Adaptec Videoh Medi

With Microsoft's release of its Windows XP Media Centre Edition, it seems that everyone wants to get in on the multimedia act at the moment.

Adaptec is no exception, and its Videoh DVD Media Centre product promises to add home entertainment to your PC, letting you watch and record live TV via a regular analogue TV antenna socket, and hook up analogue video sources, such as a video camera.

The product itself is a slate grey and silver box little bigger than a CD case and is about 2cm thick, plugging into your PC via a USB2 port.

There is a small stand included in the box if you want to stand the unit next to your PC tower or on your desktop. On one side of the box is a socket for analogue TV antenna input, along with a USB2 socket and power socket. You'll find sockets for analogue audio and video input on the opposite side of the unit, as well as an S-Video input socket. Adaptec has included the USB cable you'll need to connect the box to your computer, as well as an S-Video cable in the box, which is a bonus. There's also a remote control with basic preset channel, channel surfing and volume and video controls.

Installation is a simple matter of inserting the accompanying CD into the optical drive on your PC and following the instructions. The interface is clear and easy to navigate, with a virtual control panel appearing on your screen that has been designed to look like the control panel on a regular video player. For an external TV device, performance was pretty good, but the picture and sound of live broadcasts was sometimes jittery.

While you might be able to get hold of an internal TV tuner card that would offer the same functions for less money, you also get a copy of Sonic MyDVD thrown in so you can burn your own CDs and DVDs. A copy of Arcsoft's Showbiz video-editing package is also bundled.

Contact: Adaptec
www.adaptec.com

Specifications:

• S-Video, analogue audio and video input
• USB2 cable and S-Video cable bundled
• Remote control unit
• Mpeg1 and mpeg2 encoding