HP and Sony Media Center PCs reviewed

Filed in archive Home Theater on January 24, 2006

So you've heard about media center PCs, but you don't know enough about them to justify replacing your current home theatre setup.

This review from Sound and Vision Magazine of Sony's VAIO VGX-XL1 and HP's Z556 just might make up your mind for you.

About the HP DEC (digital entertainment center - $1500):

The DEC isn't just a TV junkie's dream; it's a system even an hdtv fan can love. For starters, it has three tuners - two for conventional TV and one for digital TV. You can record three channels at the same time, one of them HDTV, even while you watch a fourth show that was recorded earlier.

The Sony ($2300 now $1999)has a 200 DVD changer:

I inserted a dozen or so discs at once, and the XL1 scanned each one and retrieved its cover art and track titles from the Internet at a rate of one every 30 seconds. Then I opted to let them all rip to the hard drive, a job that took 52 minutes.

Thanks to eHomeUpgrade.