Tag: Community News

As more and more smaller form factor cases come out, the need for a solid low profile HSF becomes all the more important. Here are two such items reviewed by the very smart folks at SPCR.   While slim short cases have plenty of appeal, they are by definition, short on space; the massive heatpipe cooler you would ordinarily install […]

Pretty good news here from the book of common bloody sense! 🙂 Finally you can "legally" backup DVDs you own…as if anyone was truly waiting for this ruling to do so.   Merely bypassing a technological protection that restricts a user from viewing or using a work is insufficient to trigger the DMCA’s anti-circumvention provision. The DMCA prohibits only forms […]

  Update: As promised a newsletter was sent and it is good news.  See a copy after the break.   It isn’t much but if you, like us, are anxiously awaiting your Ceton InfiniTV 4 Jeremy Hammer [VP Systems Integration, Ceton Corporation] gave us some hope of a July release. We will make sure to update when the newsletter is […]

Note: Tested…Windows 7 users should not waste their money. On XP and Vista I was a big fan of CoreAVC; however, I have been disappointed by CoreAVC 2.0 so I am not expecting much from CoreAAC 2.0 myself.  But for those using a DirectShow based player without Media Foundation support CoreAAC may offer some benefits over the native DirectShow AAC decoder. Both […]

We’ve had some forum posts in the past discussing this, and there really is no definitive answer. Laptops as HTPC make sense, after all we’ve been using some mobile parts in our systems for years (CPU, 2.5" HDD, etc). Using a laptop as your HTPC will work for some people, but there are some limitations to doing so (but that […]

I debated whether posting this news just given the numerous rumors that have stemmed about the AppleTV in the past few years, but figured this one might have some legs given it’s from a former Apple employee, and that it really makes sense.   Such a plan falls in line with previous rumors that Apple would ditch the internal hard […]

I see news like this, and I miss having the full digital package less and less. Thank you ESPN3 for keeping me sane without cable! You have to love Comcast…first they say congratulations for being able to bring you such new features, then they bill you for it!   Those who get the "Digital Economy" package will get a break. […]

We reviewed the original ASRock a while back, and it was a worthwhile offering for users who wanted a full computer instead of an extender device. Well ASRock has made a few changes and now offer one featuring the new Intel parts.   It’s been one year since we last tested an ASRock HTPC: the ION 330 AMCP7A HTPC armed with the […]

Today was a big renewal date for the Media Center MVPs across the world. I was honored to receive my 5th consecutive MVP award for Media Center, and am also proud to share this day with my friend and occasional-MR-contributor Andrew Cherry. Also an MVP but not up for renewal yet is our very own Mikinho. Congratulations to all the […]

This is going to be huge for media distribution. I am definitely going to up my standard for Ethernet to a room from 4 to 6. I assume there is IR over Ethernet available to be able to have the source video in the basement.   New standard offers both lower costs, the potential to deliver more information and convenience [DailyTech]