Gateway Designs Slim, TV-Style Media Center, But Some Bugs Remain
Microsoft introduced last year a very nice version of Windows XP called the Media Center Edition. It had all the features of Windows XP, but added a special interface, visible from 10 feet away, that allowed you to control a built-in TV, plus all your digital music, photos, videos and DVDs, from across a room using a remote control.
The Media Center Edition, shipped on a limited number of high-end PCs with built-in TV tuners, was meant for college dorm rooms and small apartments. But it proved popular with people of all ages and in all sorts of dwellings. So, lots of PC makers this fall are selling Media Center PCs tricked out with multimedia options.
By far the most ambitious and cool-looking of these new Media Center PCs is the forthcoming 610 Media Center from Gateway , a company trying to reposition itself as a maker of TV sets and other consumer-electronics gear in addition to computers.
The 610 series, which comes in three models ranging in price from $1,500 to $2,000, doesn't look like a PC at all. Instead, it looks like one of the new desktop flat-panel TVs. It has a 17-inch widescreen display flanked by two large built-in speakers, all mounted on a pedestal.
But there's a well-equipped Windows PC hidden behind the screen. Along the edges of the thin computer, across its top and on its back are enough buttons and connectors to fly a jumbo jet. There's even a subwoofer tucked into the back.
I tested a preproduction model of the high-end 610, the $2,000 configuration called the 610XL. All three 610 configurations are due to arrive by mid- to late November, according to Gateway . For comparison, I also tested a Dell Media Center model, the 4600C, a small but conventional desktop PC with a separate flat-panel monitor. It's available now, and the configuration Dell supplied me costs $2,119.
In most respects, I really liked the Gateway 610. It has about every feature a power user or multimedia lover could want. The design is very smart, and the unit seemed very solid and well built. It was a snap to set up, and eliminated the usual tangle of cables because everything is built in.
Plus, based on my comparison with the Dell, you won't pay extra for the Gateway's cool design. The Gateway is better equipped than the Dell, and much more attractive, yet it actually costs $119 less. It has a faster processor, a much larger hard disk and built-in wireless networking, which the Dell lacks.
However, there was a big downside to the Gateway I tested. The TV picture quality was lousy, with lots of static, when connected to the cable TV feed in my office. Gateway says its tests show great reception and suggested that the problem might lie in my cable connection. But the same cable feed, when hooked up to the Dell, looked better. It still wasn't great, and still had some static, but the picture on the Dell was distinctly better than on the Gateway .
I can't tell whether this is just a result of the machine I used being a preproduction unit, but if you expect to watch TV on the 610, check it out first at a Gateway store.
The Gateway 610XL has a Pentium 4 processor running at 3 gigahertz, 512 megabytes of memory and a gigantic 200 gigabyte hard disk. It includes a disk drive tucked into the right side that plays and records DVDs and CDs. And it has a wireless keyboard and mouse, and Wi-Fi wireless networking.
Along the top of the display are controls for power, volume, brightness and changing the TV channel. Along the left are slots for the little memory cards used by digital cameras, music players and PDAs. Also on the left are a USB 2.0 port and a full-size FireWire port for connecting camcorders and iPod music players. On the right, below the CD/DVD drive, are jacks for a headphone and microphone. A whole bank of additional connectors on the back includes four additional USB ports.
Like all the other Media Center PCs, the Gateway can pause and rewind live TV, and can record TV programs to its hard disk. You can even burn these recorded shows onto a DVD.
All of these media functions worked fine in my tests. But the Gateway is also a very powerful standard PC, which works like any other good Windows XP machine when you're not doing multimedia tasks. It did well on the Internet, and I didn't even have to plug in a wire to get online because the built-in Wi-Fi radio -- rare on a desktop PC -- found my wireless network immediately.
Besides the TV static, there were a couple of other problems with the Gateway in my tests. Sometimes, when I plugged in a Windows iPod, the system would freeze or go into an ugly crash. But on other occasions, the iPod worked fine.
Also, out of the box, the keyboard produced the wrong letters when keys were pressed. Gateway helped me straighten that out and said the production models will have new software that prevents this problem.
If Gateway can wring out the glitches, and especially if it can fix the TV reception, the 610 Media Center will be a winner.
