Chieftec HTPC (HT01SL) Micro ATX Case

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Not a terrible looking case, but pretty much similar to what’s been done before by other companies. It’s 89 pounds, so that’s what, $150 US? Not terrible, but there’s a lot of competition at that price so I’m not sure this one stands out though. Read on for the full review. Xtreme Computing The Chieftec HT-01SL is a nice case, […]

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McIntosh announced its first all-in-one system

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I had to post this as it caught me totally off guard. My former President of a company I used to work with had all sorts of McIntosh gear in his racks, and they’re quite impressive to look at. It’s interesting to see them take a totally different direction with an all-in-one like this….but at $7,500 it is sure to […]

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NBC promotes fall season with online showings

Interpret this news as you wish, but I take it as another step in the progress for traditional media companies to adapt their methods to support the evolution of technology and how users are digesting content. Rather than strike against online content, fearing it will cannibalize DVD sales, NBC is embracing it and using it as motivation for the DVDs […]

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Keeping your HTPC Awake

Yesterday when we discussed how to make your HTPC use S3 standby I pointed out that my preference is use fairly aggressive idle timers on my client and server PCs, the downside to this approach is that it can cause some undesirable side effects.  Today’s topic is how to workaround some interesting design shortcommings in two popular applications to keep […]

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10 things you need to know about HDMI 1.4

We heard rumors of this new 1.4 specification to cause massive headaches all around. I see a lot of nice features here but nothing that makes me think the integration with HTPC’s is going to be any less of a disaster. Luckily these aren’t scheduled until mid-2010, so maybe by then we’ll finally have a rock solid 1.3 solution to […]

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How to import HD movies into Windows Media Center

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Playing high definition movies within Media Center is tricky, and becomes even trickier if you are an extender user. Even if you get it working, then you lose certain things like fast forward and rewind. Luckily Ben makes use of some available free tools for Media Center, DVRMS Toolbox (from our friend Babgvant) and Yammm (from Mikinho) to almost automate […]

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Casa Tools Multi-Zone Audio with Media Center

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One of the longest ongoing threads over at TheGreenButton has been with the desire from users to have Multi-Zone audio through their media center. There has never been a supported way in Media Center to do this, but Casatunes has been out for a while and has offered a solution. From the looks of this review, it definitely takes some […]

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Beamforming at home – Wireless Blu-ray Bliss?

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Matt found this handy link over from Tom’s Hardware, where the user is attempting to achieve reliable wireless streaming of high definition blu-ray content in their house. Unfortunately the equipment they found is pretty hard to come by, but the good news is that results were quite positive. Tom’s Hardware Fortunately, the Thecus network storage unit includes a separate LAN […]

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Sony’s OLED TVs Could Be MIA Until 2010

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I hope none of our readers were really holding their breathe for these to come this year. OLED, while a fantastic technology is still a ways away from reaching mainstream affordability (or even realistically useful sizes), and word that Sony is pushing back its date should come as no surprise. You can have your .5" thick 15" television, I’d rather […]

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