Adaptec Tools Turn PC Into Media Center

Why buy a ready-made media PC when you can build your own? Adaptec this week announced the VideOh DVD Media Center, a package containing all the tools to convert your existing PC into a combination digital video recorder and editing machine.

Other companies sell the individual pieces for such a conversion, but Adaptec appears to be the first company to package in one box everything necessary to convert an existing PC.

Well, not quite everything. Although the VideOh DVD Media Center has the acronym DVD in its name, it lacks a DVD (or even CD-ROM) burner. But it does have a tuner, a remote control, a video cable, MPEG compression hardware, video editing and burning software, and a free online video guide.

Adaptec expects the package will be available in stores by mid-June. The external USB version will list for $170; the internal PCI version will cost $200.

Editor's note: Hauppauge also markets a selection of similar kits designed to give your PC media center functions, including packages that provide a variety of the necessary components.

Tuning In

To access your TV signal, the VideOh provides a 125-channel, cable-ready TV tuner. But as with all digital video recorders (and VCRs), it can interpret only an analog broadcast or cable signal. If you have digital cable or satellite, you won't be able to record anything unless the set-top box is on and set to the right station.

To automate your recording, stand-alone digital video recorders generally require you to subscribe, at a monthly fee, for an electronic schedule. The VideOh offers this service for free, indefinitely, through the TV Guide-like service TitanTV.com. Of course, TitanTV.com is available free to anyone with Internet access, so this doesn't seem like much of a bargain. But the VideOh's software does integrate with TitanTV.com for greater convenience.

Once you've recorded a TV show, you can watch it with all the usual time-shifting advantages, such as pause, rewind, and fast-forward. But you must watch it on your PC; the VideOh doesn't offer a way to view your recordings on your TV set. Workarounds are available with the right hardware: If your PC has an S-Video port, you can plug your computer into your TV. And if you have a DVD+RW drive, you can burn your shows to DVD and walk them to your television.

But Can You Add Commentary?

For burning operations, the VideOh bundles Sonic Solutions' Sonic MyDVD software. The program lets you edit your video, add music and special effects, create slide shows, and so on. Like the VideOh itself, MyDVD has DVD in the title but doesn't actually require the drive; if you have a CD-RW drive, it can burn shows to VCDs, as well.

To help with discs of different capacities, the VideOh can read and record with either MPEG 1 (low bandwidth, inferior image) or MPEG 2 (high bandwidth, DVD quality) compression. The encoder is hardware-based to keep system requirements low.

The VideOh can run on a 600-MHz PC, although an 800-MHz system is recommended. The first version will work with Windows XP and 2000, and Windows Me support is planned for a future update. The USB version will work with a USB 1.1 port, but 2.0 is strongly recommended.