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Switched Splurge: High-End Vista PC

by Tom Samiljan on April 11, 2007 at 07:17 PM

If you want to be the biggest pimp Daddy on the block, you might want to get yourself a Niveus 2007 Windows Vista Media Center. Designed with audio-and video-philes in mind, these highest-end PCs look more like audiophile stereo components than computers, and have the high-end gold audio-video connections to boot. Which is kind of the point, since you can use the remote to download HD-quality music directly into the PC while sitting on the couch in your living room. We're all for getting rid of our space-hogging CDs, but the alternative--digital music from the likes of iTunes, Urge, Rhapsody, and other online music stores--just doesn't compare in terms of sound quality.

What is HD-quality music, you may ask? In this case, it's tunes sold by HD media store MusicGiants in Windows Media Lossless (WMA) format, which is about as close as you can get to the original digital recording and way better than anything you'd buy on iTunes (no more disappearing instruments and other audio nuances that get lost in a typical CD-to-MP3 conversion).

In addition to HD-audio and all the usual Windows Vista Media Center features, Niveus's Media Centers will play 5.1 and 7.1 surround sound audio, the highest-resolution HD video (1080p), upscale regular DVDs to HD-quality, play HD-DVDs, record up to four TV shows simultaneously, and take CableCARDs (which means you can get rid of your unsightly cable-box). These features and functions are all rarities in PCs, but the Niveus is also one of the first Windows Vista Ultimate Media Center systems to include Intel Viiv technology and Core 2 Duo processors, which help render such audio-and-video-phile output (not to mention help you compute).

One other big difference: Unlike standard Windows Vista PCs, the Niveus models automatically go right into user-friendly Windows Media Center after startup, so they're perfect for the PC-averse (despite all our mumbo-jumbo above). Just make sure you get an expert, or even a custom-installer, to set one up for you (not hard since these are available mostly at high-end, custom-install audiophile specialists like Harvey Electronics).

Now for the painful part: These babies start at $3,199, for the Rainier, but the high-end Denali (pictured) and Pro Series models start at $7,199.

Tags: Audiophile, features, HD Audio, HdAudio, Media Center, Media Center Edition, MediaCenter, MediaCenterEdition, MusicGiants, Videophile, Vista

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