Gaming PCs and HTPCs come in all shapes and sizes, and it is not at all uncommon for the lines to cross, but Alienware may well have come up with one of the more exciting line-crossers in quite awhile with the freshly minted X51. The Alienware X51 is a small-form factor gaming PC that could easily pass for a gaming […]
Read moreThose who know me, know that I’m not a big fan of advertising. Of course “the why” isn’t nearly as simple as it would first appear however. The fundamental problem with advertising isn’t with the message per se, but the delivery – as an onerous chore, forced upon us in some sort of arcane moral obligation for “free” content. While […]
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It has been easy to beat up on Netflix over the last several months. The company was a golden child of the Internet during its rise over Blockbuster and with its forward-thinking transition to streaming media provider, but we are all aware of the gaffes the company has committed that have taken the shine off that luster. Though the company […]
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I often find that that good networking kit is neglected when it comes to building an solid connected home theater, with low-end network interface cards (NIC), routers and wireless access points (AP) creating a sub-standard experience. It’s also an area where we haven’t done as much as we should to spread the word through guides and reviews – something that […]
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When CNN launched a little over 30 years ago, the idea of a 24 hour news channel was revolutionary. Today, news channels represent a major cog in the subscription television machine. It should therefore be no surprise that YouTube, which seems intent on positioning itself as the Internet equivalent of 1000 channels and nothing to watch, would want a news […]
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I know it’s hard to get excited about multi-bay NAS devices these days with hard drive prices on the rise, but Thecus does try to make a compelling argument with their systems. We’ve been seeing more and more server-like capabilities being built into NAS devices over the last couple years, such as iTunes and DLNA media sharing, integrated backup and […]
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I know that some of the editors here at Missing Remote are not big fans of codec packs, but if your video collection spans a wide range of video formats, then sometimes a codec pack can help simplify the process of getting everything up and running. Shark 007’s codec pack has become one of the most popular codec packs thanks […]
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Many HTPC owners tend to be of two minds about keyboards. On the one hand, building an HTPC that can be operated entirely with a remote control can be a point of pride, but the reality is that in most cases, there is a time and a place for a keyboard. Some folks try to split the difference with a […]
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We’ve been watching with interest as Netflix moves into the world of original programming. Their first show, Lillyhammer, shows promise and with fan-favorite Arrested Development and the David Fincher-produced House of Cards on the horizon, Netflix is looking to make a big splash. However Netflix isn’t the only streaming service looking to capitalize on original content to drive subscriptions. Hulu has […]
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One of the more frustrating things about the market for media streamers is how little file support has progressed over the last couple years. Of course that’s not all bad, because generally most things work and there’s still a lot of work to do on the UI but it was refreshing to see an actual HDMI 1.4 (yes, they are […]
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