Gateway内置TV电脑一酷到底
去年，微软(Microsoft)推出了一个名为Media Center(媒体中心)的新版Windows XP。它具备Windows XP的所有功能，而且还增加了一个在10英尺外就看得清的特别界面，让你能够利用遥控器隔著一间屋子对一切数码音乐、图片、影像、DVD以及内置电视进行操控。
这种Media Center版安装在带有内置电视接收器、数量有限的高端个人电脑上，原本是为大学宿舍和小型公寓设计的，但事实表明，该产品受到了年龄层次以及居住环境不同的人士的青睐。因此，今年秋季许多个人电脑制造商在出售多媒体选项五花八门的Media Center个人电脑。
迄今为止，这些新型Media Center个人电脑中野心最大且外表最酷的，要数Gateway公司的610 Media Center了。Gateway正试图重新定位，在生产电脑的同时，也成为电视机和其他消费电子产品供应商。
610系列产品有三种型号，价格从1,500到2,000美元不等，其外形看上去根本不像个人电脑，倒是类似一种新型的平面直角电视机。它配有17英寸宽银幕显示器，两侧各带一个内置的大喇叭，都安装在基座上。
但在这个显示器后面，还装有一个五脏俱全的Windows个人电脑。在这款薄型电脑的边缘、上方和背后装有许多按钮和连接器，后面还夹著一个超低音喇叭。
我对试制的高端610产品──售价2000美元的610XL进行了测试。据Gateway称，所有三款610型的产品都将于11月中下旬面市。为了进行对比，我还测试了戴尔(Dell)的Media Center 4600C，这是一款带有单独纯平显示器、小巧而传统的台式个人电脑。该产品现已上市，售价2,119美元。
从大多数方面来看，我真的很喜欢Gateway 610。它具备网络超级玩家和多媒体爱好者可能需要的一切功能。它的设计十分小巧，看上去结实而精致。610安装起来非常快捷，由于一切都置于机身之内，免去了连接一堆线路的麻烦。
另外，根据我对它与戴尔产品进行的比较，用户并未为这种绝妙的设计而多付钱。Gateway 610的配置比戴尔更高，也更具吸引力，而售价却低119美元。Gateway 610的处理器速度更快，硬盘更大，还带有戴尔所缺少的内置无线网络装置。
然而，我所测试的Gateway产品存在一个很大的问题。在与我办公室的有线电视装置连接后，播放的电视节目图像模糊，且噪音很大。Gateway称，该公司在测试时其产品接收电视信号状况良好，也就是说，问题可能出在我的有线装置上。但我在用同样的装置与戴尔产品连接时，效果就好得多，虽然清晰度算不上很高，且也有一些噪音，但显然比Gateway好多了。
至于这种测试结果是否该归因于我使用的是试制品，我无法确定，但如果你想用610电脑看电视，至少要先在出售Gateway的店里试试。
Gateway 610XL配有速度3GHz的奔腾(Pentium)4处理器，512兆内存，200G的超大硬盘。它的右侧装有光驱，可播放CD和DVD。另外，该产品还带有无线键盘和鼠标，以及Wi-Fi无线网络设备。
显示器顶端是一排是电源、音量、亮度及电视频道选择按钮。左侧是数码相机、音乐播放器和个人数字助理(PDA)的小型存储卡插槽。同时，左侧还带有USB 2.0端口及标准尺寸的FireWire端口，用来连接便携式摄像机和iPod音乐播放器。右侧在CD/DVD光驱下面，是耳机和麦克风插孔。排列在背面的附加连接器中还包括四个额外的USB端口。
像所有其他Media Center个人电脑一样，Gateway能够暂停和回放正在播放的电视节目，并将其录制到硬盘上去。你甚至可以将这些电视节目烧制成DVD盘。
在我的测试中，所有这些媒体功能运行良好。但Gateway作为标准个人电脑的功能也十分强大，在不执行多媒体任务时也和其他性能良好的Windows XP电脑不相上下。它的上网功能也很好用，由于带有Wi-Fi无线接收装置，我甚至不必接入线路，而这一点对台式个人电脑来说是十分难得的。
除电视噪音外，我还测试出Gateway另外一些问题。有时，当我插上Windows iPod电源，该系统会死机或彻底崩溃。但在其他情况下，iPod运行顺利。
另外，敲击键盘时还会出现字母输出错误。Gateway帮我解决了这个问题，并表示，正式生产的产品将使用避免该问题的新软件。
如果Gateway能避免这些小瑕疵，尤其是解决电视节目接收问题，610 Media Center将会成为市场赢家。
