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This Month's Featured Equipment Reviews |
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Media Server Forum Topics: |
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Classic Media Server Reviews |
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Home Theater Media Servers
Categories in section: Home Theater Media Servers
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Thursday, 01 June 2006
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Written by
Adrienne Maxwell
Introduction
Behind HDTV, “convergence” is one of the most bandied-about buzzwords in the consumer electronics industry. Companies large and small have deluged the market with products designed to meld the PC and A/V environments, from tuner cards that turn your computer into a DVR to media players that let you play your MP3 collection through your A/V system to standalone Internet-video players that connect directly to your TV. If you’ve already got a computer that you’re quite fond of, buying all of these separate devices might be the way to go. However, if you’re starting from scratch or looking to upgrade, why not purchase one product that does it all? And trust me, Hewlett-Packard’s z556 Digital Entertainment Center is just such a product.
The poster child for converged entertainment, $1,499 z556 incorporates HDTV tuning, a DVR, a DVD/CD recorder, an FM ...
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Monday, 01 May 2006
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Written by
Thomas Garcia
Introduction
In
the two decades since the Compact Disc (CD) was released, few can argue
about the significant ways in which it has changed our habits in
accessing and listening to music. Its durability, diminutive size and
capability to be played universally in our homes, automobiles and
portable players gave consumers the opportunity to take their tunes
virtually anywhere. This had a phenomenal plus side over the previous
dominant format, the vinyl LP, with its limited durability and
restricted playback options. Unfortunately, the CD’s additional
flexibility created the potential problem of having your music
scattered throughout a multitude of listening environments and devices.
Personally, I've struggled for years to keep all of my CDs organized
and easily accessible. My collection has had a large amount of
attrition due to lost and loaned discs, not to mention the mysteriously
disappearing CDs that I keep buying repeatedly.
As mentioned in a previous review, I have used
computers to archive ...
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Wednesday, 01 February 2006
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Written by
Brian Kahn
Introduction
Escient’s
Fireball SE-80 is their latest entry-level music server offering. The
SE-80 features an 80 GB hard drive, as well as an internal CD-RW drive,
which can be used to load music onto the hard drive, create music discs
from the music stored on the hard drive or as a CD player. Like the E2
and other Fireball units, the SE-80 also has a built in Internet radio
receiver, file sharing and web server capabilities, all for the slim
price of $995.
The SE chassis and industrial design is consistent with the rest of the
Escient family and measures 17-3/8 inches wide by four-and-five-eighths
inches high and 11-7/8 inches deep. The chassis is finished in the same
attractive brushed black aluminum as the E2 and other Fireballs. The
front panel features a curved accent stripe, an oval CD drawer and a
row of transport control buttons.
The
back panel of the SE is quite ...
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Thursday, 01 December 2005
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Written by
Bryan Dailey
Introduction
For
almost a year, I have enjoyed having the ability to record and play
back high-definition programming from Dish Network on my Dish Player
921 satellite receiver/PVR combination machine. It has been a true
workhorse, recording my favorite shows without fail, having virtually
no downtime and other than the occasional lock-up that usually just
requires a simple re-boot (these PVRs are essentially computers in an
AV-like metal box), it has been a nearly flawless performer. It has
powered my main home theater and has given me hundreds if not thousands
of hours of HDTV viewing bliss, but something was seemingly missing. I
recently cooked up the idea of adding a second television to my living
room/kitchen area downstairs, but I didn’t want to have to install a
second dedicated satellite receiver and PVR to control this TV. Enter
the Dish Player 942 dual mode HDTV satellite receiver/PVR.
Dish
Network last year released an ingenious product ...
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Tuesday, 01 November 2005
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Written by
Thomas Garcia
Introduction
Convergence
is a terminology and process that seems to have permeated every facet
of our daily experiences. Convergence technologies will eventually be
ubiquitous in every aspect of our lives. So what is “convergence
technology”? It all depends on the type of application. It includes,
but is not limited to, the popular act of taking pictures with a cell
phone or surfing the Web on a television. More sophisticated uses
include wireless and wired voice and data transmissions, various forms
of security, voice over IP and data networking technologies, all
converging to create a seamless integration and solution for our
personal and professional needs.
Nowhere is this more evident than the merging of
consumer electronics and personal computers. There are a plethora of
companies that are providing unimaginable functionality that was
science fiction a mere decade ago.
One exciting new entry into the arena of personal computer and home
music convergence is the Sonos Digital Music ...
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