<% rating=4 %>
I’ve got a Windows Media Center and a TiVo, it’s like having two kids… loving them both the same, but you know one of them hasn’t shown all their potential. That’s how I feel about Microsoft’s MCE PC’s. I think that will all change with the next update to their Media Center OS. So, what kind of hardware would you need for the ultimate entertainment center? The new m1000 by HP… the best feature about this machine is that it allows you to slide up to 160 gigabytes of additional storage into the machine (more if you swap out the removable drive). This is a much needed feature since everything is going digital and space is at a premium. When you need more space just slide the HP Personal Media Drive into the front of the m1000 chassis or plug it in as an external USB hard drive with. To give you some perspective on how big a 160GB drive is… you can store up to 2,600 hours of high-quality digital music recording, up to 180,000 digital photos, or up to 160 hours of standard-quality TV. That’s probably more media that you can ever look, listen, or watch in a life time, but who cares. The estimated street price of the m1000 series Photosmart PCs are expected to start at $899. The slide in drives will be around $220. Both will be available starting July 18.