Floppyhead – Digital Media and Streaming

With the release of Digital Cable Receivers, Microsoft will be relying on OEMS like Hewlett-Packard to deliver quality Vista-based media centers that are approved by CableLabs. Hewlett-Packard over the last year has begun to release some very cool media center-based products, like the TouchSmart IQ770 and the HP z565 Digital Entertainment Center (at present without a Digital Cable Receiver), which has an attractive design and would look great next to high end A/V equipment.

An unique feature to the HP z565 is the inclusion of the HP Pocket Media Drive. From HP’s website:

If you need extra storage that’s portable and lightweight, the HP Personal Media Drive is your answer. Thin and extremely compact, it allows you to carry up to 80GB or 120GB of your important data files, plus digital media and more right in your hip pocket. The HP Pocket Media Drive has the same great connectivity via USB or directly into drive bays of select HP PCs.

The HP Media Drive is an interesting concept with its ability to plug into a computer like a tape drive. The real value of such a drive would be enhanced if you could connect it to a media center in your car. Upload videos and music to the Pocket Media Drive and then connect it to a car computer. I would love to see HP will add that feature in the future.

The main drawback of the HP z565 is that it is currently not available with a Digital Cable Receiver, which is required to watch cable HDTV through a computer. Companies like HP and Dell are important to Microsoft and their media center efforts, and with such receivers beginning to trickle into the consumer realm, I fully expect HP to offer a Digital Cable Receiver upgrade.