Home theater PC enthusiasts, you’ve grumbled and Lenovo listened. The company took your feedback to heart when it prepped its latest multimedia remote with keyboard — the N5902 — for release. Gone is the glossy piano black finish that marred your sweet N5901 with unsightly fingerprints, as well as its trackball pointer. In their stead, Lenovo’s outfitted this update in a matte exterior, adding an optical pointer with a “ridged” scroll bar located just below it. Perhaps the most notable addition to this refresh, however, is the ability to navigate and type from the now backlit keys. Fancy updating your couch control with this AA-powered peripheral? The head to the source below to fork over your hard-earned $52.

Continue reading Lenovo N5902 ditches the fingerprint magnet finish, adds backlit keys (video)

Lenovo N5902 ditches the fingerprint magnet finish, adds backlit keys (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Oct 2011 21:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink

The tiny box that AnandTech called, “the best SFF HTPC [they had] ever reviewed, hands down,” is finally joining the Sandy Bridge brigade. A tipster was doing a little Google-fu when he came across a listing for the unannounced Vision 3D 2nd Gen Series. The specs are certainly a worthy upgrade to last year’s Computex standout, including a switchable 1GB GeForce GT540M card, 1333MHz RAM and an HMDI 1.4a port. You still get a Blu-ray drive, NVIDIA’s 3D Vision, a media remote, four USB 3.0 jacks and your choice of Core i3, i5 or i7 processors — so this isn’t exactly a complete overhaul. Check out the gallery below from a few images and some screenshots of the listing.

[Thanks, TheRealBamse]

ASRock Vision 3D 2nd Gen HTPC leaks with Sandy Bridge on board originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Sep 2011 11:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink

For those familiar with last year’s Mac mini, what you’re peering at above isn’t likely to strike you as jarring. Heck, it may even seem somewhat vanilla at this point. In truth, Apple did exceedingly little in terms of design changes with the mid 2011 Mac mini, but given the relatively recent cosmetic overhaul, it’s not like we were genuinely expecting anything above a top-to-bottom spec bump. And that, friends, is exactly what we’ve received. The mini remains quite the curious beast in Cupertino’s line — it’s the almost-HTPC that living room junkies are longing for, yet it’s still a country mile from being the headless mid-tower that Apple steadfastly refuses to build. It’s hardly a PC for the simpleton (given that it’s on you to hunt down a mouse, keyboard and monitor), and it’s actually taking a giant leap backwards on one particularly important front. Care to hear more? You’ll find our full review just past the break.

Continue reading Mac mini review (mid 2011)

Mac mini review (mid 2011) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jul 2011 13:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink

When it comes to home theater PCs, size matters — and it doesn’t get too much smaller than Sapphire’s original Edge HD mini PC, pictured above. In fact, Sapphire saw no reason to fiddle with the Edge’s diminutive form factor when designing the HD2, and instead poured itself into improving the HTPC’s specs. Not only is the updated mini-rig small enough to mount behind your HDTV, but it also packs a 1.8GHz dual-core Intel Atom, 2GB RAM, and a 320GB hard drive. All this (and 1080p VGA / HDMI out, of course) at 30W, “20 times less power than a typical desktop PC,” according to Sapphire. No word on price (or pics, for that matter), but feel free to jump past the break for an official press release with full specifications.

Continue reading Edge HD2 Mini PC is an HTPC that hides behind your TV

Edge HD2 Mini PC is an HTPC that hides behind your TV originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Jun 2011 22:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink

In what may be an interesting development for the future of Google TV, the folks at Mountain View have purchased SageTV. The HTPC software has been doing its media center thing on multiple platforms since 2002, and according to a note on its homepage the developers “believe our ideas will reach an even larger audience of users worldwide on many different products, platforms and services.” While there’s no word on exactly what Google has planned, SageTV has long included DVR and placeshifting features that the Google TV product lacks by itself. The bad news for current users is that the store links on SageTV’s page have suddenly stopped working, so hopefully you snagged the software already if you’re interested. If your main question is “What is SageTV?” check out a demo video created by user jaredduq that is embedded after the break.

[Thanks, Jason, screenshot courtesy GeekTonic]

Continue reading SageTV HTPC software acquired by Google, next stop Google TV?

