Black Boxes: Go For Broke With a PC/TV
Compac PC Theatre 9000
$3,999
Compac Computer Corp.
20555 St. Hwy 49
Houston TX 77070
(800)888-5858
www.compac.com
In the growing convergence of the personal computer with the television, Thomson and Compaq have teamed up to release the biggest, most powerful and most expensive complete PC/TV system to date.
The Compaq PC Theatre 9000 is a multimedia monster that boasts a 200 MHz Pentium processor souped-up with Intel's MMX multimedia accelerating technology, 40 MB RAM, a 3.8 GB hard drive, a 33.6 bd modem and a 16x CD-ROM.
Not to be outdone by its powerful computing credentials, the processor is mated with an RCA 36-inch VGA multimedia monitor that makes it, in combo, a truly impressive piece of equipment. And with a retail list price of $4,999 (check this), the most expensive PC/TV system on the market to date, you had better be impressed.
We put the PC Theatre through its paces in two different settings, the testing lab and the living room, to check both its "PC" and "Theater" capabilities.
PC
In the lab, once we mustered up enough manpower to lift the monitor out of the box, the system was a breeze to hook-up. The PC Theatre comes with its own optional piece of furniture, which, given the size and heft of the screen, is a highly recommended accessory. Plug-in two power cords, a standard VGA cable, a keyboard, remote control and game pad jack, the cable, satellite or broadcast receiving cable, and the system is ready to go.
Use either the wireless keyboard, or the remote control with mouse and click functions, to control the system. The wireless keyboard was comfortable and well-engineered in terms of feel and design, although to shrink the size of the board to fit the average lap, some of the peripheral keys (backspace and tab, for example), were smaller than usual and took some getting used to. But let's face it, keyboards weren't made for the couch and the remote was usually the more desirable option. For its part, the remote's point and click function, with a thumb on top and an index finger on the "trigger," required a good amount of dual-fingered dexterity, but it was ultimately comfortable and ergonomically sound. In the home testing venue, our user group said it seemed heavy and difficult to manipulate, and it's certainly the longest, heaviest remote control we've experienced. I personally liked the heft in a Dirty-Harry sort of way, although I did find myself occasionally wanting to slip the thing into a holster on my hip.
Upon powering-up the system, the Windows 95 Install Wizard did its magic and conjured-up a full-featured Windows 95 desktop. The PC Theatre comes loaded with a standard variety of Internet browser software choices, standard Windows 95 operating applications and a copy of WaveCeiver Lite, an application that allows the PC Theatre to receive interactive broadcast content.
The actual computer performance was everything one would expect from a machine loaded with all the latest Intel chipsets, but the power in the box was noticeably overshadowed by significant fuzziness and lack of definition on the monitor, especially in the desktop icons and Windows dialog boxes.
We talked to Compaq lead software engineer Tom Brase, who said he was aware of the problem and explained that the lack of definition could be somewhat remedied by reducing the desktop contrast. This was moderately successful, but from the couch at 10 feet, trading blurry icons for a low screen light level isn't a great trade-off. An application to improve the sharpness of the monitor will be available for the next release of the product, Brase said, and will be downloadable for customers who have the current version.
TV
Configuring the television was more challenging than setting up the computer. We connected our Sony DSS satellite system to the PC Theatre, expecting to create an extremely high-end viewing experience. What could be better, after all, than full-featured satellite on a full-featured PC/TV? Unfortunately, the two systems aren't very compatible. Just like a regular TV, the PC/TV must be tuned to a single channel to receive a satellite or cable signal. That means either changing TV channels with a separate remote, or teaching the PC Theatre remote the infrared code for the other set-top components. In the case of most new satellite systems, however, including ours, the satellite tuner is controlled through a combination of infrared (IR) and RF signals. Because you can only teach the remote infrared codes (the RF is hard-wired in the satellite remote), the PC Theatre remote didn't really help us control the satellite tuner. We could teach it to control our VCR and cable box, however, so the remote is almost universal.
We connected the PC Theatre to a cable broadcast system in our home testing venue, and had more luck. A noticeable inconvenience was how the system initially requires the user to key-in the name of every channel to get program information. A drag-and-drop function should be included.
With a few tries and some troubleshooting, we were able to get the system to download our area program information from the vertical blanking interval (VBI) of the local PBS station, which was comprehensive and worked like you would expect. The Web-based Electronic TV Host is another option that was available. ETV is a subscription listing that allows powerful database-style queries on a wide range of permutations (actor, genre, time, rating), and the ability to sort and store selections.
Even with all this programming information, we were disappointed by the lack of a VCR recording functionality, which means the user cannot select a program from the guide and command the VCR to record it. A computer this powerful should be able to set a VCR.
The parental control function, which allow parents to enter a Personal Identification Number to control access to channels, worked fine as far as it went, but it only blocked out entire channels. With a machine as powerful as this, we expected to have greater built-in ability to screen programs by rating, time, content, and other criteria.
The PC Theatre in TV mode did have the crisp picture quality and vivid color one would expect from a high-end RCA big-screen TV.
PC/TV
True to its name, the most impressive aspect of this machine didn't lie in either of its specific components, but in the way they ran in conjunction with each other.
