry to death.
The internet, once an explosion, has been overwhelmed by pornography and popularity. up ads.
The game has begun to stand. alone consoles.
Even the naughty thrill of downloading songs is now being slammed by big media.
But all of a sudden, the computer becomes a great toy again: the latest computer is getting together and can match or beat any home entertainment hardware you already have.
The new PC has a hard drive large enough to store the U. S.
Census can make your TV and video look better than ever.
It can be a personal video recorder that stores hundreds of hours of your favorite shows on a hard drive or on your own dvd.
It can save and organize all the songs on all your cd and lp-
Play them through your stereo.
It can make slides of thousands of photos you take with a digital camera.
This is just the beginning.
Couch potatoes, fluttering: how does this build your own country-of-the-
Arts and Entertainment Center-
Turn yourself into a big boss. tuber.
In the market, almost all new home entertainment devices process media in one or another digital format.
This makes them ideal victims of functionality. PC poaching
Add up the cost of parts that multimedia PC can replace--
Personal video recorders such as TiVo or ReplayTV (
Service fee per month); a stand-
DVD recorder; a CD jukebox;
Maybe it\'s a video.
Edit console and VCR, slide machine or turntable ---
And the total price soon surpassed the new computer.
A mid-sized component rack can easily get you back to $2,000, but the new multi-talent computer starts at less than $1,000.
To make your label smaller, you can re-convert the computer you have into a multimedia computer for a few hundred dollars.
The easiest way to have a fully equipped multimedia PC is to buy one.
What bothers Apple\'s audience is that Microsoft is leading the race towards the friendliest and most functional machines.
Since Bill Gates moved his family into a programmable mansion where rich video and audio outlets change as people move from room to room, to meet the same experience that their Microsoft has been giving Windows users.
Today, Microsoft has put almost all of its media skills into an enhanced operating system called Windows XP Media Center Edition, which is only available on the New media Center pc.
Connect one of the computers to a cable or satellite
TV connection, it can display live TV and still have enough juice to perform all the tasks of any other top TVtier PC.
These machines can be connected to a TV, monitor or both at the same time.
You can use the Media Center PC with the core components you already have--
TV and speakers-
Add an entertainment center to your living room.
Or in smaller spaces such as offices and dormitories, you can set up your computer with your own monitor and speakers and put both PC and entertainment centers together.
Two matters needing attention on radio and television-
Delivery anyway--
Only when you have a strong signal will it look brighter and clearer.
In addition, the display effect of ordinary TV on other conventional tasks such as text processing is not good; digital flat-
However, the flat panel TV is excellent as both a TV and a large PC monitor.
Among its many roles, the Media Center PC can be: a personal video recorder that links a Media Center PC to the Internet, which connects to a free website, the website shows the grid of the day TV schedule customized for your cable or satellite provider. (
For families that still receive TV only through the antenna, this feature will not do much. )
Click on the show when it airs--
Mouse or remote control comes with each Media Center PC--
It appears on the screen.
Select the record button and the display will be saved to your hard drive.
Click on the show for the week and they will all be saved when they air. Stand-
Personal Video Recorder (PVRs)
Like TiVos and re, it\'s basically the same, but for the Media Center PC you don\'t have to pay extra for the service.
If your hard drive can\'t save the annual value of the Simpsons you recorded, you can easily insert an external hard drive that stores more-
What you can\'t do with a standalone PVR.
Computers in most media centers are equipped with DVD recorders
Recordable drive that allows you to record your TV or copy the saved video on your hard drive to a $1 DVD-R disk.
They also provide motion connectivity for home cameras, allowing you to transfer old home videos to a durable dvd.
Is there music for a lifetime on the super record machine?
It only took me a week to rip the tracks from 800 CDs to my Hewlett-
The hard drive of the Packard Media Center PC. (
To speed up, I stacked dozens of CDs next to the machine at a time and moved a new cd while copying the last one. )
My computer is up to date.
The generation of \"multi-threaded\" Pentium 4 processors from Intel makes it easy for machines to do multitasking, which means I can do other work while copying discs. Mostly.
When \"What\'s New, cat?
Hot Songs from Tom Jones and delguton tag jumping
The \"giggle\" from the producer reached their pile top.
My 800 cd took up 30 gigabytes of hard drivedrive space.
Happily, the typical Media Center PC is equipped with a drive of 120 gigabytes or more.
These computers are also equipped with Windows Media Player 9, which links your music files to an online database for detailed album information and displays the original work on the screen while your music plays
With this software, you can sort and rearrange music by artist, song title and genre.
You can assemble digital photos on your computer into a slide show--with music--
And display them on a monitor or TV screen.
If you have a bunch of pictures, you can make a program that runs quietly (or not)
On your TV all day. A HOLLYWOOD (BASEMENT)
Once you copy your home videos to your Media Center PC, you can edit them with Hollywood
Style title and transition, narration and soundtrack (
From your own cd music collection or from the digital music file you downloaded).
