Product Reviews

With all the hype surrounding Windows Media Center Edition, software developers are eager to jump on the bandwagon by offering packages that provide similar functions for existing PCs. The benefits are obvious: for a small sum, you get a home entertainment PC without having to buy a new system. But how do these products stack up?

If software is to be used in the living room, it needs to be as easy to use as a regular TV and DVD player. Both PowerCinema and Home Theater include software, a remote control and a USB infrared receiver. PowerCinema's interface is attractive and welcoming - not dissimilar to Media Center, in fact. Its menus are in large type, and the four options on the main screen mimic four buttons on the remote, allowing you to access movies, pictures, videos and music.

The movie function works just like a standard DVD player with all the usual options on the remote control. The other three functions are also simple to use, and it's surprisingly easy to change settings

ADVERTISEMENT

and navigate through the system.

PowerCinema is a competent demonstration of how PC home entertainment systems should work. But there seems little point in having an entertainment centre that's not capable of handling the most important medium of all: TV. That's where InterVideo Home Theater comes in.

Home Theater does all that PowerCinema does, but it has an additional mode called TV. You'll need a TV tuner card and if you don't have one built in, it will set you back at least an extra £40. Sadly, digital tuners aren't supported.

Once set up, Home Theater lets you watch, pause and rewind live TV and set scheduled recordings. A crucial feature of Windows Media Center is its electronic programme guide (EPG), which allows you to set recordings based on programme names rather than the clock. Home Theater is supposed to have an EPG based on Teletext information, but we couldn't get Teletext to work with it at all, so scheduled recordings had to be set up manually.

Home Theater's biggest disappointment is its interface. Like PowerCinema, it's designed to make using your PC a similar experience to your TV, but it's tricky to navigate through menus and we found it easier to use the mouse than the supplied remote control.

Home Theater gets the concept of a home entertainment centre just right, combining recordable TV, DVDs and music playback. Unfortunately, it's awkward to use. If you could merge these two products - InterVideo's functions with Cyberlink's ease of use - you would have a home entertainment setup to rival Windows Media Center.