“There is no reason why anyone would want a computer in the home.” Despite being one of the world’s foremost computer pioneers, poor Ken Olsen will forever be known for this unfortunate 1977 prediction.

Rip or Download
Windows Media Center can access downloadable music through a variety of online services, or you can rip your own CDs onto the computer’s hard drive and play them through your audio system. (Click image to enlarge)

To be fair, few back then envisioned the extent to which computers would pervade our lives in 2005. And now, thanks to Microsoft’s Windows XP Media Center Edition computer operating system, PCs have begun invading our home theaters. They assume the roles of DVD player, TV tuner, digital video recorder, music server, digital photo archive, online portal, and so much more—all in one box with a unified control screen.

A Different Game
Alienware’s DHS 2 Windows Media Center PC may look like an audio/video component, but it’s actually slanted more toward gaming applications than for home theater use. (Click image to enlarge)

Thus, “convergence”—that mythical buzzword used to tout the marriage of computers and home entertainment—is finally a reality. At least in my home it is. As I sit on my couch click-clacking away on the keyboard to write this article, the sound of The Traveling Wilburys Volume 1 surrounds me in Dolby Pro Logic II, while the DVD-ROM bonus features for Lord of the Rings: Return of the King sit waiting for me at the bottom of the screen—to be explored not on a dinky 19-inch computer monitor, but on a 55-inch high-definition TV.

Before I add the period to the previous sentence, Windows Messenger pops up in the corner of my TV: “Imperials are attacking the city!” I save my article, stop the DVD, and within mere moments I’m loading into the virtual online worlds of the Star Wars Galaxies game. Without changing the settings on my television, without touching a single button on my surround-sound processor, without so much as getting off of my couch, I go from typing a feature story for a respectable magazine to wearing my geek hat in a galaxy far, far away––bigger than life and in full surround sound. Meanwhile, the same machine is recording the TV drama Grey’s Anatomy so I can watch it later. And I can control all these functions from a fairly simple remote much like the one that comes with a TV set.

Style and Substance
Some of the most interesting Windows Media Center products are trying on new styles—including VoodooPC’s Omen, which the company calls “the fastest desktop on Earth.” (Click image to enlarge)

Windows Media Center is both an extension to the Windows XP operating system you probably use on your desktop or laptop computer, and a set of loose requirements for PC makers who want their machines to carry the Windows Media Center logo. You can use the computer just as you would a normal Windows machine, but when you switch to Media Center mode, it offers a different onscreen menu system designed to make access to computer-based home entertainment easier. Windows Media Center PCs must meet fairly modest performance standards, such as having at least a 60-gigabyte hard drive and 256 megabytes of memory. They must also come with a remote control; Microsoft offers one but manufacturers are also free to create their own. Beyond that, Microsoft’s hardware specs for WMC machines are suggestions, not requirements—although most WMC computers include a TV tuner and a CD/DVD burner, and some employ a fanless design intended to minimize noise in the home theater environment.
 
Versatile and promising as Windows Media Center may sound, our initial experience with it raises more red flags than a military parade in Beijing. In its current iteration, WMC is more of a Band-Aid than a fully integrated, well-thought-out system. While Band-Aids work great if you prick your pinky with a paring knife, they don’t work well for severed limbs. And given the wide range of hardware WMC attempts to control, the severed limb analogy seems appropriate. Obviously, I’m overstating a bit—but severed limbs are often reattached in less time than it takes to get many Windows Media Center machines running properly.

In this article, we look at the ups and downs of Windows Media Center PCs, and see how well-suited these devices are for a high-end, custom-installed home theater environment. One warning sign: Of the 30-odd top installers seated at an industry gathering in April of this year, not one had yet installed a Windows Media Center PC in a home theater.

Identity Crisis 
The first question you face when considering a Windows Media Center PC is: Do you want a high-end computer thrust into the role of all-encompassing multimedia device, or a high-end A/V component that happens to be built upon PC architecture? While it may sound like a matter of semantics, it turns out that this philosophical divergence affects everything from video quality  to customer service.

Coming Soon
Microsoft stresses WMC’s ability to download and store movies, but admits that Internet speeds are not yet up to the task. However, it notes that music downloads once faced the same problem. (Click image to enlarge)

I begin my journey into the world of Windows Media Center with a product built from the high-end computer perspective—the DHS 2 from Alienware, a company revered by gamers to the point of religious fanaticism. But can a company whose raison d'etre revolves around catering to the Doom 3 crowd build a machine suitable for an elegant home theater?

First and perhaps most important: The DHS 2, like most mass-market Windows Media Center PCs, is a standard-definition product trying to make it in a high-definition world. Neither of its two tuners supports HDTV reception. Add to that the fact that DVDs played on the DHS 2 look a bit soft on anything larger than a 27-inch screen. This is mostly a result of Alienware’s use of an ATI Radeon X300 video card. It’s an excellent card for games, which are polygon-intensive, but it was not designed to display high-quality video on a large projection screen.
 
