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For the high-tech home theater enthusiast, adding a PC to your plan opens up a whole new world of possibilities. You get the power to experience content from many more sources — think digital cameras, camcorders, camera phones, CDs, the Internet and more.
The PC becomes the hub to store, organize and edit your content. And you can stream content from these different sources to your home theater in another part of the house. With the latest home networking technologies, getting it all set up can be easy. |
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Selecting the right processor for your Home Theater PC A processor, also called a CPU, is a complex and hard working component of a PC – and, perhaps one of the most important decisions you’ll make when choosing the right PC for you. But selecting the right processor for a PC that will be used as part of a Home Theater network should be easy, provided you know how you will be using your PC.
Most of today’s home PCs are based on a single, dual or quad core processor. But, more cores isn’t always better – it really depends on what you’ll be using your PC for, and how you’ll be using it. For instance, a single core processor is great for singularly-focused tasks such as editing a video or surfing the Internet – this way all the processor's energy is focused on the single task at hand. Dual core is a great for multi-tasking, like when you want to surf the Internet while you are ripping music CDs to your library. With a quad core processor, each of the four cores runs it’s specific task simultaneously, so many tasks can be happening at the same time.
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 Digital Media Adaptor
 Xbox 360 as an Extender |  |
Digital Media Adapters and Extenders A Digital Media Adapter (DMA) is a device that receives multimedia content streamed from a computer and relays it to a TV, stereo, entertainment center or home theater system. To take the DMA functionality a step further, a Media Center Extender will also deliver the familiarity of your user experience and interface of your Windows® 7 PC to your HDTV. If you are not ready to incorporate a PC into your home theater, with Windows Media Center you don’t have to. Connect an extender for Windows Media Center, and you can enjoy the digital entertainment stored on your PC through your home network.
The PC isn’t just good news for your home theater. It opens the door to entertainment all over the house. Windows Media Center allows you to share your photos, videos, music and recorded television content with multiple extender devices throughout your home. Devices like the Xbox 360TM currently have the extender capability built in. Extenders for Windows Media Center are available in a range of formats, including stand-alone set-top boxes as well as integrated with other devices like DVD players and televisions.
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Made to Fit Your Screen With Windows Media Center you get a great user interface with easy navigation and the ability to see and access your digital media on wide-screen TVs. Forget the mouse and keyboard. Find the files you want with your remote. The Start menu lets you easily navigate both vertically and horizontally, bringing frequently-used options, like playing all your music or photos, to the forefront.
Windows Media Center is optimized for widescreen and high-definition displays, so you can see up to three times more of your files. Cool overlays, transparency and smooth animations create a fun and effortless way to browse and select the entertainment you want when you want it. And it also offers built in support for recording and archiving TV shows to DVD, the options to quickly browse large libraries of digital media, and support multiple third-party services and applications via the Internet.

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