The Entertainers

The Upgrade Route

By Eric Knorr

A Media Center PC sounds like a compelling proposition--a device that can capture and play back digital audio and video, acting as either a digital-entertainment hub for your existing home theater or an all-in-one PC-based home theater for a small room.

But you don't need to buy a Media Center PC to take advantage of all that digital media goodness. If your current PC has at least a 500-MHz processor and 128MB of RAM, it can probably do the job with some upgrades. Add a TV-tuner card and some software to any fairly capable PC, and you'll have a computer that can rival almost any Media Center machine. The only thing you won't have is Microsoft's Media Center OS. That's okay, though: Several software packages offer similar large-screen interfaces for recording TV and managing digital media.

One thing you will have is some leftover cash--you'll probably spend much less to upgrade a PC than you would on a new Media Center system. And while upgrading can be a very complex process, it's the best way to get an audio/video setup with exactly the right mix of hardware, software, and consumer electronics.

Digital video recording is probably the most compelling element of the home theater PC puzzle, but it's not all you must consider. You'll need the right balance of high-quality sound hardware and speakers, plenty of storage space, and a convenient means of selecting and controlling media. Depending on how you plan to use your PC, you may want to consider upgrading each of these elements.