Windows Media Center Goes Mobile

Written By
Bill Howard
Bill Howard
Published: Jun 27, 2003
Updated: Feb 2, 2021
1 minute read
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With portable PCs doing so many tasks once reserved for desktops, it was only a matter of time before a notebook computer doubled as a Windows Media Center Edition (MCE) PC. First out is the Toshiba Satellite 5205-S705 ($2,699 direct).

Like the first MCE desktop machines of last fall, the weak spot is the TV tuner. Quality depends heavily on the TV signal, but even with a good signal, the image is still a bit soft. Toshiba stuck a Toshiba-branded TV tuner module in the right side of an 8-pound system unit without disturbing the Matsushita UJ-810 DVD-RAM drive on the left side.

Although the PC has an integrated IR port, its for IrDA (PC) infrared rather than consumer AV infrared. Hence to use the remote on the road, you have to carry and plug in a bulky USB-based transceiver along with the bulky remote control itself.

For the whole story, check out the PC Magazine article

Bill Howard

Bill Howard is the editor of TechnoRide.com, the car site for tech fans, and writes a column on car technology for PC Magazine each issue. He is also an editor of PC Magazine.Bill's articles on PCs, notebooks, and printers have been cited five times in the annual Computer Press Association Awards. He was named as one of the industry's ten most influential journalists from 1997 to 2000 by Marketing Computers and is a frequent commentator on TV news and business shows as well as at industry conventions. He also wrote the PC Magazine Guide to Notebook & Laptop Computers. He was an executive editor and senior editor of PC Magazine from 1985-2001 and wrote PC Magazine's On Technology column through 2005Previously, Howard spent a decade as a newspaper editor and writer with the Newhouse and Gannett newspapers in Springfield, Massachusetts, and Rochester, New York. He also writes a monthly column for Roundel, a car magazine for BMW enthusiasts.

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