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The arrival of Microsoft's new operating system Windows Vista heralds the marriage of the PC and TV – well, almost.
But the integrated Microsoft Media Center functionality in Vista Home Premium Edition and Vista Ultimate (combined with powerful processors from the likes of Intel) does mean that we have a high-performance platform that is capable of supporting high-definition TV (HD TV) or movie downloads and recording.
With a compatible PC with a TV tuner, you can use Vista to start watching, recording and pausing live TV, for example.
So what sorts of options are available in terms of Vista-ready media centre PCs and notebooks? Read on to find out …
PCs
Acer E700
RRP From $2499 See it: www.acer.com.au
Acer claims this machine is designed to be the ultimate digital home hub – it's a quiet, yet powerful media centre for the living room. You can access your own movie, music and photo collections, not to mention exclusive Intel Viiv online content.
Intel Viiv also means you can turn your PC on and off like your TV without having to wait – and you can easily sync a number of portable media players as well.
The e700 can also support two digital TV tuner cards for simultaneous TV viewing and recording. The Sony Philips Digital Interface (SPDIF) is also in place to make integration into home theatre systems (including 7.1 surround sound) easy. The e700 comes with a remote and receiver as well as a six-month free subscription to Ice TV's electronic program guide, Iceguide.
There is, of course, a 320GB hard drive to store all your media and a DVD-dual drive to burn DVDs. A wireless keyboard, optical mouse and 22-inch LCD monitor are included, too.
The central processing unit is the Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E6300 and it comes bundled with Vista Home Premium Edition.
