Big Picture Big Sound

I first saw a prototype of Alienware's latest home theater PC at the Digital Focus show last fall. At the time, it was un-named and very preliminary, but they were aiming for a ridiculously low price point of $1000. As the unit has neared production, the price has swollen to $1999, but happily so has the feature set.

Alienware's Hangar18 HD Entertainment Center PC will be shipping later this month, and offers some unique features that set it apart from the competition - notably a built-in surround sound processor and 200 Watt/Channel multi-channel power amp that allows you to drive a full 5.1-channel speaker system right from the PC.

With its integrated High Definition tuners (up to 2 ATSC and 2 NTSC tuners), built-in HD DVR (digital video recorder), DVD drive, optional storage capacity of up to 2 Terabytes, and 1080p-enabled HDCP-compliant HDMI output, the Hangar18 will become the centerpiece of any home theater system. Just add speakers and an HD-ready display or projector and you're ready for that Big Picture Big Sound experience.



The Hangar18 features:

• A built-in 5.1-channel surround processor and multi-channel amplifier pumping out up to 200 watts per channel
• An onboard HDMI interface as well as component video and VGA outputs so you can connect the device to virtually any HD-ready display at up to 1080p resolution (1920x1080 pixels)
• Wireless functionality that allows you to stream music, videos and pictures to other Windows® PCs, mobile devices and media extenders in your home.
• AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 dual-core processors that can run multiple resource-intensive applications simultaneously.
• AMD LIVE!™ Entertainment Suite to enhance and personalize the way you access and control all your favorite TV shows, movies, music and photos.

We have requested a review sample and expect to give you the full scoop on this advanced HTPC early this Summer.