Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
If your own media center configuration has USB 3.0 or FireWire available, the
GoFlex 3 TB unit is a practical backup choice. Of course, you can also choose
an external hard drive that uses an eSATA interface and run one or two SATA
cables out the back of the case, as we recommended for the SYBA unit.
KeyboardandMouse
Microsoft Wireless Desktop 3000
(
http://www.microsoft.com
)
The primary requirement here is a wireless keyboard/mouse combo that works
reliably at across-the-room distances. Most wireless keyboards and mice de-
signed for desktop use have a range of a meter (40”) or so at most. Among the
units with sufficient range, we think the standout choice is the Microsoft Wire-
less Desktop 3000. At a street price of around $60, the Wireless Desktop 3000
is inexpensive, well built, and has a rated range of 30 feet. It uses alkaline bat-
teries rather a rechargeable battery, but battery life is rated at eight months.
Speakers
Home audio speakers:
Logitech Z-5500 speaker system
(
http://www.logitech.com
)
Logitech X-540 speaker system
Most people who build a media center system install it in their home enter-
tainment center and connect the PC audio outputs to an existing receiver or
amplifier. Obviously, if you already have a good receiver and speakers, you
might as well use them.
Peak Versus RMS
Two methods are commonly used to
specify the output power of ampli-
fiers. Peak power is often specified
for computer speakers, particularly
inexpensive ones, but is essentially
meaningless. Peak power indicates
the maximum instantaneous power
an amplifier can deliver, but it says
nothing about how much power it
can deliver continuously. The root
mean square (RMS) power rating is
more useful because it specifies how
much power the amplifier can deliver
continuously.
Of course, not everyone has a suitable receiver and speaker set. When we built
the home theater PC system for the first edition of this topic, we'd just de-
cided to move our elderly JVC receiver and speakers to the downstairs guest
suite and replace them with a high-powered PC speaker system. At that time,
the best PC speaker set available was the Logitech Z-680 5.1 speaker system,
which we used then and still use now.
Several years ago, Logitech replaced the Z-680 with the Z-5500, which has
similar specifications and equal sound quality. The street price of the Z-5500
is $375 or so, considerably less than the price of a traditional home audio re-
ceiver and speakers with comparable power and sound quality. The Z-5500
incorporates four satellite speakers for left/right and front/rear audio, a center-
channel speaker, and a low-frequency emitter (LFE) subwoofer. The satellite
speakers are rated at 62W RMS each, the center-channel speaker at 69W RMS,
and the LFE at a massive 188W RMS, for a total RMS output of 505W.
The Z-5500 speaker system includes Dolby Digital & DTS hardware decoding
and is THX certified. We confess that we don't understand what all that means,
but our audiophile friends tell us those are Good Things. And, although admit-
ting it may label us as audio barbarians, we have to say that the audio from our
older Z-680 speaker system still sounds as good to us as anything else we've
listened to, and the Z-5500 audio quality is just as good.
