HP z555 Digital Entertainment Center
impressive
Are you ready to access all your media at the touch of a button? If you own an mp3 player, chances are you're hooked. Imagine that capability for all your movies and TV content too.<br /><br />In essence, the HP Digital Entertainment Center is a PC that looks like a stereo component and hooks to your TV, your other stereo components, and your speaker system. It's intended to hold all your digitized media (movies, TV, music, and photos) and make all your content easily accessible.<br /><br />I've owned the HP z552 Digital Entertainment Center PC for just over a month, and I am very pleased with this impressive PC. It's a lot of power for the money. (The z555 is a step up, with a larger hard drive and a third TV tuner that receives over-the-air HD programming.)<br /><br />My HP Digital Entertainment Center is blazing fast and processes my video far better than my other PCs. I've ripped my entire DVD library onto this baby, using easy to use freeware (DVD Shrink). The movies look as good as they do off my DVDs. I've also got all my digital photos on it, and my entire music library. The photos look fantastic on my TV. We use the DVR feature to record shows while watching others, and the TV guide feature is localized to my city and works very well. I find the combo keyboard/mouse easy to use and comfortable while sitting on the couch. The DVD player/burner works well. I haven't tried the cool \\"Lightscribe\\" feature yet, but I will soon. It's a special HP technology that burns labels right onto your DVDs.<br /><br />Set up was far easier than I'd expected. HP did an outstanding job with the instructions. The best I've seen anywhere. I wish my stereo components had explained things this easily. Now I understand why things are connected the way they are. Phone support is also good, and this product comes with 24x7. I had to call the first week to replace the keyboard and HP was courteous and friendly. They sent me a replacement within a few days, no questions asked.<br /><br />I like how this product comes with two operating system interfaces: Microsoft XP and Microsoft Media Center Edition. That way I can use XP for my computing tasks, and Media Center for my viewing pleasure.<br /><br />Keep in mind that no Media Center PCs can handle HD content through set-top boxes at this point in time. The z555 and above have over-the-air HD tuners, but that doesn't mean you can access the HD from your cable or satellite. The limitation is with the operating system, not the HP hardware.<br /><br />If you want to move a lot of data around, be sure to get the HP Personal Media Drive (PMD) to go along with your Digital Entertainment Center PC. This PC has a special PMD docking bay and I just leave my 200GB PMD right in there. It adds nice extra capacity and portability.<br /><br />This PC also has a 9 in 1 card reader so I can use all my various memory cards directly. It also has good front panel connectivity for games and camcorders. Of course, did I mention how nice this fits in with my stereo components? You'd never know it was a PC sitting there, connected to my TV. It looks very nice.<br /><br />In short, this product is not your average PC. If you're ready to digitize your world, this is the device for you. HP didn't leave any stone unturned. This is the future!<br /><br />update (Nov 29): Microsoft has some work to do on the Windows Media Center interface. It has its unstable moments. For example, if I press \\"standby\\" while in Media Center mode, the software hangs and requires a reboot. So I have to return to the XP interface to go into standby. There's definitely room for improvement.th two operating system interfaces: Microsoft XP and Microsoft Media Center Edition. That way I can use XP for my computing tasks, and Media Center for my viewing pleasure.     Keep in mind that no Media Center PCs can handle HD content through set-top boxes at this point in time. The z555 and above have over-the-air HD tuners, but that doesn't mean you can access the HD from your cable or satellite. The limitation is with the operating system, not the HP hardware.     If you want to move a lot of data around, be sure to get the HP Personal Media Drive (PMD) to go along with your Digital Entertainment Center PC. This PC has a special PMD docking bay and I just leave my 200GB PMD right in there. It adds nice extra capacity and portability.     This PC also has a 9 in 1 card reader so I can use all my various memory cards directly. It also has good front panel connectivity for games and camcorders. Of course, did I mention how nice this fits in with my stereo components? You'd never know it was a PC sitting there, connected to my TV. It looks very nice.     In short, this product is not your average PC. If you're ready to digitize your world, this is the device for you. HP didn't leave any stone unturned. This is the future!    update (Nov 29): Microsoft has some work to do on the Windows Media Center interface. It has its unstable moments. For example, if I press \\"standby\\" while in Media Center mode, the software hangs and requires a reboot. So I have to return to the XP interface to go into standby. There's definitely room for improvement.