A small home theater PC (HTPC) driven by an Intel Atom is not a new idea. Both NVIDIA’s ION and Broadcom’s Crystal HD offered solutions that coupled the chip’s TDP with specialized hardware that overcame its shortcomings–one with a complete GPU, the other providing just hardware accelerated video decoding. Neither of these products truly delivered on the concept of a […]
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Even in a mid-sized home, it is quite common to end up with a few “dead spots” where the main Wi-Fi router just does not provide enough signal to make the network work smoothly. Until recently–if your network is based on 802.11AC–the only way to address this, and take advantage of AC’s performance was by adding another full-on router acting […]
Read moreMicrosoft is releasing a new All-in-One Media Keyboard (N9Z-00001) for people that want to use their computers from the couch. It has a built in touch pad and a 30 foot range. They are calling it a media keyboard, it doesn’t look like it is full size, but it would be a great option for all of the HTPC users. […]
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Last year CyberLink added the option to subscribe to PowerDVD alongside their cloud service, and that continues to be available this year with PowerDVD 14. The $44.99 per year (or $14.99 per quarter) alongside the standard purchase options of Ultra ($99.95), Pro ($79.95) and Standard ($49.95). If you opt for the subscription or Ultra 10GB of CyberLink Cloud storage is […]
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NAS (Network Attached Storage) units have been growing in popularity over the years, due to their ease of use in providing a lot of storage in a compact enclosure, while making redundancy a simple matter of replacing drives when warned. With the HTPC continuing to evolve however, where does the NAS stand in supporting or replacing your traditional server box […]
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Can you really get a quality projector screen for around $100? The folks over at Projector Central think so. Their step-by-step guide walks you through the entire process for using paint to create your own DIY projector screen. The results are surprisingly good, ending up with a screen comparable to the Studiotek 100 which retails for about $1300. While the results […]
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As wireless networking has gotten faster and become more reliable, I’ve found myself relying on having a quality signal in more places around the house. As good as my router is, there are a few places where, while there is signal, it’s not quite as fast as I would like it to be. I saw a few new products at […]
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Projectors used to be strictly for those with expensive setups, but now it’s quite feasible to get a decent 1080p system without breaking the bank. Everything requires some compromise, so obviously you won’t get the same performance from a sub-$1000 device as something that cost 5x as much, but if you have the space it’s hard to argue with 100″. […]
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There is no substitute for discrete speakers, but sometimes compromised is required when provisioning the home theater. Soundbars are a good option when you can’t put a speaker where you want – anything is better than TV speakers. I’m a little disappointed that even though the ASB-2 has HDMI it doesn’t support HBR audio decoding, but that’s a small tradeoff […]
Read moreI like big TVs, so there isn’t much selling required for me to see the value of 4K. That said, on a smaller display (IMO, anything less than 60″) I can also agree that there isn’t much benefit to throwing more pixels at the problem, but there is another potential benefit to the developing standard… You’ve likely also heard the […]
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