Floppyhead – Digital Media and Streaming

Sony VAIO Digital Living System VGX-XL3: Great design but needs more than one tuner

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Home theater computers that will support CableCard digital receivers are right around the corner. Most of the announced products to date have been from smaller manufacturers like Niveus or VidaBox. Sony is also preparing their own version of a Vista-based media center computer, named the VAIO Digital Living System VGX-XL3 . With a great overall […]

Niveus Digital Cable Receiver insanely expensive

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

5 Comments

As I have said before on this blog, the main new feature of Windows Vista Media Center is the addition of CableCARD support. Microsoft has a lot riding on the implementation of CableCard by various vendors, including Niveus. The Niveus Digital Cable Receiver has two internal CableCARD receivers, allowing users to tune and/or record two […]

PCMag.com reviews Dell XPS 410 with CableCard

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

5 Comments

PC Magazine has a review of the Dell XPS 410 with CableCard. It is a lengthy review of a prototype product that is not currently available for public consumption. The fact that Dell will offer CableCard-ready PCs provides hope that we might see a sub $1000 Vista media center PC that is capable of watching […]

Sideshow Remotes: A home audio solution?

Saturday, March 3, 2007

2 Comments

One of the most interesting features of Microsoft Vista is Sideshow, specifically remotes designed to work with Sideshow. Most of us still choose to haul out our collection of CDs when we want to get our groove on in the comfort of our own living rooms. Although iPods are incredibly popular, digital music is still […]

Network area storage for media centers

Sunday, February 25, 2007

4 Comments

The lure of media centers is having all of your movies, music, and pictures on your computer’s hard drive and have them available throughout your house. With the impending increase in the availability of high definition content, hard disk space is becoming a significant bottleneck in the overall performance of HTPCs and media centers. High […]

Beyond TV 4.6 released with improved Vista and Divx support

Saturday, February 17, 2007

1 Comment

Snapstream has released the latest version 4.6 of Beyond TV, its popular television recording software. I use Beyond TV on my Windows XP computer to record over the air high definition TV, and in my opinion, it is the best DVR software outside of Windows Media Center. According to Snapstream’s release notes, the following new […]

OQO responds to inquiry about HD Media Center potential

Thursday, February 15, 2007

3 Comments

A couple of weeks ago I talked about the OQO Model 2, a micro-PC capable of supporting Microsoft’s Vista Ultimate. The Model 2 is loaded with features like a USB 2.0 port and a HDMI-out. These features got me excited about the potential of the Model 2 as a HD Tivo since Window’s Media Center […]

Roundup: Tips to receive HDTV broadcasts over-the-air on a PC or HDTV

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

6 Comments

Most people assume you need either cable or DirecTV to get high definition television channels. In every major city in the U.S., the major television networks broadcast in high definition (1080i or 720p). Reception of this high definition signal is free and requires two things: an ASTC HD tuner and an antenna. A tuner can […]

OQO and a USB Tuner: A portable HD digital video recorder?

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

15 Comments

At the this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, OQO model 02 demonstrated their new model 02, which is a micro-PC capable of supporting Microsoft’s next generation operating system, Windows Vista. The model 02, which is less than 6 inches wide and 1 inch thick, has the following features: 1.2GHz or a 1.5GHz VIA C7M ULV processor […]

Is Microsoft relying on DRM cracks and piracy to sell media centers?

Monday, January 29, 2007

3 Comments

Microsoft has its sights set on your living room with the release of Vista, the latest version of Windows. High definition programming is the wave of the future, and Vista’s media center offers support for the next generation of DVDs, HD-DVDs and Blu-ray discs, and cable high defintion channels through CableCard. In order to ensure […]

Author Archives | J.R.