The whole home theater PC revolution being pushed by Windows XP Media Center Edition is a piece of cake to enjoy, as long as you have your home theater and your PC in the same room. Separate the two with a wall, or put them on opposite ends of the house and the options get convoluted. You need something cable of displaying video output and playing back audio tied into your home theater system Microsoft offered a baby step in the right direction with the Media Center Extender add-on for the original Xbox, although the need to insert a DVD in the Xbox every time you access content on your PC is both annoying and convenience defeating. Xbox 360 offers more promise, although there are plenty of people who will skip the Xbox simply because they don’t game. Once you get past the umbrella companies of the Microsoft brand, the options become murky and convoluted. A number of proprietary solutions claim to deliver a solid video streaming experience without living up to the promise. Your best bet at this point is one of the newer Windows Media Connect devices. I review some of the options in an article on connecting your PC to a television in another room.

[tags]xbox,windows media,home theater,media center,capture card[/tags]