Alienware Media Center PC
July 2003
A/V mastery minus the mouse
By Bernard Yee
Alienware Navigator Pro XP Media Center PC
$1,999
PVR, CD, recordable DVD capability
2.67-GHz Pentium 4 processor
www.alienware.com
Your PC rules your den, but what rules your living room? Chances are it's a cable box and a DVD player. If you're one of the true believers, a TiVo or ReplayTV personal video recorder, maybe even a PlayStation 2, dominates the roost.
Microsoft has also made a few attempts to nab control, with its UltimateTV, WebTV and, of course, Xbox. Its latest product is an extension to its Windows XP Pro operating system, the Media Center Edition (MCE). MCE, a Windows application that turns a PC into a TV-friendly media device capable of playing movies, TV, music, videos and showing pictures, is only available as built into approved PCs, such as this Alienware system.
A typical Media Center PC comes with a TV tuner card, DVD drive, a card reader that reads the various flash memory cards used in digital cameras, a remote control and an IR lead which attaches to your cable box, allowing your PC to change the channel for PVR functionality. Along with VGA/DVI outs, MCE PCs also have RCA and S-Video connections. And most of the big PC companies have released systems that resemble the mid-size tower PCs under your desk now — not something you'd see near a television or stereo.
Alienware, a PC company known for high-performance gaming systems, has a better idea. Its Navigator series of Media Center PCs uses Shuttle's petite form-factor PC. Small enough to fit in your stereo cabinet, the Navigator Pro, with a 2.67-MHz Pentium 4 processor, packs substantial punch in a tiny package. With 512 MB of DDR SDRAM, Pioneer A05 DVD-RW, a TV tuner card and an nVidia GeForce4 Ti 4200 64 MB, there are no empty expansion slots. Most users won't need any, with onboard 5.1 audio, optical in and out, FireWire, USB 2.0 and LAN. (Users with HDTVs might want to find a VGA-progressive scan adapter, or a TV with a VGA input, as MCE PCs don't support progressive scan output.)
The system configuration is nearly perfect — though A/V-philes will wish they could configure a setup with an Audigy 2 sound card and an ATI All in Wonder (AIW) 9700 card, and users might wonder why Alienware didn't spec in a wireless keyboard and mouse.
MCE allows you to navigate with its remote control. Its TV functionality makes PVR users feel right at home —the capability to record TV shows with several quality settings, pause live TV and check out TV listings are all well-supported by the user interface. Unlike my modem-bound TiVo and its subscription fee, the Navigator Pro easily accommodated a USB 802.11b adapter, and used my wireless LAN to retrieve free TV program guide updates over the Internet. MCE will use a network connection to find information and album cover art for your DVDs and CDs, too. Still, my cable signal suffered a tiny bit of noticeable picture degradation when routed through the PC.
As a TiVo replacement "plus," it does an excellent job. And the digital photo and video features are simple to use with FireWire and the excellent flash memory card slots. But a PC is much more flexible than a PVR or a DVD player, and MCE doesn't help you navigate those features. To do so, you'll need to dig underneath the interface to apps that might be intuitive on a desktop, but are unwieldy from your couch. Want to rip your CDs to a digital jukebox, or create playlists? You have to use Microsoft MediaPlayer, not Media Center.
The Alienware PC has very solid 3-D gaming capabilities, but its lack of support for the stellar ATI AIW 9700 is a glaring omission. And despite the hearty 2.67-GHz Pentium 4, don't try to multitask too much. Watching a DVD and recording live TV simultaneously resulted in dropped frames. This PC is also rather loud, so I found that the bedroom wasn't a good place to keep MCE running.
Alienware step-up Navigator Extreme's 3.06-GHz Pentium 4 boasts HyperThreading, a virtual "multiple CPU" technology that may help the multitasking situation. Microsoft-only approved TV tuner solutions, which offload 100 percent of the MPEG-coded features from the CPU to prevent dropped frames, and ATI's AIW still require the CPU to do some work. Yet it was easy to make MCE drop frames. And you don't get the option of the AIW's one-slot solution with superior 3-D acceleration and TV playback quality. ATI has pioneered TV/PC integration for years, so it's puzzling why Microsoft won't approve that hardware for use in a Media Center PC.
As it is, the Navigator Pro is an excellent value — solid gaming and computing, great case design, PVR, CD, DVD and recordable DVD features for $1,999 — though you'll want a 200-GB or 250-GB hard drive (rather than the Navigator's 120-GB model) if you really want to record TV. If you don't have a PVR, and need a computer, take a close look.
