Now the only thing left to do is to let folks know what the Media Center PC is.
TrustedReviews has their review of the Sony Blu-ray-equipped media center PC, with the usual compliment of card readers, wireless keyboards, wi-fi, and TV tuners.
Then you have a Media Center PC that's even beyond that in terms of storage and the kind of ecosystem that exists in the PC world.
This is achieved by installing a plug-in on the host Media Center PC and then navigating to the Extras menu via Media Center on the Echo.
ENGADGET: Ceton Echo Windows Media Center Extender review HD
One of the biggest complaints about the Media Center PC is that you couldn't build your own, well- it looks like that might change soon according to Winnetmag.com.
Stop crying and point them in the direction of any decent Media Center PC, which can do all of this and more, and even do it with your interface.
It's been nearly three years since Elonex delivered its original eXentia Media Center PC, but now the firm is hitting back with a new iteration along with an interesting boombox.
ENGADGET: Elonex offers up Cube Play boombox, eXentia pro all-in-one PC
We've known this Blu-ray-equipped media center PC was on the horizon, and now AMEX Digital is finally dropping the pimped-out M505-BDR in Europe with even crazier specs than we originally thought.
ENGADGET: AMEX Digital launches M505-BDR Blu-ray recording HTPC
Users can even choose where they want to watch a program, whether on a TV connected to a Media Center PC or one in another room connected to a Media Center extender.
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So, if you live in Europe, can afford the extra cost of the unit, and are in the mood for some rewritable Blu-ray, then this may be the media center PC for you.
We already know that a Windows Media Center PC can stream HDTV via WiFi to an Xbox 360 via the Windows Media Extender functionality, so maybe we're sticklers on these kinds of statements.
The MacBook Air Dock allows users to incorporate the MacBook Air into a desktop setup or home theater system, so users get the best features of a laptop, desktop and media center PC all from one computer.
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It's a lot easier if you have a Media Center PC (MCE), but even if you don't have an MCE, we showed you how to put DVDs on your Portable Media Center when we reviewed the Creative Zen.
It also wouldn't be difficult for Apple to develop a software-hardware combination that would let its computers record TV shows, much like Hewlett-Packard 's (nyse: HPQ - news - people ) Media Center PC already does.
Just being slightly better than the cable company's garbage won't cut it for much longer -- again, the Media Center PC kicks your ass right now, and the high-end customer on which you're currently relying is going to figure that out soon.
If the cheapest way of getting something in your living room which will play movies, stream video content from your Media Center PC, if it's the Microsoft vision, or directly off the network if it's the Sony vision, for 300 bucks, that's a lot cheaper than today's media streamers or even TiVo-like devices.
After we ramp this all up to the long-term future of TV, we come back to reality with Windows Home Server's inclusion of Media Center features -- while not to the level of a true headless Media Center PC, this move might foreshadow (maybe not too-distant) future development of just such a kit.
From a software perspective, a Media Center extender does only one thing: deliver the Windows Media Center experience to a TV without a PC attached to it.
ENGADGET: Ceton Echo Windows Media Center Extender review HD
In the 90s Gateway introduced a line of Destination PCs that were designed for living room use, Microsoft later built some of the best TV and PC integration with their Media Center efforts, and even Apple has added a ten foot user experience to Mac OS with its Front Row UI.
However, Sony has released the first mainstream non-PC product that delivers a media center experience local to the living room.
With a VESA mount, you can hang it in your bedroom and use Windows Media Center to pull in content from your main PC or even plug in a digital cable tuner and use it as a stand-alone entertainment system.
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Big Picture won't turn your media center into a game console, but it definitely makes outputting high end PC games to your living room a smoother experience.
From what we can tell, it's basically a PC-based DVR (running on XP Home, rather than Media Center) that ships with a base unit and two remote boxes that can be connected via Ethernet.
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