Floppyhead – Digital Media and Streaming

Media Center PCs with CableCARD support have yet to hit the marketplace. It appears that Velocity Micro might be the first company to release these long awaited computers. EngadgetHD pointed out that a Velocity Micro employee was over at AVSForums.com and stated that Cablelabs certified PCs will be shipping within the week.

I took a quick look at the Velocity Micro website to see how much their media center would cost. From the website:

CineMagix Grand Theater Entertainment System is the perfect convergence device between traditional entertainment and digital multimedia. Store your music for instant access, record your favorite TV shows digitally and in HD, create photo slideshows, and access the web from your TV. CableCARD support allows you to watch premium digital cable content on your TV without the need for a cable box or PVR!

The base system costs $2,195. Velocity Micro PC is adding on a Digital Cable Tuner for $285. For two tuners (which I would highly recommend), the cost is $570. To add on a Blu-Ray drive would cost another $800. In total, a Grand Theater with two tuner cards and almost 1TB would cost just under $3,000. Although expensive, the Grand Theater is cheaper than many other comparable systems announced by the likes of Sony and Niveus. Personally, I am going to wait and see what the price will be for Dell’s XPS 410.