By Bernard Yee
Alienware Navigator Pro XP Media Center PC
$1,999
PVR, CD, recordable DVD capability
2.67-GHz Pentium 4 processor
www.alienware.com
Your PC rules your den, but what rules your living room? Chances are it's a cable box and a DVD player. If you're one of the true believers, a TiVo or ReplayTV personal video recorder, maybe even a PlayStation 2, dominates the roost.
Microsoft has also made a few attempts to nab control, with its UltimateTV, WebTV and, of course, Xbox. Its latest product is an extension to its Windows XP Pro operating system, the Media Center Edition (MCE). MCE, a Windows application that turns a PC into a TV-friendly media device capable of playing movies, TV, music, videos and showing pictures, is only available as built into approved PCs, such as this Alienware system.
A typical Media Center PC comes with a TV tuner card, DVD drive, a card reader that reads the various flash memory cards used in digital cameras, a remote control and an IR lead which attaches to your cable box, allowing your PC to change the channel for PVR functionality. Along with VGA/DVI outs, MCE PCs also have RCA and S-Video connections. And most of the big PC companies have released systems that resemble the mid-size tower PCs under your desk now — not something you'd see near a television or stereo.
Alienware, a PC company known for high-performance gaming systems, has a better idea. Its Navigator series of Media Center PCs uses Shuttle's petite form-factor PC. Small enough to fit in your stereo cabinet, the Navigator Pro, with a 2.67-MHz Pentium 4 processor, packs substantial punch in a tiny package. With 512 MB of DDR SDRAM, Pioneer A05 DVD-RW, a TV tuner card and an nVidia GeForce4 Ti 4200 64 MB, there are no empty expansion slots. Most users won't need any, with onboard 5.1 audio, optical in and out, FireWire, USB 2.0 and LAN. (Users with HDTVs might want to find a VGA-progressive scan adapter, or a TV with a VGA input, as MCE PCs don't support progressive scan output.)
The system configuration is nearly perfect — though A/V-philes will wish they could configure a setup with an Audigy 2 sound card and an ATI All in Wonder (AIW) 9700 card, and users might wonder why Alienware didn't spec in a wireless keyboard and mouse.
MCE allows you to navigate with its remote control. Its TV functionality makes PVR users feel right at home —the capability to record TV shows with several quality settings, pause live TV and check out TV listings are all well-supported by the user interface. Unlike my modem-bound TiVo and its subscription fee, the Navigator Pro easily accommodated a USB 802.11b adapter, and used my wireless LAN to retrieve free TV program guide updates over the Internet. MCE will use a network connection to find information and album cover art for your DVDs and CDs, too. Still, my cable signal suffered a tiny bit of noticeable picture degradation when routed through the PC.
As a TiVo replacement "plus," it does an excellent job. And the digital photo and video features are simple to use with FireWire and the excellent flash memory card slots. But a PC is much more flexible than a PVR or a DVD player, and MCE doesn't help you navigate those features. To do so, you'll need to dig underneath the interface to apps that might be intuitive on a desktop, but are unwieldy from your couch. Want to rip your CDs to a digital jukebox, or create playlists? You have to use Microsoft MediaPlayer, not Media Center.
The Alienware PC has very solid 3-D gaming capabilities, but its lack of support for the stellar ATI AIW 9700 is a glaring omission. And despite the hearty 2.67-GHz Pentium 4, don't try to multitask too much. Watching a DVD and recording live TV simultaneously resulted in dropped frames. This PC is also rather loud, so I found that the bedroom wasn't a good place to keep MCE running.
Alienware step-up Navigator Extreme's 3.06-GHz Pentium 4 boasts HyperThreading, a virtual "multiple CPU" technology that may help the multitasking situation. Microsoft-only approved TV tuner solutions, which offload 100 percent of the MPEG-coded features from the CPU to prevent dropped frames, and ATI's AIW still require the CPU to do some work. Yet it was easy to make MCE drop frames. And you don't get the option of the AIW's one-slot solution with superior 3-D acceleration and TV playback quality. ATI has pioneered TV/PC integration for years, so it's puzzling why Microsoft won't approve that hardware for use in a Media Center PC.
As it is, the Navigator Pro is an excellent value — solid gaming and computing, great case design, PVR, CD, DVD and recordable DVD features for $1,999 — though you'll want a 200-GB or 250-GB hard drive (rather than the Navigator's 120-GB model) if you really want to record TV. If you don't have a PVR, and need a computer, take a close look.
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