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When it comes to home entertainment, I live in a fragmented world. Although I have several entertainment choices, they're scattered across the house — and they don't work together. Want to watch the game? The TV's connected to the cable outlet in the family room. Want to go online? The computer's connected to the Internet outlet in the kitchen. Want to listen to radio? Sorry, the receiver's in the same room as the TV — you'll have to wait until the game's over. What I needed was something that could pull all these disparate entertainment sources together.
A PC in disguise
One answer to such problems is the Media Center PC — a computer that's designed to connect to your home A/V system, with a streamlined "Media Center" interface that helps you manage your entertainment options. They include perks like a DVD burner, built-in TV tuner, and digital video recording software.
However, not everyone likes the idea of sticking a PC tower, with its constantly whirring fan, in their living room. HP's new top-of-the-line Media Center PC, the z545 Digital Entertainment Center, is something else entirely — a solution I could really live with.
The Digital Entertainment Center looks more like a high-end A/V component than a computer, with a sleek, brushed black aluminum finish and a whisper-quiet fan. Although it's significantly deeper than some components (almost 17 inches), it can fit comfortably into just about any A/V rack. The front-panel "Media Info" display has bright blue letters that are easy to read from a distance — important in an A/V unit you'll be controlling from your couch across the room!
But don't let its good looks fool you — at its core, the z545 is one powerful PC. Along with the latest version of Microsoft's "Media Center" operating system (Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005), it boasts a 3.0GHz Intel® Pentium® 4 processor, a built-in 200GB hard drive, plus another removable 160GB hard drive for extra storage. The back panel of the unit has almost every kind of A/V terminal there is. No matter how new or old your components are, you'll be able to connect them to the z545!
Easy setup
HP provides a simple, graphics-heavy startup brochure, so I could quickly get rolling. As with most computers, all I really had to do was just follow the prompts in the setup wizards for suggested settings, and the z545 did the rest. The longest single step turned out to be the initializing of the computer's hard drive, which took about ten minutes.
When I opened the Windows Media Center program for the first time, a very user-friendly menu guided me through the setup process. The program not only asked me what kind of connections I wanted to make, but also showed me what the corresponding cable connection looked like. In a short amount of time, I had all of my A/V components hooked up.
Taking control
The z545 comes with two different kinds of controllers, reflecting its dual nature as an entertainment center and a PC. It has a handheld lR remote, with a hot button that instantly opens the Windows Media Center interface. The simple navigation controls on this remote are adequate for most of the day-to-day workings of the system, and once I had completely installed all my components and set my preferences, I could do pretty much anything I needed to with just this remote.
The system also comes with a wireless PC keyboard, complete with trackball. The keyboard is very light, and compact enough to fit comfortably on my lap. I used it primarily for the setup, and also when I was doing any computer-related work (writing e-mails, labeling music tracks, etc.). As with the handheld remote, there's a hot key that takes you immediately to the Media Center interface for quick access to all your entertainment options.
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A PC in disguise
One answer to such problems is the Media Center PC — a computer that's designed to connect to your home A/V system, with a streamlined "Media Center" interface that helps you manage your entertainment options. They include perks like a DVD burner, built-in TV tuner, and digital video recording software.
However, not everyone likes the idea of sticking a PC tower, with its constantly whirring fan, in their living room. HP's new top-of-the-line Media Center PC, the z545 Digital Entertainment Center, is something else entirely — a solution I could really live with.
The Digital Entertainment Center looks more like a high-end A/V component than a computer, with a sleek, brushed black aluminum finish and a whisper-quiet fan. Although it's significantly deeper than some components (almost 17 inches), it can fit comfortably into just about any A/V rack. The front-panel "Media Info" display has bright blue letters that are easy to read from a distance — important in an A/V unit you'll be controlling from your couch across the room!
But don't let its good looks fool you — at its core, the z545 is one powerful PC. Along with the latest version of Microsoft's "Media Center" operating system (Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005), it boasts a 3.0GHz Intel® Pentium® 4 processor, a built-in 200GB hard drive, plus another removable 160GB hard drive for extra storage. The back panel of the unit has almost every kind of A/V terminal there is. No matter how new or old your components are, you'll be able to connect them to the z545!
Easy setup
HP provides a simple, graphics-heavy startup brochure, so I could quickly get rolling. As with most computers, all I really had to do was just follow the prompts in the setup wizards for suggested settings, and the z545 did the rest. The longest single step turned out to be the initializing of the computer's hard drive, which took about ten minutes.
 The Windows Media Center interface uses simple menus and icons for navigation. |
When I opened the Windows Media Center program for the first time, a very user-friendly menu guided me through the setup process. The program not only asked me what kind of connections I wanted to make, but also showed me what the corresponding cable connection looked like. In a short amount of time, I had all of my A/V components hooked up.
Taking control
The z545 comes with two different kinds of controllers, reflecting its dual nature as an entertainment center and a PC. It has a handheld lR remote, with a hot button that instantly opens the Windows Media Center interface. The simple navigation controls on this remote are adequate for most of the day-to-day workings of the system, and once I had completely installed all my components and set my preferences, I could do pretty much anything I needed to with just this remote.
The system also comes with a wireless PC keyboard, complete with trackball. The keyboard is very light, and compact enough to fit comfortably on my lap. I used it primarily for the setup, and also when I was doing any computer-related work (writing e-mails, labeling music tracks, etc.). As with the handheld remote, there's a hot key that takes you immediately to the Media Center interface for quick access to all your entertainment options.
