The Windows XP Media Centre Edition is a hot issue at the moment. We were taken by its promise as an operating system, but unfortunately the Australian version is lacking in some key areas like, in particular, the unavailability of an electronic programming guide. If you combine this half functional operating system with oversized PC cases, and consumers are hardly going to be climbing over themselves to get their hands on one.
It's in this context that we review HP's m1188a Media Center. It's a system aimed at consumers who want multimedia functions, but also to serve as a more general games and entertainment box. The system performed very well in the PCMark04 benchmark, thanks to its Pentium 4 540 (3.2GHz) processor, with a score of 4377 marks. So decoding video will never be a problem with this unit, and this is also helped along by the Radeon X300's excellent 2D video acceleration abilities. But, unfortunately, this won't translate into high game performance -- it achieved a fairly average result of 6571 in 3DMark01.
Audio replay is a standard fare, care of onboard sound only -- mp3s will still sound alright, but if you plan on using this as a high end audio station, you won't get the mind blowing fidelity necessary. Coaxial digital out is a good touch, however.
Unlike similar units, the HP comes with its own in house remote - eschewing the familiar Windows model. It's a little clunkier than the standard remote but performs well. The receiver is quite large - about the size of half a cigarette packet. There's also a DVD-RW, wireless networking, and a TV tuner and cables. To round off interface feature set, you'll also get a cordless mouse and keyboard, which is must-have for media PCs.
Systems pitched into this area are also subject to aesthetic considerations, and HP's case fits the bill. It features hidden front ports, for audio and video ports and, as mid towers go -- it looks quite smart, if a little cliched with its black and silver plastic styling. The front also houses a side-mounted media bay designed to fit HP's own external hot swappable Personal Media Drive -- which offers up to 160GB of extra storage and slots straight in, ready to go. As with most midi towers it is designed to be easy to upgrade. There are thumscrews holding the side panel, but like some newer cases they are captive inside the panel, meaning they won't go rolling around the room once unscrewed. The drive bays are also toolless, which is quite handy.
There are only three PCI slots, however, and two of them are in use with the TV tuner and the modem. If you have broadband already you can swap out the modem, use the onboard LAN, and add a device as you please, but this could limit its further upgrade potential if this is what you're after. There are also an extra three SATA ports and two free RAM slots. There is only one 90mm case fan and the single CPU fan is of a similar size, meaning high airflow and minimal noise, making this good for home theatre use.
Midi towers are great for upgrading and for airflow, but no-one wants a midi tower hogging up their loungeroom space: it's part of the reason home theatre PC's have taken so long to take off. Thin slimline PCs - so popular until the mid '90s - were an ideal size, and now we have small form factor PCs. Why can't we see more of these from the major manufacturers? And when you throw in the LCD screen, which unnecessarily adds to the price, what you get is an ordinary desktop PC that can output to a TV.
Ultimately, though, HP isn't solely guilty of providing a product that seems to go against the very thing that Media Center promises. That is, a device that sits in the living room and provides you with ready access to all your media. It's because of this that we can't recommend it for those that wanting to flirt with the concept of the Media Center, but for those after a slick, well-featured desktop multimedia system, it fits the bill.