Workable PC Convergence Demands More Convergence, Less PC

I was interviewing a custom installer about using PCs as video scalers, and he said something that applies, more or less, to any serious use of PCs for home theaters: the only way to have a reliable PC-based A/V system is to have a PC dedicated solely to A/V.  I’ve had several XP Media Center Edition systems in over the past couple of years, and that’s certainly one way to do it.  The downside to Media Center PCs is that they’re pricey if you don’t need the full suite of functionality, and though they’ve gotten much better, they are still …

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New Ways to Listen To Music

Musicmatch is one of several music playback programs for PCs, along with offerings from Microsoft, Real, Apple.  With a good multimedia sound system — I’m working on reviews of THX systems from Klipsch and Logitech — you can use these programs to listen to music at your PC.  The programs also allow you to transfer music to portable devices, or stream music around your house with various add-on gadgets (though access to copy-protected music is usually not available in that scenario). The programs now also offer access to online music stores for purchasing music (by track or by album) or …

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