Creating a Digital Home Entertainment System with Windows Media Center

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Customer Reviews:

Creating a Digital Home System with Windows Media center [Posted on 2006-08-17]
This is a must have book for anyone wanting to own a Media Center. The book is very comprehensive and there is a free web site (Green Button,) that can provide further assistance.

Yet Another Dummy-level Book [Posted on 2006-08-18]
Disappointing! I was expecting a lot more power-user level stuff. Unfortunately, this is just another entry-level book for absolute beginner to the MCE (ie: you won't find info you can't already find online.) But worse, there is no serious coverage of HDTV (a notoriously difficult to understand topic for MCE wannabe) which in my view is the weakest spot of most off-the-shelf MCE. It'd have been nice to cover HDTV requirements (hard/software) to avoid the average buyer the disappointment they'll get when they connect their plasma screen to such a system. This book only walks you through the usual basic system configurations and setup screens. In short, this is the user manual you'll want when you first bring home your MCE (and don't know much about the technology involved). Experienced enthusiasts stay away from it!

Wizards Beware [Posted on 2006-08-22]
It is obvious from other reviews that this book struggles to find its identity through the confusion of expectations. If you are a computer newbie you will probably find it far preferable to any book that has the word "idiot's" in the title, but if you have been taking the cover off computers for years you are destined for disappointment. But, that appears to be Mr. Miller's intension. Those who can already cast spells with a screwdriver can find the detailed answers they need elsewhere. This is for the Tookish Hobbit, not Gandalf.

Michael Miller is the former editor of PC Magazine. He has moved on to become Chief Content Officer for Ziff Davis Media. Uber Geek. I have read his stuff for years, it is solid but I was not expecting a tome that would soon be added to Mortimer Adler's "Great Books of the Western World". It is what it should be - good clear technical instruction. Most of the technospeak is well defined. It is reasonably well organized if somewhat repetitive. Only the first five chapters address the vagaries of media hardware and this is the complaint of other reviews. If you expect anything more than basic descriptions, you will be disappointed. That is because Mr. Miller has another book that addresses that subject, "How Home Theater and HDTV Work" M Miller and M Troller, Ziff-Davis/Que, 2006. I have not read it yet so I cannot say how well it addresses hardware issues. The next 13 chapters describe the features and use of the Microsoft Media Center (hmmmm - check out the title). Experienced mouse pilots will find this detailed description of operating system features about as interesting as watching Windows boot; I breezed through it in the time it took my wife to swim 40 laps and she is a triathloner. But, the GUI challenged will find it useful and instructive; there will be lots of "Oh it can do that!" moments. The book is well (if inexpensively) illustrated but there are a few editing mistakes.

If you just built your own Core 2 Duo screamer and now, you want to know how to set it up with a new 42-inch screen and a 7.1 surround sound system you might want to look elsewhere. But if you don't know the difference between a DVD-burner and a Coleman stove this books for you. Make your decision fast though, this thing will be out of date faster than your anti-virus program.

Great Overview [Posted on 2007-01-25]
This book is a good place to start for anyone thinking about basing a home entertainment system around a PC. It helps make sense of all the different options, configurations, etc. and helps you plan your system.

Highly recommended.

Value for money [Posted on 2007-01-29]
Very good book that help`s you get the most out of your Media Center.

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