« Chernin of Fox/News Corp. realistic on PVRs impact | Main | New DirecTV Satellites »

Media Center 2004 Computers Shipping

We reported the release of Media Center 2004 on Monday, but here's the skinny on the upcoming models that will feature it.

Dell has added the Media Center option to its Dimension line of products, specifically the 8300, 4600C, and 4600.

The Dimension 4600 with Media Center starts at $999 and comes with a Pentium 4 2.6ghz processor with a 800mhz front side bus and Hyper Threading, 512mb of DDR400 SDRAM, an 80gb 7200rpm hard drive, a 16x DVD drive, integrated Dolby Digital 5.1 audio, a 64mb ATI ALL-IN-WONDER 9000 video card with remote control, and a 17" CRT monitor.

Gateway has updated its line of Media Center-based desktops as well as adding a new all-in-one line called the 610 series. The 610's range from $1499 to $1999 and come with a 17" LCD panel.

Of particular interest is Gateway's update to the Media Center with Plasma TV series which truly bridge the home media experience with desktop computing by adding a 42" plasma TV to the package. This line has been around for awhile, but the hardware updates and the new Media Center release make this rather intriguing product.

The base model, the S, is $3599 and comes with the 42" plasma tv and a 500S PC with a Pentium 4 2.4ghz processor (800mhz front side bus and Hyper-Threading), 256mb of DDR333 SDRAM, an 80gb 7200rpm hard drive, a 128mb NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200G video card, integrated Dolby Digital 5.1 audio, and a 48x CD-RW/DVD combo drive.

HP is shipping its line of Media Center 2004-based desktops, the m300 series.

$999.99 gets you a m300 with a Pentium 4 2.4ghz processor with a 800mhz front side bus and Hyper Threading, 512mb of DDR333 SDRAM, a 48x CD-RW/DVD combo drive, a 128mb ATI Radeon 9200 video card, integrated Dolby Digital 5.1 audio, and an 80gb 7200rpm hard drive (no monitor included).

HP has also added the Media Center 2004 option to its line of zd7000 notebooks.

The base zd7000 Media Center configuration starts at $1999 ($1899 with a $100 mail-in rebate) and comes with a 17" WXGA+ screen (1440x900 resolution), a Pentium 4 2.66ghz processor, 256mb of DDR SDRAM, an 80gb 5400rpm hard drive, an 8x DVD drive, and a 64mb NVIDIA GeForce Go 5600 video card. The zd7000 also weighs in at a whopping 9.3lbs and is 1.8" thick.

Toshiba is shipping its P25 series notebook.

A bit pricier, but more powerful, the P25 goes for $2799 and comes with a 3.0ghz Pentium 4 processor, 1gb DDR SDRAM, a 17" WXGA+ screen, a 64mb NVIDIA GeForce FX Go 5200 video card, an 80gb 5400rpm hard drive, a DVD burner, and integrated 802.11a/g WiFi. The P25 is also a 9.9lb beast that's 1.8" thick.

Not to be outdone, Sony is taking pre-orders for the RZ44G Media Center desktop.

by Paul Sharpe October 1, 2003 in Windows Media Center XP

Comments

The coolest set is the Gateway one with the 43" plasma monitor. Is anyone else selling a Media Center XP system with a plasma monitor? That makes a lot of sense to me. Being able to watch TV, DVDs, home videos, slideshows of your digital photos, as well as all of the Media Center XP functionality on that large of a screen really changes the usage. Much more TV-like (lay back viewing) than PC-like (sit forward/interactive viewing.)

Posted by: gen at Oct 2, 2003 11:48:22 PM

When I was at a seminar about six months ago, it was in this big hotel, and during a lunch break, I noticed a bunch of guys setting up for an upcoming convention, with PCs, flatscreens, etc.

I talked to them and it was a demo by Intel to their company, and a key part was showing off Media Center (an Alienware box) on both a 19" LCD computer monitor and a 50" plasma screen. They let me play with the system for about ten minutes, and it was pretty easy to jump from a computer's menus and monitor to the wall sized plasma screen.

It certainly was a slick system, though all the reports I hear from home theater boards are that the Gateway plasmas are absolute crap, so I would say it's best to avoid it.

Posted by: Matt Haughey at Oct 3, 2003 12:51:53 AM

I can't imagine a high-quality 43" plasma for the prices that Gateway are charging. No surprise there.

When the 50" plasma screens were new back in 1999, Sony lent us a pro-production model to Toyota USA, where I was then working, for use during our annual board meeting. For showing websites to execs, plasmas are great! ;)

Posted by: gen at Oct 5, 2003 7:06:07 AM

Unfortunately most Plasma sets are not ""HDTV Ready meaning they can recieve and display HDTV"", lots of money for little recep-tion!!!! Sad to say..

Posted by: William Barry at Jan 27, 2004 4:53:59 PM

Ya gotta love moving to late 2005 now and seeing the prices of these things! What a drop!

Posted by: Todd Lokken at Sep 30, 2005 9:48:58 AM

I invite everyone to take a look at our new Media Center PC tailored for high end home theater and home automation. Each Cannon PC is housed in a living room style case and the LX and EX series are rack mountable. Check Cannon PC Media Centers at www.cannonpc.com

Posted by: Gregg Cannon at Oct 3, 2005 7:46:36 AM

The LX Media Center is awesome. I have one and it just won Best Media Center PC when compared to Dell, HP and Gateway (www.pcnewsweeklymag.com) Check out their site at www.cannonpc.com

Posted by: Sean at Nov 7, 2005 9:54:02 AM

Post a Comment

Name:

Email Address: (required, not shown)

Remember personal info?

Comments:

(html not allowed)

TrackBack: http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/459/175713

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Media Center 2004 Computers Shipping: