Chris Lanier's Blog

News, Analysis, and Opinion on Microsoft Digital Media Technologies (and TGB News!)

Wednesday, April 09, 2008 - Posts

  • ASUS Takes the Mini PC to a Mighty Level with Essentio CS5110

    Taipei, Taiwan, April 8, 2008 – Extensive research and development have resulted in ASUS innovations that help pack more versatility and performance into compact frames. Packed with innovations, the ASUS Essentio CS5110 is a Mini PC that features exceptional graphics performance as its main focus – and is the world’s smallest Desktop PC equipped with a fully embedded discrete graphic card to give you high definition movie pleasure and smooth gaming fun.

    Mighty Fluency - 1080P High Definition Pleasure

    Playing HD movies easily and smoothly, the CS5110's superior graphic quality and HDMI display output allows for entertainment enjoyment in high definition. Through the HDMI-equipped TV or monitor, the digital video and digital audio can be transferred seamlessly.

    Mighty Sound – High Quality Audio

    The CS5110 supports S/PIDF-output and is equipped with 7.1 Sound output. By connecting to the user's 7.1 speakers or audio devices, it can deliver an experience of vivid surround-sound for movies and games.

    Mighty Quiet – Low-noise Computing Experience

    Through the world's first 2-in-1 thermal module that insulates heat from the cooling fan, the CS5110 has the fastest, most quiet and reliable heat dissipation system. The operation noise level is only at 23.9dB at idle mode, quieter than most other computer systems in the market to provide you with a very comfortable computing environment.

    Mighty Versatile – 802.11n & Bluetooth 2.0 Connections

    The CS5110 supports 802.11n wireless standard with transmission rates of 300Mbps – 6 times faster in speed and 8 times larger in coverage than the 802.11g standard. Its built-in Bluetooth™ also supports multi-linkage with Bluetooth devices, such as laptops, handheld devices (mobile phones, PDA, etc.), and head/ear phones.

    SPLENDID™ Video Intelligence Technology

    This technology optimizes the video performance with intelligent color, brightness, contrast and sharpness correction. It also provides video preset mode selections (via the hotkey) and 3 skin-tones to choose from based on the user’s preference. It produces vivid and vibrant colors by enhancing real-time depth and color intensity. With its advanced Area Pixel Processing Algorithm constantly evaluating and adjusting every pixel in every frame, the end result is a dynamically-optimized image with deep and strong colors that are very natural to the human eye. When the visual is dark, for instance night scenes, this technology is programmed to adjust the brightness output of each detail and create a well-balanced contrast so that rainy days will not just look like a total blur on the screen.

    Mighty Stylish – Gloss Satin Finish

    The outer case of the ASUS Essentio CS 5110 Mini Desktop PC is made by applying high quality double injection techniques, similar to that of famous Italian designer furniture for a luxurious feel. Then the double-injected molding is polished to create the crystal-like glossy dark look to give it that beautiful satin finish.

    Full Specifications

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    Cross Posted from Chris Lanier's Blog at http://msmvps.com/blogs/chrisl/
  • Reader Questions: Round 2

    Q: What legislative and/or technical framework will allow me to watch TV from my home country (UK) even though I live in the US?

    You could do this now if you have friends/family still living there.  Grab yourself a Slingbox and ship it over to your family/friends and have them connect it to an extra set-top box.  Then you could connect over the Internet and tune everything in realtime.  Other than that, I would expect much.

    Q: Why is it that Vista Media Center video decoding requires so much more CPU power than XP Media Center?

    I believe this is a result of a mixture of EVR, DXVA, and DRM, however I believe hardware acceleration has been picked back up in SP1.

    Q: Ballpark timing on the PC HD satellite solutions for DirecTV and/or Dish.

    I’m still expecting the Media Center beta to end around Oct/Nov, so the tuners will hopefully be out in time for the holidays.

    Q: Do you use VMC as your primary DVR? Do you use media center extenders on a regular basis? If so how many tuners does your VMC box have and how many extenders do you use?