SageTV HTPC software acquired by Google, next stop Google TV? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 18 Jun 2011 19:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink

Acer actually popped out its Revo RL100 media center right around six months ago, but for those unable to make the trip to Asia, today’s the day for getting jovial. Said player is now shipping to the US of A, hailed as a “digital hub” and outfitted with a dual-mode wireless touchpad / keyboard as well as the company’s own clear.fi streaming solution. A pair of models will be available — one with Blu-ray and one without — with the entire box measuring just 1- x 11.81- x 7.09-inches. As expected, an HDMI port ’round back will handle the bulk of the data transmissions, and an internal NVIDIA Ion graphics chip will be responsible for 1080p video playback. Within, you’ll get a 1.3GHz AMD Athlon II K325 CPU, 750GB SATA hard drive, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, three USB 2.0 ports, a multi-card reader, 802.11b/g/n WiFi and an Ethernet socket. Windows 7 Home Premium will be the OS of choice, and it can be yours for the tidy sum of $499.99 (or $569.99 if you’re looking to add BD capabilities).

Continue reading Acer ships AMD-powered Revo RL100 HTPC to Americans: $499 and up

Acer ships AMD-powered Revo RL100 HTPC to Americans: $499 and up originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Jun 2011 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink

We’ve heard, we’ve toyed, and we’ve waited. And now, we’re presenting you with two vital nuggets of information surrounding the Xtreamer Ultra HTPC. The Ion 2-based machine is one of the most compact (and most affordable) pre-built HTPCs available, complete with six USB sockets, 4GB of DDR3 memory, an HDMI socket, IR remote and — if you place a pre-order before the end of April — a mini wireless keyboard, 8GB USB key, an HDMI 1.4a cable and a fresh copy of Linux. €249 will get one headed your way on May 3rd, or $323 if you’re Livin’ In America. Hit the source link to get in line, ya heard?

[Thanks, Tim and Henrik]

Xtreamer Ultra HTPC grabs a €249 price, May 3rd ship date originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 26 Mar 2011 00:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink

Nintendo Entertainment Systems have proven to be fertile ground for the DIY community — purses, guitars, and belt buckles are just a sampling of the more unusual NES mods out there. We’ve also seen our share of NES PCs, and now an enterprising Finn going by the name Ana-5000 has crammed a fully-fledged home theater PC into everybody’s favorite eight-bit console. An Asus AT3IONT-I Deluxe motherboard with an Intel Atom 330 dual core processor and an NVIDIA Ion GPU provides the computing power and offers HDMI and VGA ports, six USB 2.0 ports, optical and RCA audio connections, integrated 802.11b/g/n wireless and Gigabit ethernet, and Bluetooth connectivity. Ana-5000 gave the repurposed Nintendo a fresh black and white paint-job to set it apart from your garden variety NES as well. Hit up the Source link for pics and an explanation of the entire mod process if you feel like doing some console recycling yourself.

NES becomes an HTPC, turns your FOF upside down originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Mar 2011 03:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink

Name recognition? Ah, who cares? Particularly when you’re hawking an Ion 2-based media PC for €100. Xtreamer — the same folks responsible for the e-TRAYz NAS — is gearing up to unveil its latest concoction at CeBIT 2011, but it looks as if most of the beans have already been spilled. It’s billed as a portable HTPC, and it can be ordered with a dual-core Atom D525 / Ion 2, up to 4GB of DDR3 memory, HDMI / DVI outputs, six USB ports, an eSATA socket, Bluetooth, WiFi, gigabit Ethernet and support for IR control. Predictably, that low (low!) price point doesn’t include an operating system, but at least that gives you the option to slap whatever you want on there. If you’re looking for a TV tuner or optical drive, you’ll need to turn to external options, but those looking for a barebones system to build on should be able to procure one in a matter of weeks. That is, if the Boxee Box doesn’t lure you in while you wait.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Xtreamer Ultra HTPC launching with Ion 2, €100 price point originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Feb 2011 08:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink

Simmer down, son — neither Elgato nor Other World Computing are actually shoving 12TB of hard drive space within a 2010 Mac Mini, but if you order one of their new bundles, you’ll definitely end up with as much. OWC is now selling pre-pimped Mac Mini machines, complete with bolstered storage options, an internal Blu-ray burner, Elgato’s EyeTV Hybrid tuner (or HD DVR), more RAM than usual and an Apple Remote. The company plans to offer both the 2.4GHz and 2.66GHz Core 2 Duo systems, and it swears up and down that the machine will arrive preconfigured and ready to rock your home theater. The addition of a Mercury Elite-AL Pro Qx2 4-bay storage solution enables you to keep even a vast library of digital content nearby, but there’s no telling how much the outfit will charge for such a luxury. Hit the source link if you’re scrounging for details, but don’t expect pricing or an order button just yet.

Continue reading Elgato and OWC hawk upgraded Mac Mini HTPC bundles: Blu-ray burner, 12TB, TV tuner

Elgato and OWC hawk upgraded Mac Mini HTPC bundles: Blu-ray burner, 12TB, TV tuner originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Jan 2011 15:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink