Entertainment Center
Years ago, when computer companies first floated the idea of using a Windows computer as the center of a home-entertainment system, I dismissed the concept, saying it would introduce the pain of computer crashes to the formerly simple act of watching television.
But much has changed over the years. The current version of the Microsoft operating system, Windows XP, is pretty stable. And Microsoft has a slick new version of XP, called the Media Center Edition, that allows a PC to be controlled remotely from across the room. Media Center PCs typically include TV receivers and the ability to record TV programs to a hard disk, as well as to play music and videos and run slide shows of photos, all on a large TV screen.
This year, Microsoft and its partners have built on that concept. The latest Media Center computers can beam TV programming, music, videos and photos to televisions in distant parts of a home, using a home network and an add-on device called a Media Center Extender . And more PC makers are offering Media Center computers that look like home-entertainment-center components rather than traditional PCs.
I've been testing one of these PCs-in-disguise, a new model from Hewlett-Packard called the z545-b Digital Entertainment Center. It's a thick, horizontal black box packed with power, capacity and features that costs a whopping $1,900. I've also been testing HP's new Media Center Extender , a slender, pizza-box-shaped accessory that costs a hefty $299.
In general, both worked well. But they also had some drawbacks, and it was impossible to escape two of the worst problems of using a Windows computer -- security issues and networking complexities.
The HP z545-b Digital Entertainment Center
The black, brushed-aluminum PC is meant to slip into a home-entertainment center, and it has enough audio and video connectors on the back to please most home-entertainment fans and baffle novices. There are two TV tuners inside, as well as an FM-radio receiver, and jacks on the back for connecting to cable or satellite TV. The multiple video connections include all the popular variations, analog and digital. The 10 audio connections include jacks for up to eight speakers.
The computer itself has 512 megabytes of memory. It also has enough hard-disk storage to hold a lot of recorded TV: a main 200-gigabyte hard disk and a secondary, removable, 160-gigabyte hard disk.
The Media Center software has been modestly upgraded this year by Microsoft. For instance, you can now crop photos and edit the song title and other information in music files using only the remote control. But the software retains its elegant, uncluttered look, and still works well with the remote. This interface is Microsoft's best software design work in recent years. And underneath, there's a full-fledged Windows PC with the usual Windows XP desktop.
In my tests, the system worked well. I was easily able to watch and record TV, play music, and view photos and videos. HP, which also sells Apple Computer's iPod music player, has even added a remote-controlled version of Apple's iTunes music program.
There are some drawbacks to this PC, however. Despite its high price, it doesn't come with its own speakers. The keyboard, which is meant for light duty on a lap, is weak, with a built-in cursor control I found clumsy.
And the realities of the Windows security mess can intrude on your entertainment experience. For instance, while I was watching TV, I was repeatedly interrupted by pop-up notices urging me to configure Norton AntiVirus. To do so, I had to exit the Media Center software.
I also tested the $299 Media Center Extender , which uses a wired or wireless home network to stream video and audio from the Media Center PC to a television or stereo system in another room. The basic setup for the extender went well. And music and photos were beamed perfectly over my wireless network, which uses a popular Wi-Fi flavor, called 802.11g. (The extender doesn't work with the most common flavor of Wi-Fi, called 802.11b.)
But video was a problem. When I tried to watch recorded TV shows on the remote TV, the picture stuttered noticeably, and it was grainy. Microsoft and H-P attributed this to the speed of my network, which was being degraded by other computers doing e-mail and Web browsing.
Microsoft says that, for optimal video streaming, Media Center users should buy and install a separate wireless network based on the less-common 802.11a standard and dedicate it to the Media Center extender connection.
This is likely to add another $100 or so to the cost of the setup. Worse, it will plunge users into the morass of installing another network. The complexity of this task is increased by the fact that the H-P computer doesn't work with the "a" flavor of Wi-Fi, even though the Extender does. H-P and Microsoft provide instructions on how to do this, but it isn't simple for nontechies.
The H-P Digital Entertainment Center works well in a single room, as long as you aren't too bothered by the intrusion of standard Windows irritations, like security notices and, worse, viruses and spyware. But setting it up to stream video to other rooms is still too difficult for mainstream users.
