PC, TV, and Video Recorder

If you're tired of having to choose between your PC and your TV, check out Compro's $199 Personal Cinema With GeForce2 MX 400.

Personal Cinema unites a dual-output GeForce graphics board with an external TV tuner and a remote control. When productivity is your priority, NVidia's TwinView technology permits you to spread your working desktop across two displays. But when it's time for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, you can use one of the displays as a television, while working on your spreadsheet in the other one.

The TV tuner resides in a bright green breakout box with a built-in infrared sensor; an included remote control allows you to change channels, adjust the volume, play a DVD movie (if your PC has a DVD-ROM drive), or even digitally record shows onto your hard drive using included software (you will need at least 4GB of hard drive space to record 3 or 4 hours at low quality). You can play the recordings back on your monitor or through the breakout box into any audio-video or home-theater setup. Best of all, you can use the included on-screen channel guide software to plan your TV watching and recording up to a week in advance. In my tests of a shipping unit with a GeForce2 chip (GeForce3 models are available, too), the only problems were with a few 3D games that are incompatible with dual monitors--and I was able to fix them by temporarily disabling TwinView via a desktop icon. Compro offers two other versions of Personal Cinema, but only the MX units offer TwinView.

Box Set: Personal Cinema remote (top) and tuner.

SUMMARY

Compro Personal Cinema With GeForce2 MX 400 Can make your PC the hub of a home theater system. Street: $199