Basic video with Windows XP-
Editing software MovieMaker 2, but few computers can connect cameras and computers.
PC media center. A REMOTE-
An unexpected pleasure with the Media Center PC is that you can throw away the bin full of remote controls.
The remote control that comes with the PC navigation all the multimedia files of the computer, playing music, home video, TV, dvd, etc.
Of course, these computers can run in standard mode familiar to all Windows users, but since they are designed to optimize the time of the sofa, they also provide the so-called \"ten-feet mode.
\"Once in this mode, the pcs menu is simpler and the menu type is large enough so you can browse them without a telescope.
Are you ready to buy one?
Microsoft Media Center website (microsoft.
Com/Windows XP/mediacenter)
Link to every model on the market. Hewlett-
Packard and Gateway have always been the most active retailers, pricing powerful machines at relatively few prices.
HP\'s product line, sold in stores and HP.
Com, starting at $999--
HP appears to be interested in sharply lowering the price of its competitors. Gateway\'s low-
The oomph for terminal devices is slightly higher than HP, starting at about $1,300.
A good deal for Gateway is a $4,150 bundle that will put a PC and a 42-inch flat-
Panel Plasma Display--
It costs only less than a similar screen.
Gateway sold online at gateway.
Com and its own store will even deliver and install the system for about $450.
Or, if you\'re willing to drop the seamless integration of the XP Media Center model, you can install a machine that you already have to mimic most media center features.
Any PC with a CPU running at 1 ghz or faster should be strong enough.
Multimedia Applications crave RAM, which is the memory your computer uses to move data instantly.
Aim at least 512 MB of RAM.
If you want to add memory yourself, please find out the type of memory used by your machine in your memory configurator in Kingston.
Kingston Technology website.
Companies that make memory modules have databases for almost every computer.
If you are not willing to delve into RAM in your machine, many electronic stores will install memory and other upgrades for you for $50 to $100.
Next, give your smart machine an internal idiot box.
250 of Hapak hd PVR ($150, hopagcom)
It\'s one of the few tuners, and when your machine captures a broadcast program in the background, it lets you work on your computer at full speed.
Don\'t want to turn on the machine connection tuner?
Try the VideOh DVD media center for Adaptec (
Discount stores cost about $150; go to adaptec.
List of retailers for Com), a signal-
Tuning and signal
Looks a bit like a capture device for a portable CD player and plugs into the USB port.
Both tuners get information from cable and satellite links as well as from TV antennas.
These two software also include the software to turn your computer into a personal video recorder and provide the same free online service
Scheduling Service as an XP Media Center.
You also need a DVD recorder.
There is only one option here in my email
Book: Pioneer A06 (about $250)
An internal drive that reads and writes record disks in almost all formats on the market.
The easiest way to add harddrive capacity?
Connect the external drive.
Large: 120 gigabytes or larger will keep the viewing time for several months.
An external drive of this size now costs less than $200 and can easily be moved from one PC to another.
When you read this, the external version of the pioneer A06 drive should be available.
Unlike most external drives, it looks more like at home in furniture than in papermetal plant.
Sitting more beautifully is not to say that most computers look attractive.
Frumpy gray box is still the norm, putting one next to a sleek stereo and sexy new TV, just like the conductor in front of the orchestra wearing Sansabelt pants.
If you want a computer to anchor it without destroying the appearance of the home entertainment center, you have to build it yourself.
Much easier than it sounds.
It can make a net profit for you. of-the-
Line PC during downtimethe-line price.
Without experience, I built a machine in three hours, the biggest part of which was not to go to the machine itself, but to get the software into the machine.
I spent about $1,100, about $1,000 less than a ready-made PC with the same gear.
TigerDirect sells PC kits online with almost all the parts you needit-Beautiful self.
This is especially gorgeous-called \"bare-
The \"bone\" kit, which is supplied by Shuttle, a Taiwanese manufacturer.
These cases include all the multimedia guts you need, a late-
Intel generation CPU and generous hard drive.
All you need to do is add a DVD recorder and a video/TV capture card.
It also gives you the opportunity to choose the best graphics card in the world today ATI All-in-
Wonder 9800 Pro not only captures the video from the TV and camera, but also outputs the signal at a resolution four times higher than any holder
The only DVD player on the market.
Watch High
Computer monitor or plasma monitor
The screen TV, the video on the card is clearly visible, and the video game looks like a feature film.
You also need to purchase a copy of Windows XP Pro ($300).
If you like the idea of a small and stylish box, but don\'t like the idea of making a machine, some online custom stores will build one for you, but it won\'t be that cheap. ABS Computers (abscomputers. com)
It is the beginning of credibility.
What about the little machine?
In my archived \"alias\" episode, it gets more oohs and ahhs than Jennifer Garner\'s costume.
Add a wireless keyboard and mouse such as sci-fi-
See Logitech Cordless MX Duo ($100, www. logitech. com)
, You will plant long enough on the sofa to sprout.