As the heart of any entertainment PC setup, today's generation of multimedia machines may be unfamiliar to those used to gray midtower boxes--or even shiny, cathode-ray illuminated cases. More at home in the living room are rack-style A/V cases, easily hidden small-form-factor boxes, and even powerful media notebooks.
Desktops
While you probably don't have a traditional rack-mounted stereo system (they fell out of favor sometime around Bonfire of the Vanities), Media Center computers are turning up more often in modern takes on the rack case style. Designed to blend in with your other home-theater components, such as digital cable boxes and DVD players, these machines are quiet and stylish, and they keep the living room from looking like a computer lab.
See all Media Center desktopsLaptops
Today's supercharged laptops can be used to set up a media center anywhere--just connect the S-Video jack to a TV (or a DVI to an LCD), and any room becomes an instant home theater. Or keep your movie archive on a giant hard drive in a desktop system while streaming content wirelessly to your laptop in the laundry room or the kitchen.
