Gateway Crashes the Living Room

The front panel on this big (17 inches wide by 5.75 inches high by 14.5 inches deep) system has an easy-to-read LCD screen, a six-in-one memory card reader, and myriad inputs and outputs, including several for audio and video. As with any Media Center PC, you can use the device to record TV broadcasts, watch DVDs, or listen to music. The $1800 configuration I looked at included a 3-GHz Pentium 4 processor, 512MB of RAM, a 250GB hard disk, and a dual-format, recordable DVD drive. It earned a quick PC WorldBench 4 mark of 124. A more modestly equipped, Celeron-based version costs $1000.

I hooked the machine up to a 36-inch TV and a stereo receiver, and settled back on my couch. I had no trouble getting comfortable with the big, easy-to-read Media Center interface, which runs non-PC functions such as changing TV channels, selecting music, and setting the video recorder.

Like a PC, the system locked up occasionally, and that can be a real drag if you're in the middle of recording a show. (When was the last time your TiVo crashed?) And like all Media Center PCs, it forces you to condition yourself to switching between the wireless keyboard and mouse and the remote control--a jump that's inherently clumsy.

The FMC-901 X looks like an ideal PC-stereo component hybrid, but I still advocate keeping the PC in the home office where it belongs.

Josh Taylor

FMC-901 X Family Media Center PC

Gateway

If you must have a Media Center PC, this is the one to get.
Price when reviewed: $1800
Current prices (if available)