Hauppauge HD-PVR Delayed Until Mid-May

Are you one of the many anxiously awaiting Hauppauge’s new HD-PVR? Hauppauge’s website still indicates the HD-PVR will begin shipping on May 1st, 2008. But, there is new information that says that isn’t the case. Unfortunately, I have confirmed with Hauppauge that the first shipments didn’t begin on May 1st. Instead, the earliest, expected shipment … Read more

The Firefly Remote

SnapStream, the folks behind Beyond TV DVR software, offered Team ZNF a look at the Firefly RF media center remote control ($50). While Brent‘s finalizing his review, he shipped the remote back to play with before we give it away on ZNF. The Firefly controls a wide variety of media apps out of the box, … Read more

Digital Media Bytes

A periodic roundup of relevant news… from our other blogs: Comcast Launches AnyRoom: Media Experiences 2 Go Mac Mini as Windows HTPC: Brent Evans Geek Tonic Grand Theft Gamestop: Davis Freeberg’s Digital Connection New Motorola VDSL2 Gateways: Media Experiences 2 Go Teaching Time Warner Clear QAM: Brent Evans Geek Tonic Femtocells, Region by Region: Media … Read more

Question of the Day: What’s an HTPC?

I received an email yesterday wondering what exactly an HTPC is, and why wouldn’t I just hook up an inexpensive computer to my flat panel for music, pics, DVD, and video? As I told George, that’s exactly what I’ve done.

A Home Theater PC (HTPC) is more of a usage concept rather than a specific piece of a hardware. Generally speaking, one would want an HTPC to have at least one tuner (ATSC, NTSC, DVB-*, CableCARD), an appropriate video card for HD playback, and some sort of software package(s) to power it all. In my case, I’ve temporarily repurposed an inexpensive HP desktop (a1600n) which ran ~$650 18 months ago. (Vista was a free upgrade by mail.) Because the unit lives in the open, instead of within an AV closet or another room, I purposely sought out a fanless video card to limit noise. Under XP, Microsoft’s media center + DVR software was initially an upsell (XP MCE) and initially only provided to OEMs. Whereas typical multimedia-centric consumer Vista systems (Premium, Ultimate) now include this functionality. (And Apple offers Front Row.) So it’s pretty easy to get into the game. HTPCs provide a whole lot more power and flexibility than a typical DVR or extender, but they’re not necessarily economical and require a larger investment of time in configuration and maintenance than a dedicated consumer electronics device.

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More HTPC Experimentation

What to do with a headless Vista PC? Now that the LCD’s been relocated, the desktop computer needs a new home. In two weeks, I’m visiting my great uncle who’s possibly in need of an updated system. There’s always ebay. Or maybe I need to keep this HP around for random experiments like running Mythbuntu, … Read more

Elgato EyeTV Hybrid Unboxing

Since I’m notoriously slow writing up reviews, I’m harnessing the power of my still unreviewed yet highly relied upon Eye-Fi with the quirky but efficient WordPress 2.5 image gallery functionality to at least get some photos up of my latest goody… I’ve been contemplating replacing one of my TiVo units with an HTPC. And I’m … Read more

Tax Day!

Lest we forget, today’s the Ides of April. I haven’t gotten a refund since selling my condo about three years ago. But if I had some unexpected cash coming my way, I’d probably be thinking about supplementing my Xbox 360 with a Wii or (more likely) a PS3. I might also be a little more … Read more

Blockbuster: Yet Another Set-Top Box?

Because we just don’t have enough set-top boxes to choose from, Blockbuster will be tossing their hat into the ring. According to the Hollywood Reporter: The home video giant is developing a set-top device for streaming films directly to TV sets and is expected to announce the offering sometime this month. The device is believed … Read more