Media Server Reviews

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Media Server Reviews
AudioReQuest F4.500 Audio Server
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jan 25, 2006  |  0 comments
Four Jeeveses, serving music.

Let's fantasize a bit. Let's run wild. Let's say your hunger for music has genetically transmitted itself to your kids. Now let's postulate that every member of the family has different musical tastes. Fortunately, your McMansion is big enough to let everyone blast away with impunity. Now all you've got to do is serve up, say, four audio feeds. In your designer home, local systems would be a recurring eyesore—you want your multizone system to do the serving. All you've got to do is find an audio server that'll satisfy four mutually incompatible music lovers in four separate zones at once.

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Media Server Reviews
Akimbo Systems Video On Demand Player
Chris Chiarella  |  Dec 28, 2005  |  0 comments
Programming delivered fresh from the Internet to your set-top box.

Not to date myself, but I'm old enough to remember when video on demand was one of those coming technologies that made the hip groovesters at the malt shop say, "Neat-O!" even if they had no idea how it would actually work. But video on demand has been a fact of life for some time now, and everyone I know who actually uses it simply adores the power and convenience.

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Media Server Reviews
Olive
Daniel Kumin  |  Dec 03, 2005  |  0 comments
Over the years, there's been an Apricot (a brand of computers), an Orange Micr
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Media Server Reviews
McIntosh MS300 Music Server
Thomas J. Norton  |  Oct 30, 2005  |  0 comments
Comedian Robert Klein once did a routine about those ubiquitous old K-Tel TV ads for huge collections of music on a cassette or CD box set. "Every Elvis Presley song for just $9.99 plus shipping and handling," he began. Riffing on the increasing grandiosity of those ads, he ended with a flourish, "A trailer truck will pull up to your house loaded with CDs filled with every piece of music ever recorded!"
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Media Server Reviews
Kaleidescape System 3000 Entertainment Server
Thomas J. Norton  |  Aug 21, 2005  |  0 comments
If you're like me, with a large library of DVDs (I think I'm over 1000, but I haven't counted them lately), just finding the one you want is a chore. Try as I might to keep them in some sort of order, it never works for long. I pull out a few to watch, and before you know it there are little piles scattered all around the house.
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Media Server Reviews
Elgato EyeHome Digital Media Player and EyeTV 200 Tuner/DVR
Adrienne Maxwell  |  Dec 14, 2004  |  First Published: Dec 15, 2004  |  0 comments
Can you say IP?

At this year's CEDIA Expo, two technologies ruled the day: A/V servers and Internet Protocol (IP). It's safe to say that convergence really has invaded every part of the home theater arena. If your eyes tend to gloss over when your computer-savvy friends toss around words like IP, network, and Ethernet, I've got some bad news for you: You can run, but you can't hide. First, the computers took over our offices; now they're invading our entertainment space. Someday, they'll kill us all—but hey, we'll probably be gone by then, so let's talk about how IP can enhance your home theater experience.

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Media Server Reviews
Alienware DHS-321 PC
Chris Chiarella  |  Nov 07, 2004  |  First Published: Nov 01, 2004  |  0 comments
No, really: It's a computer!

Savvy readers might be familiar with Alienware. Their built-to-order gaming PCs are as famous as their functional and distinctive cases that prevent dust and birds from nesting between the circuit boards. Taking those two strengths into the living room, Alienware has introduced a Media Center Edition PC like no other, the DHS-321 Digital Home System. This box, which approximates the look of a consumer electronics component in black-anodized, brushed aluminum, runs the Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004 operating system.

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Media Server Reviews
Convergence: The Future Is. . .Soon
Chris Chiarella  |  Mar 12, 2004  |  First Published: Feb 01, 2004  |  0 comments
We glimpse the shape of things to come.

Last fall, the editors of Home Theater beat a path to our industry's CEDIA Expo to see and be seen, as we do every year. This time around, we were surprised by the opportunity to witness the bona fide evolution of entertainment gear. We learned the names of three manufacturers (and so will you) whose creations—each multizone-friendly and high-end in its own fashion—bring next-generation features to the home theater and beyond. At press time, these products were still too new for a full hands-on review, so we'll share what we do know thus far.

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