The Internet ran fast and well on the Compaq PC Theatre with either Netscape or Microsoft browsers, but even on a 36-inch screen, the Web's relative immaturity as a living room medium were apparent. As more Web sites are designed for the TV, the Web should continue to evolve toward becoming a true television medium. The system was quite useful and speedy in performing all the typical Internet TV tasks (e-mail, chat and searching various Web sites devoted to TV viewing like Ultimate TV and Gist). The remote control needs greater and more convenient Internet functionality, however. The remote's "go back" button didn't work with the Internet browser, for example, and instead works only with the "menu" of the PC/TV. At the very least, an Internet "back" button on the remote would facilitate easier couch-based Web surfing.
The PC Theatre shined most notably with multimedia applications, either running the CD-ROMs (several of which get shipped standard with the system), or (one would reasonably expect) running DVD-ROM that may be shipped standard as part of future generations, but could be easily installed in a standard drive bay built into the box in any case.
In fact, the 16x CD-ROM drive and state-of-the-art MMX Pentium chip coupled with the 36-inch monitor and a unique and comfortable Phazer Pad game controller created just about the ultimate home-gaming experience. Games were fast, big and crisp.
We easily whiled away a few-dozen hours racing Indy cars, playing NFL football, NBA basketball, NHL hockey and PGA golf, and competing in the compelling and hilarious You Don't Know Jack trivia game.
From this standpoint, the Compaq PC Theatre is one powerful machine, and it ran exactly the way it was supposed to. The Main Menu interface that allowed adjustment of the video, audio and TV tuning, as well as easy changing between TV and PC operating modes, was intuitive and easy to grasp. A program launcher function on the Main Menu made it easy to start our favorite PC applications without constantly switching to the desktop. The documentation was complete and well laid-out.
Summary
The Compaq PC Theatre is so big and powerful, it's almost too much machine for the average home entertainment venue. But with a suggested retail price of $4,999, it's probably not aimed for the average home entertainment consumer. The system relies on its stellar multimedia credentials to overshadow the fact that, as a practical matter, you wouldn't really use the system to word process, run spreadsheets, design, illustrate, animate, or use any other desktop application you would normally expect (and want) to run on a system with this much processing power.
That may change with future improvements in the text definition on the monitor, but there's no mistaking the fact the PC Theatre is built primarily for entertainment.
Details:
Processor: Intel Pentium 200mhz MMX
Operating System: Windows 95
Modem Speed: 33.6 bd
CD-ROM: 16x drive
Monitor: RCA 36-inch multimedia
Input: Wireless keyboard, wireless remote, Phazer Pad game controller
TV Features:Electronic program guide
- Parental controls
- Picture in Picture
- 3 composite video in jacks
- 2 S-video in jacks
Weaknesses: Lack of definition in desktop (should be remedied in future generations).
All-in-Wonder
Suggested Retail Price: $299
ATI
(905) 882-2600
http://www.atitech.ca
Affordable PC/TV consists of installing a good TV tuner card in your computer, then getting the computer output to the TV screen. When it comes to the TV tuner cards, there are several products on the market that fit the bill satisfactorily, but for overall utility, versatility and reliability, the ATI All-in Wonder is a solid choice.
More than just a tuner card, the ATI All-in-Wonder is a 2D video card, 3D graphics accelerator, a TV tuner card, and video capture card bundled into one neat package. The card comes standard with 2 MB of EDO RAM, which is upgradeable to 4MB. Just one installation, and you're ready to juice your TV with a powerful computer, record video clips digitally, or play games in 3D using DirectX.
You will have to crack the case of your PC to install it, of course, but if you're uncomfortable with this, then building your own PC/TV may be beyond your scope.
The ATI is a good choice because of its simplicity. It used to be that a simple graphics adapter had enough power to satisfy everyone, but now there are additional video capture boards, TV tuner cards, and 3D video cards working alongside the video cards to provide more capabilities.
In an average setup, you would typically add the specialized card, such as a TV tuner card or 3D graphics accelerator, and keep your 2D graphics card in your machine. The downside of using specialized cards is that twice as many expansion slots get used up by your video.
Not with the ATI All-in-Wonder, which packages all the video the average user will need on one piece of easy to install, plug-and-play hardware.
The All-in-Wonder uses the ATI RAGE II chipset, which allows for full-featured 3D graphics and which will satisfy most users. People who need a high-powered 3D performer, (such as serious gamers), will be disappointed with this board because 3D rendering is the card's most limited capability.
There are other features that make this more than just a video card with a TV tuner. The All-in-Wonder has a closed-caption reader, which lets you be a power viewer. With the closed-caption reader, you can constantly monitor a single channel and perform keyword queries to make the card alert you when something you are interested in is on that channel. You can also record transcripts from a show.
Another intriguing feature is the card's ability to scan through channels and display a small window showing what's on. This gives you a "Hollywood Squares" picture of what's being televised at the moment. Just click the still picture of the show that looks the most interesting, and the card tunes into that channel.
The All-in-Wonder also has the ability to record video from TV onto the computer hard drive, although the amount of hard drive space required for storing long video clips could be prohibitive.
Overall, the All-in-Wonder is a unique new idea in video cards that packages several versatile functions into a single card. This makes it a great all-purpose card to use for PC/TV.
Larry Lemm is a freelance technology consultant and writer.
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