HTPC – rgbFilter

Boxee Box gets another update, cements its position as the best HTSTB money can buy.

May 24, 2011May 25, 2011 Danny X 10 foot interface, Boxee, Boxee Box, DLink, HTPC, media streamer, Netflix6 Comments

Much has been said of the Boxee Box, D-link’s fledgling foray into the world of home theatre set-top boxes, running the gamut from “streamlined” and “Polished” (agreed!) to “Disappointing” (…not so much). While it’s true that D-link’s little box has been lacking in some key areas (cough cough MUSIC PLAYER cough), when it comes to ease of use and across-the-board file compatibility, Boxee sits in a class that is simply untouchable by heavy hitters like GoogleTV, Roku, and especially AppleTV. Now, after a scant 6 months, Boxee has widened that…

The Commodore 64 lives again, sort of

April 4, 2011April 4, 2011 Doug Groves Amiga, C64, C64s, Commodore, Commodore USA, HTPC, ION2, nostalgia, Nvidia ION2 Comments

Remember the Commodore 64? In its heyday day, it was the best selling computer of all time, and over the years a number of case modders have managed to cram a fully functioning PC inside the case. Now Commodore USA hoping that nostalgia will help revive the form factor with modern internals on a more ‘official’ level.

Unboxing Boxee Box – initial impressions

November 12, 2010November 29, 2010 Doug Groves Asus O!Play Air, Boxee, Boxee Box, D-Link, HTPC, living room media, media streamer, review, unboxing, video, WD TV Live HD5 Comments

After what seemed like forever, Boxee Box by D-Link finally hit retail shelves on Wednesday, and being a big fan of the software, I made sure I was there to get one. I didn’t have the official RGB Filter HD camera on hand, so I fired up my point n shoot with 720p, to give you a look at it, and the much anticipated remote with QWERTY keyboard built into it. I was going to call this one “A look at what’s inside the Boxee Box box, when unboxed”, but…

Acer releases new Aspire Z all-in-one and Revo nettop

October 15, 2010October 16, 2010 drsquid Acer, all-in-one, Aspire, Atom, GeForce, Hardware, HTPC, Intel, ION, multi-touch, nettop, Nvidia, Revo, Window Media Centre, Windows 74 Comments

When the Acer Aspire Revo series of mini desktop computers were released last year they were some of the first in a new generation of PC’s dubbed nettops. The Revo was one of the first nettops to pair the low powered Intel Atom CPU with Nvidia’s ION chipset – ION integrates a GeForce 9400 graphics card allowing net-tops equipped with it to function as a set-top box connected to your TV to play back video content. Using Window Media Centre or XBMC the Revo was a great little PC, sadly…

Acer X3400 review

September 10, 2010September 10, 2010 Doug Groves Acer, Acer X3400, home theater, HTPC, Media PC, Microsoft, review, small form factor, Windows 7, Windows Media Center, WMC10 Comments

When Acer first announced their line of X3400 small form factor PCs, I don’t think they had me in mind. They were clearly targeting people with limited space, and in need of somewhat limited computing power. The initial press release announcing them was clearly shooting for dorm rooms and light-medium use, and not much more. However, when I took another look at the basic specs, I have to admit I was kind of curious. Given the small form factor, but room for expandability, could this be a good balance for…

Acer’s new computer line up – all things great and small

July 28, 2010July 28, 2010 Doug Groves Acer, Acer Aspire, Acer Predator, Aspire, Athlon II, ATI, computer, Core i3, Core i5, desktop, Gaming, HTPC, M3, Nvidia, Predator, Radeon, X34 Comments

Acer, a company that’s grown from relative obscurity outside the DIY computer building community to the world’s number 2 computer maker in just a few short years, has announced three new desktop line ups for Canada, covering the spectrum from the small form factor X3 series to the monstrous Predator gaming rig. Playing the mama bear role, is the more traditional M3. The Acer Aspire M3 series is a standard desktop tower, and will come with AMD Athlon II or Intel Core i3 / Core i5 processors and ATI Radeon…

Harmony Universal Remote Roundup

November 26, 2009February 16, 2010 Doug Groves Harmony, Harmony 1100, Harmony 700, Harmony 900, Harmony One, HTPC, Logitech, review, universal remote7 Comments

Before the Canadian company Intrigue Technologies (makers of the original Harmony remotes) was bought out by Logitech, obliterating the remote clutter in one’s living room or den was largely an exercise in frustration, either dealing with incomplete solutions or spending hours ‘training’ your universal remote to do exactly what you wanted to. If you were one of the few, you actually made the leap to the JP1 forums, which turned certain models of remotes into veritable powerhouses of IR control, after making a custom cable that allowed your Radio Shack…

ASRock ION 330 as Media Center

August 13, 2009July 8, 2010 Doug Groves ASRock, Atom, Boxee, Hauppauge, HTPC, ION, Media Center, Microsoft, Nvidia, Windows35 Comments

Intel’s low-powered & low cost Atom processor has been all the rage in the computer industry for quite some time now, and nobody has embraced it more than just about every Taiwanese hardware manufacturer whose name starts with an ‘A’. ASUS thrust the netbook form factor into the minds of the masses, but it was Acer who (so far) has won the small form factor war, as the number one netbook maker (the Aspire One grabbing 50% of the market). But it hasn’t stopped there. The Atom is appearing in…

Nvidia ION Platform Windows Certified – See It On Video

February 11, 2009April 17, 2009 Doug Groves HTPC, netbook, Nvidia, SSF9 Comments

Reference design image from trustedreviews.com Nvidia’s small form factor (SFF) computing platform has received Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL) certification for its drivers. What makes this noteworthy is the new platform is both tiny, as illustrated above, and dirt cheap (starting at about $300 US when shipping) and a not insignificant amount of horsepower under the hood. This looks like a break out platform for the growing netbook/nettop device segment, as it provides significantly more graphics power than the current crop of Intel graphic chips ubiquitous to the low-end market….