    Yep, I use Media Center as my primary DVR packed with ATSC tuners.  I have has a standard DIRECTV H20 receiver (non-DVR), but I’ve been waiting on the DIRECTV HDPC-20  tuner for Media Center to ditch that as a viewing source.  ATSC and the occasional live HD program on the H20 suits me now, mainly because my schedule doesn’t allow me to watch all the shows I want (even recorded, I think I’m backed up full seasons on some stuff right now!).

    Q: Would you rather have The DirecTV MCE (HDPC-20) or CableCard MCE? (SDV BOCUR)?  I wonder who will truly have a better HD lineup by this fall?

    I would rather have the HDPC-20 for two reasons, one is that I have DIRECTV now, and the other is that DIRECTV has HD right now.  Cable depends greater on your provider and location.  For example, Comcast/TWC/etc where you live will have a different HD line-up from what Comcast/TWC/etc where I live does.  I’m also not a big fan of Comcast, who is my sole option for a cable provider.

    Q: Do you believe the Home Server bug fix is going to be sufficient enough that I could begin storing home videos and pictures again without too much worry?  It is very cool to have music, home videos and pics digitally, but what are you recommendations for making sure these don't get lost.  I feel like I need 3 or 4 levels of backup.

    Yes and no.  First of all, you should always have multiple backup sets and never put all your trust in a single location.  However, your right that you should be able to feel that your data is safe on a device specifically meant for data backup.  Windows Home Server started as one of the best products that Microsoft has ever done, sadly this data corruption problem (and how long it has taken Microsoft to fix it) puts a dagger in the whole experience.

    Got a question?  Post them here and as a part of Media Center Week I’ll pick a few everyday and answer them.  Also don’t forget to enter for the Big Screen Giveaway!

    Cross Posted from Chris Lanier's Blog at http://msmvps.com/blogs/chrisl/
  • Media Center’s Windows 7 Facelift

    Paul Thurrott has several screenshots up from Windows 7 build 6519 (Dec. 2007) in which the Media Center UI appears to be getting a minor facelift.  This is to be expected in any Windows release, but the manner in which it is currently being done looks a bit odd to me.

    Based on the screenshots it looks like Microsoft might be trying to redo the Program Info pages with a new streamlined design.  What strikes me as odd are the Play and Delete buttons which no longer look like traditional Media Center buttons. Media Center looks like it will finally be getting a Sidebar gadget too; right now it has controls for Play Music, Play Slideshow, and Play Music+Picture.

    Of course it is way too early to think this is what the final builds will look like, so don’t get to excited, you haven't seen it all yet.

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    Cross Posted from Chris Lanier's Blog at http://msmvps.com/blogs/chrisl/
  • Five Media Center Plug-ins You're Missing

    1. myTV – An easy to use MCML-based TV archiving plug-in for Vista Media Center.  You can grab the trial here and if you like it buy it here for only $20.
    2. Vista4Cast – Add weather embedded in your Start Menu, as well as a plug-in version.  Not nearly as polished as other plug-ins like Big Screen Weather v2, but the Start Menu weather is very cool.
    3. MC Organizer – MCML plug-in that lets you view or play movies stored in Movie Collector software.
    4. LEDSdriver – Want your Media Center to have a currently recording LED like your cool VCR does?  That’s exactly what this plug-in allows for.
    5. VideoReDo – By far the best program for editing DVR-MS files.  You can also VOB files to DVR-MS for easy streaming to your Media Center Extender.

    Bonus: Big Screen Movies – Now, Niall has been keeping this under wraps but here is what we are going to do.  Everyone is going to head over to Big Screen Global and pick up one or all of the Big Screen Suite of applications (Big Screen Headlines v2, Big Screen Photos v2, Big Screen Weather v2).  Maybe then we can convince Niall to release Big Screen Movies.

    Cross Posted from Chris Lanier's Blog at http://msmvps.com/blogs/chrisl/


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