If it sounds like I’m unsympathetic to Alienware’s efforts, I should note that this is a fine machine for what it is—but it simply is not the right HTPC for my needs, and probably not yours if you’re reading a high-end A/V magazine like Home Entertainment. For anyone with a 4:3 direct-view TV or PC monitor and standard-def cable, as well as a bit of computer know-how, the DHS 2 is a respectable home entertainment box with more features than you will probably ever use. But custom theaters  designed around high-def video call for something more refined.

Stepping Up
Thankfully, a handful of smaller companies such as Niveus Media and Okoro Media Systems are offering such refinements. What sets these machines apart is, as I said before, more a matter of design philosophy. “We don’t want to put a computer in the living room,” says Isidore Okoro, president of OMS. “We want to build an A/V system that has computer functionality—so for us it’s gear first, computer second.” This philosophy shines through in every aspect of the OMS-TH550 model that replaces the Alienware in my system.

The Upper Echelon
Niveus Media’s Denali not only looks like a high-end audio amplifier, it carries the same cache and attention to detail. It offers full HDTV capability, and the large heatsinks on its sides allow it to run silent, with no fan noise to spoil your surround sound. (Click image to enlarge)

For starters, this beauty looks like a piece of videophile-grade machinery, mating so beautifully with the Myryad amp beneath it in my rack that guests assume them to be a matching set. DVD performance from the OMS-TH550 is as good as, if not better than, my stand-alone DVD player, thanks to the inclusion of ATI’s Radeon X850 video card, which is certified by the Imaging Science Foundation (ISF) for excellent video quality. (Use of an ISF-certified video card is the easiest way to tell that a computer’s manufacturer takes home theater seriously.) High-definition digital TV broadcasts actually appear slightly smoother, with fewer artifacts, than they do from my televisions own digital tuner.

Another thing that sets companies like Okoro apart is the attention they give to unique customer needs. Whether you intend to hook the PC up to an LCD TV via DVI connection or a CRT projector through component video cables, Okoro will tweak the system at the factory to match your own individual requirements. This level of one-on-one attention is evidenced by the single customer service call I make during my time with the OMS-TH550. The owner of the company answers the phone, and in 15 minutes helps me track down a power supply cable that came loose in shipping. This stands in stark contrast to the four hours I spend on the phone with Alienware trying to replace a defective wireless networking component—despite the special attention I receive as a member of the media.

Yesterday’s News… Tomorrow 
Of course, all of this hardware discussion brings up another interesting point about integrating a computer into your home theater: Today’s performance monster is tomorrow’s bargain-bin clutter. A few short years ago, a computer running at 1 gigahertz was the envy of the neighborhood; that same computer will struggle to run all but the most basic applications released these days. Conversely, I know many people who have been running the same model of progressive-scan DVD player since before the Y2K scare (and I am confident that none of them were worried that their DVD player might crash at the stroke of midnight on January 1, 2000).

That’s No DVD Player
Actually, it does play DVDs, but it also does much, much more. Okoro Media Systems’ OMS-TH550 incorporates a video card certified by the Imaging Science Foundation for excellent video quality. As a result, it produces some of the best HDTV the writer has ever viewed. (Click image to enlarge)

Owning a Windows Media Center system means not only the occasional hardware upgrades, but as with so many things Microsoft, regular software updates, too. Purchase your Media Center PC from Best Buy and you might find it easier to just replace the entire unit when it inevitably becomes obsolete. Or if you are truly brave or your installer is willing, you might be able to update your machine with new hardware.
 
Tim Cutting, CEO of Niveus Media, envisions a much smoother process for keeping your system up-to-date. “Let’s say right now Media Center comes out on an annual release—you buy this now and next year a new version comes out. You as an end user will have several options:  You can get a software update, which could be a disc we send you in the mail. Or it could be something that requires new hardware, perhaps new tuners or maybe some new ports on the back,” he says. “So for that we would have a new SKU—perhaps Kit Number 1, if you will—which would come with a new card or new back panel, and then your installer would install it along with, perhaps, a newer and larger hard drive if you like.”

A Thin Line Between Love and Hate
“There is no reason why anyone would want a Windows Media Center PC in their home theater.” Three months ago, upon getting my first taste of Windows Media Center, I scribbled those words on a notepad, confident that my prediction would hold truer than poor Ken Olsen’s. Granted, I had just suffered the most nightmarish installation process of my life, only to spend an hour in a conference call with Microsoft trying to figure out how to generate a widescreen DVD image on a 16:9 display. But even after working out the kinks, I still found Windows Media Center to be nothing more than an entertaining gimmick with future potential.

Three months later, I have to admit to being a convert. There is still much work to be done on Microsoft’s end before Windows XP Media Center Edition is a real alternative to the separate components it purports to replace. Specifically, Microsoft needs to build a new operating system from the ground up with home theater in mind, rather than merely tacking the Media Center interface onto Windows XP Professional. But after spending some time with Okoro’s OMS-TH500s system, I can see that WMC is the future of home theater.

Alienware, 800.254.3692, www.alienware.com
Imaging Science Foundation, 561.997.9073, www.imagingscience.com
Microsoft, 800.642.7676, www.microsoft.com
Niveus Media, 866.258.2929, www.niveusmedia.com
Okoro Media Systems, 877.539.4788, www.okoromedia.com