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News Letter 2010
News Letter 2009
Mac and PC Support
and Repair
Security
Threats from worm viruses, hacking tools, and
spyware/adware eliminated through router firewall, personal firewall,
anti-virus, anti-spyware, computer logon, wireless encryption, tape backup and
more.
Data Backup and Recovery
All files on C: drive are backed up on an
automated schedule. Data is recovered from failed PC or server.
Spam Management
Junk E-mail blocked before it reaches your
office network.
Networking
Category 5 cabling, Wireless, DSL, Cable and
T-1.
New or Repaired Computers
Enjoy a revitalized computing environment.
Servers
Servers provide centralized storage and
management of information. Have enhanced security, access and performance.
Mobile Computing
Access office computers wherever there is a
connection to the Internet or phone line!
Access E-mail from a wireless such as
Blackberry handhelds.
Private Instruction
Learn how to use Windows XP, Outlook, Quicken,
and more.
Schedule 5 or 10 sessions at 1 to 2 hours each
at your location.
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Wish to have entire music, video and photo collection delivered to home
theatre system?
You can spend quite a bit of cash for the best---or go cheap and still have a
respectable setup
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If building a home theatre, carefully consider the size of the room,
lighting and acoustics. Large windows tend to create problems with
lighting and acoustics where thick drapery can be beneficial.
If room is small (less than 100 square feet), a pricy arrangement is a
waste of money.
If a room larger than 600 square feet or outdoors, a pricy arrangement
becomes more beneficial and in some cases necessary to make it work out for
a large audience.
A basement area of a home often works best as it is normally easier to
control lighting and sound is contained so as not to annoy neighbors with
subwoofer.
Best Rated Audio = Bose
Best Rated Video Display = Sony
Best Rated Media Center PC = Dell Precision
Series, Custom Desktop
Best Rated Video Installation =
Magnolia HiFi Audio/Video
Best Rated Audio Consultant =
Bose
Best Rated Computer Consultant =
Ed Siemion, Phone (206) 235-7911
To provide a theatre with high definition audio/video, the following
are recommended for a Microsoft Windows Media Center environment:
1.) PC: Dell Precision 390 or higher Desktop, Vista Ultimate,
two or three internal Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) hard disk drives both
operating at 15,000 RPM, two dual or two quad core processors and 2 GB of
high speed memory, additional internal cooling, Wireless N adapter from LinkSys, Gigabit wireless N
router/switch from LinkSys ($2,000 to $5,000)--this is a top end system.
At the very least, a PC with Vista Premium, two separate Internet hard
drives (7,200 RPM), dual core processor and 1 GB of memory, wireless G
network ($1,000)---expect this to work, yet be more likely to crash as
opposed to purchasing additional computing power.
Recorded video files are stored onto hard drive separate from music and
photos at the home PC where the Media Center PC is dedicated for theatre use
only.
Family photos, music and video are automatically echoed over network from
home computer (PC or Mac) secured with backup to the Media Center PC.
The "echoing" of multimedia files allows for an additional backup of music, photos
and video and---very importantly: Allows the user to avoid fouling up the
Media Center PC with viruses, spyware, overloading with software and/or
improper configuration settings therebye killing the home theatre with
respect to delivery of music, video and photos from a PC.
The home computer serves as the "source master" of family photos and
music. All video to be preserved should be burned to DVD.
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Windows XP SP2 Media Center 2005
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Windows Vista Media Center 2007
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2.) VGA Extension cable and VGA Amplifier/Splitter ($200) and/or
dual VGA out video card.
3.) USB 2.0 Repeater Cable(s) and Digital 5.1 Surround Sound Audio
System from Altec Lansing for basic small room audio (FX5051) and/or Sound
Blaster X-Fi Extreme Audio card with digital interface to Home Theater Audio
System from Bose ($500 without Bose, with Bose Home Theatre, Acoustimass 16
Series II home entertainment speaker system = $1,500 to $2,000)
4.) Sony flat panel high definition and/or Sony Projector or Dell
Projector. If projector, a 105" pull-down screen is recommended.
Recommend plasma over LCD monitors to save in up front cost.
The latest high end LCD display
will provide improvements in resolution and clarity over plasma. A top
end DLP or LCD projector with high contrast and resolution with screen =$3,000 to
$5,000 from Sony---or get a cheapy projector for $500 and use a low cost
pull-down screen.
One of the issues to contend with are placement of the Media Center PC.
The PC should be as close as possible to the flat panel display or
projector so as to avoiding routing cables any longer than necessary in
particular the USB receivers for the mouse and remote control.
Extending the length of either an audio or video cable will increase the
chance of interference in particular with analog audio producing the
familiar yet undesirable "hum" or "popping" sound with a high powered audio
system during a low intensity episode from playback.
If digital audio/video--this is much better to eliminate hum, popping or
video ghosting. If digital and if cable is longer than 15 feet, almost
always an amplifier will be required to boost the digital video and/or
digital audio signal and that itself can present problems of its own.
Without a means to amplify a video signal as from a VGA port at the back of
a PC---the theatre display may not identify the video source or when it
does, the source is dim where brightness is lost. The same goes for
digital audio yet normally if the digital signal is too weak, there is no
audio pickup at all at the amplifier.
If need exists to extend the USB cable, no problem---simply need to use
the appropriate USB 2.0 repeater cables to achieve proper amplification.
Regardless, to avoid fussing with digital audio/video/USB
amplification---it is always best to keep cables as short as possible.
The Media Center PC should also be placed in manner so as to not over
heat resulting in failure (burned out hard drive, burned out motherboard,
burned out power supply).
Sometimes it is best to mount a small quite fan on the side or back of an
enclosed entertainment case so as to keep PC, receivers and amplifiers from
over heating.
There is also the option to go with an entirely Mac system using Apple
TV.
Expect a system from Apple to be more reliable than a PC arrangement, yet
not always.
What makes the Microsoft Media Center PC arrangement reliable:
Only using the Media Center PC for the theatre!
Never run any other program other than Media Center at the PC of which
is dedicated to the theatre system.
The home owner makes a terrible mistake in attempting to use the theatre
PC for browsing the Internet, playing games, etc. as these activities can
lead to spyware and increase the likelihood of a corrupted operating system
resulting in a failed Media Center based theatre system.
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Using the Windows Media Center Remote Control
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Top Recommended Remote Control: The
Microsoft, Windows Vista SideShow Media Center Remote Control ($250). Is
backlit with an LCD display and rechargeable...very nice to be able to
CLEARLY SEE the controls in the dark!
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Recommended Wireless Delivery of Media Center:
XBox 360 and/or Built-in Media Center Extender and LinkSys Draft-N Gigabit
Router
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Not Cheap Yet Extremely Effective Setup!
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What Many People Can Afford
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Written and updated by Ed Siemion |
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