What Can You Do with a Media Center PC?

Media center PCs combine all forms of digital entertainment. A media center is a stylish entertainment center that does overtime as a DVD player, Blu-ray player, MP3 hub, and DVR. HD media never looked so good. And having access to the latest 1080p media doesn’t mean you have to give up PC gaming and internet browsing. Media center PCs do it all.

Media centers have unlimited potential for entertainment, provided you have the hard drive capacity to store it all. Whether you like to watch humorous video clips, online news content, or music videos, a media center PC can:

In this site, you’ll find articles related to media center PCs, as well as comprehensive reviews and side–by–side comparisons to help you make an informed decision on which media center is right for your entertainment needs. At TopTenREVIEWS – We do the research so you don’t have to.™

What to Look for in a Media Center PC

We looked at media center computers with high-end components and DVR capability. A good media center is suitable for everything your desktop PC can do and more. HD Video on the HD TV in the living room? Gaming? Keeping in touch on MySpace? Check, check and check. A media center does it all. Media Centers start at around $1000 and can run as high as $4000.

Media centers perform best with multi-core processors, high–end 256MB+ graphics cards, and 4GB or more of RAM. A massive hard drive is also critical. If you plan on digitizing your multimedia library, you’ll want 300GB, 500GB or a TB (terabyte) hard drive.

Below are the criteria TopTenREVIEWS used to evaluate Media Center PCs:

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Media Center Computers Review


Entertainment at Your Leisure

Host a little get together with your media. Now you can surf the Internet, browse your movies, edit photos or check your bank balance all at the same time with a media center PC. 

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HP Touchsmart IQ816 Sony Vaio Lt19u Sony VAIO VGC-LV180J Dell Xps One Sony VAIO VGC-RT150Y Sony VAIO VGX-TP20E/ B Ho Gateway LX6810-01 HP Pavilion Elite M9400t Dell Studio Slim Desktop Dell XPS One
HP Touchsmart IQ816 review sony vaio lt19u review sony vaio lv180j review dell xps one (with blu-ray drive) review Sony VAIO VGC-RT150Y review Sony VAIO TP Home Theater PC review Gateway LX6810-01 Desktop PC review HP Pavilion Elite m9400t review Dell Studio Slim Desktop review Dell XPS One review
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$1899
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$2899
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$1999
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$3195
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$1649
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$649
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$989
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$429
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$1949
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Overall Rating Excellent Excellent Excellent Excellent Excellent Very Good Very Good Very Good Very Good Very Good
Ratings
Features Very Good Very Good Very Good Good Very Good Very Good Very Good Very Good Very Good Very Good
Value Very Good Very Good Very Good Good Very Good Very Good Very Good Very Good Very Good Very Good
Expert Reviews Very Good Very Good Very Good Very Good Very Good Very Good Very Good Very Good Very Good Very Good
User Reviews Very Good Fair Very Good Very Good Excellent Good Very Good Very Good Very Good Very Good
View Specifications Go Go Go Go Go Go Go Go Go Go
Features
Memory 4 GB 2 GB 4 GB 2 GB 8 GB 4 GB 4 GB 4 GB 4 GB 4 GB
Processor Intel Core Duo T8100 / 2.1 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7500 / 2.2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 / 3 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 / 2.33 GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400 / 2.66GHz Intel Core Duo T8100 / 2.1 GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 / 2.33 GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 / 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400 / 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 / 2.33 GHz
TV Tuner Digital and analog TV Digital and analog TV Digital and analog TV Digital and analog TV Digital and analog TV Digital and dual analog TV Digital and analog TV Digital and dual analog TV Digital and dual analog TV Digital and analog TV
Video Card NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GS NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GT     NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GT NVIDIA GeForce GT120 NVIDIA GeForce 9600GS ATI Radeon HD 3450 NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT
Video Memory 512 MB 1 GB 256 MB 256 MB 512 MB 256 MB 1 GB 768 MB 256 MB 512 MB
Hard Drive 750 GB 500 GB 500 GB   1 TB (7200RPM) 500 GB 640 GB / 7200RPM 500 GB 640 GB / 7200RPM 750 GB
Audio Integrated Integrated Integrated Integrated 2.1 channel sound Integrated Integrated Integrated Integrated Integrated
Input/Output Ports     HDMI input, Express Card, FireWire 400   HDMI in, HDMI out, Express Card, FireWire 400   HDMI, DVI HDMI, DVI HDMI, VGA  
Optical Drive BD-RE/ DVD +/-RW/ CD-RW Blu Ray BD/DVD +/-RW/ CD-RW   BD-RE/ DVD +/-RW/ CD-RW BD/DVD +/-RW/ CD-RW DVD +/-RW/ CD-RW BD/DVD +/-RW/ CD-RW BD/DVD +/-RW/ CD-RW BD-RE/ DVD +/-RW/ CD-RW
Card Reader 5-in-1 Card Reader   Memory Stick, Memory Stick Duo, Memory Stick Pro   Memory Stick, Memory Stick Duo, Memory Stick Pro, Memory Stick Pro Duo Memory Stick, Memory Stick Duo, Memory Stick Pro 15-in-1 Card Reader 15-in-1 Card Reader 19-in-1 Card Reader 8-in-1 Card Reader
Depth 5.5 in 7 in 6.8 in 8.7 in 9.3 in 15.7 in 17.1 in 17.9 in 17.1 in 7.4 in
Energy Star Energy Star Compliant     95 ?F         3.7  
Height 19.6 16.5 in 18.9 in 16.5 in 17.3 in 5.1 in 16.5 in 16.5 in 14.2 in 15.4 in
Monitor Included            
Network 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN 10/100/1000 Ethernet, WiFi
Operating System Windows Vista Home Windows Vista Home   Windows Vista Home Windows Vista Home Windows Vista Home Vista Home Premium Windows Vista Home   Windows Vista Home
Warranty 1 year 1 year 1 year 2 years 1 year 1 year 1 year 1 year 2 years 2 years
Weight 35.3 lbs 21.4 lbs 35.3 lbs 22 lbs 41.4 lbs 23.1 lbs 23.6 lbs 23.6 lbs 26.9 lbs 28.2 lbs
Width 26.1 in 25.3 in 25.3 in 23.2 in 26.1 in 16.9 in 7.2 in 7.2 in 3.9 in 23.2 in
 
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