Windows在家庭娱乐系统中显威力
几年前，当电脑公司提出用Windows操作系统作为家庭娱乐系统的中枢时，我对此不屑一顾，认为如此一来电脑死机的痛苦就会蔓延到简单轻松的娱乐活动中。
但是，随著时间的推移，情况发生了变化。微软公司(Microsoft)目前的操作系统Windows XP已相当稳定。不仅如此，微软还推出了名为Media Center Edition的新版XP操作系统，能使用户在房间里遥控个人电脑。Media Center PC通常还包括一个电视接收机，并能把电视节目刻录到硬盘上，还能播放音乐、视频节目以及幻灯，所有这一切都是在电视萤幕上操作的。
今年，微软公司及其合作伙伴们进一步发展了上述概念。最新的Media Center电脑能够利用家庭网络，并通过一个名为Media Center Extender的附件向房间另一端的电视机传送电视节目、音乐、视频文件和照片。越来越多的个人电脑制造商推出了Media Center电脑，它们看上去更像是家庭娱乐中心的一部分，而非传统的电脑。
我对其中的一款Media Center电脑进行了测试，它就是惠普公司(Hewlett Packard)生产的z545-b Digital Entertainment Center。这台黑色的电脑附带各种功能，售价高达1,900美元。我还对该公司制造的新型Media Center Extender进行了测试，这个轻巧的比萨饼盒形状的附件也卖到了299美元。
总体而言，两样产品的性能都不错。不过依然存在不足，尤其是未能解决Windows操作系统的两大问题--安全性问题以及网络连接过于复杂的问题。
作为家庭娱乐中心的组成部分，这台电脑后部拥有很多的音频和视频接口，足以满足大多数家庭娱乐迷们的胃口，同时也让新手们不知所措。电脑里有两个电视调谐器和一个调频接收器，电脑背部还有一些用来连接有线电视或卫星电视的插孔。视频接口有很多种，包括数字信号接口和模拟信号接口，并且还有10个音频接口，能连接至多8个扬声器。
Digital Entertainment Center的内存是512兆。它还拥有足够的硬盘空间，可存放大量录制下来的电视节目：主硬盘的大小为200G，另外还有一个大小为160G的移动硬盘。
今年，微软公司对Media Center软件进行了一些升级。例如，你可以通过遥控器采集照片、编辑音乐文件夹中的歌曲和其他文件的标题。不过，该软件并未改变高雅整齐的界面，并且也与遥控器配合得很好。它是微软近年来设计得最好的界面。而在这些功能背后，是完全成熟的Windows电脑以及常用的Windows XP系统。
在我的测试中，该系统运转正常。我很轻松地就能观看和录制电视节目、播放音乐、欣赏照片和视频节目。惠普公司还出售苹果电脑(Apple Computer)的iPod音乐播放器，它甚至为苹果电脑的iTunes音乐软件添加了遥控功能。
不过，这款电脑也存在一些缺点。尽管售价不菲，它却没有自带扬声器。本应用在笔记本电脑上的轻型键盘比较脆弱，内置光标控制键使用不便。
Windows系统的安全问题还会影响到你的娱乐活动。例如，当我在看电视的时候，我被电视萤幕上冒出的敦促我安装Norton AntiVirus防病毒软件的提示一再打断，为此，我不得不退出Media Center软件。
我还测试了Media Center Extender，它通过有线或无线家庭网络把Media Center PC中的视频和音频信号传输到其他房间的电视机里或音响系统中。这个附件基本的功能运行不错。在我的无线网络中，音乐和照片的传送效果几近完美，我使用的是常见802.11g无线高保真网络(Wi-Fi)。（该设备不兼容802.11b无线高保真网络。）
然而，视频节目传输存在问题。当我试图在电视上观看录制下来的电视节目时，画面时断时续，不是很清楚。微软和惠普认为这是由于我的网络传输速度引起的，具体来说是其他电脑收发电子邮件和上网的活动降低了网络传输速度。
微软公司称，要取得最佳的视频传输效果，Media Center的用户应当另行购买和安装基于不太常见的802.11a技术标准的独立无线网络，专门用于Media Center Extender的连接。
这意味著还要增加100美元左右的设备成本。更糟糕的是，这还使用户陷入了安装另一套网络的泥潭中。由于惠普电脑不能与802.11a高保真系统兼容，而Extender却可以，这使事情变得更加复杂了。惠普和微软均提供了对于此类问题的解决办法，但这对于一般人来说并非易事。
只要你对Windows系统常见的问题，如安全提示、甚至是更糟糕的病毒和间谍软件等都不是太在意，惠普的Digital Entertainment Center在一个房间里的使用效果还是算很好的。但对于大众而言，用它来把视频信号从一个房间传输到其他房间依然很困难。
