One to rule them all

Although there are plenty of exciting home entertainment devices in the shops, if you're looking for the ultimate machine the only solution is to build your own.

Everything you can buy off the shelf has something missing, whether it's high-definition television, tuners, a DVD burner or access to an electronic program guide.

But build a media-centre computer to sit at the heart of your digital lounge room and you can have it all.

When designing a slice of home entertainment nerdvana from scratch, start with the case, three of which we review here.

Most pre-built media centre computers from the major PC makers are ugly and unlikely to get that crucial "spousal tick of approval" for residing in the lounge room. Forget beige boxes with roaring fans, media centre PCs have to look and sound the part.

If you want to connect your media centre to the TV and control it from the couch, you need a "10-foot GUI" - in other words a media centre that sits on top of the operating system with menus designed to be friendly to the eyes from a distance.

For Windows users, Microsoft has followed XP Media Centre Edition with two versions of Vista aimed at the lounge room - Vista Home Premium and Vista Ultimate.

Linux lovers will want to check out KnoppMyth, MythBuntu and LinuxMCE. All these let you turn your computer into a DVD player, personal video recorder, jukebox and much more.

A media centre needs to be at one with its environment, so think carefully about where it will live. Measure your home entertainment cabinet carefully, allowing a margin for ventilation. Width is critical. Home entertainment cabinets cater for devices such as DVD players, which are generally no more than 43cm wide so you'll be lucky to get more then 44cm to play with.

When choosing a case, do you want something big and beautiful that looks like an amplifier or small and sleek that looks like a DVD player?

A row of flashing lights may look cool at first but will soon grow annoying when you're watching movies in the dark. Remember, you have to look at this case every day - as do the people you live with - so a little consultation and compromise up front could save anguish later.

Remember, if you go for a small case you'll be restricted as to what components you can use inside. If you've got your heart set on the latest graphics card sporting a mammoth heatsink or fan, measure carefully before putting money down on a tiny case.

Handy features to look for in a case are a front memory card reader to make it easy to look at your digital photos on the TV. It can also be useful to have USB, firewire and audio ports at the front. A few cases come with a remote control.

A front readout with scrolling text is the ultimate bling for that one computer to rule them all.

Until recently, high-end media centres have come with vacuum fluorescent displays, similar to the readout on a VCR but usually too small to read from the couch.

The new liquid crystal display readouts from SoundGraph are much larger and display Asian characters.

They often are accompanied by SoundGraph's iMON PAD remote control, which has all the AV buttons and a four-way

The contenders

Antec Fusion Black case
RRP: $308
www.antec.com
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

This sports the SoundGraph LCD and volume knob, so it looks a lot like a home entertainment device. The case is 44cm wide but only 14cm high so you may struggle to fit big components inside. It is is well designed with three chambers for better cooling. The 430 watt power supply is also very quiet. This case lacks a memory card reader and unfortunately Antec doesn't supply the fancy iMON PAD remote control. It comes with a stripped-down version of iMON software so you can only use a standard media centre remote. Antec has added a deep blue tinge to the LCD that makes it harder to reader.

SilverStone GD01MX case
RRP: $299
www.silverstonetek.com
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

This model is taller than the Antec Fusion Black at 17cm but it's only 43cm wide, so you'll have more luck fitting it in a cabinet. It has the SoundGraph LCD and iMON PAD remote control (without the Antec Fusion Black's restrictions) but it lacks a volume knob and power supply. The SilverStone's cooling fans are louder than those in the Antec cases but you can easily slow them down. Gently pressing the top of its two front panels causes them to pop open and then gracefully recline to horizontal, revealing a memory card reader and front ports.

Antec NSK2400 case
$169
www.antec.com
|4.5 out of 5

This entry-level model is a stripped-down version of the Fusion Black without the LCD and remote and with a slightly less powerful power supply. It's only available in silver but otherwise the case dimensions and design are identical. The Antec cases have fewer screws to fiddle with in awkward places than the SilverStone but the trade-off is the Antecs only take a microATX motherboard, whereas you can squeeze a full-sized motherboard into the SilverStone. The silver Antec's front USB, FireWire and 3.5 mm audio ports (with the green and pink rings around them) don't stand out as much as they do against the black of the expensive Antec case.

Verdict

For those on a budget, the entry-level Antec is the perfect foundation for a media centre - it's well-priced, looks good and allows you to add features later. If you're after all the bells and whistles, the Antec Fusion Black looks like the ultimate media centre case until you discover the knobbled LCD readout and lack of remote control. The SilverStone may not look quite as sleek but it delivers the goods. If you want the best of both worlds, consider the entry-level Antec and put the savings towards buying the LCD separately in the form of SilverStone's MFP51 LCD and remote package.