Ed Bott’s Media Central ? A hard drive in my TV? No thanks Ed Bott makes a really good point surrounding all the hype about the latest LG Electronics flat panel that builds a PVR into your display.
“A 160GB hard disk may seem big, but it’s not, and 14 hours of HD programming is pretty skimpy. How do I upgrade that drive? Will I void the warranty if you open it up? What happens if I’m a satellite customer? What happens when I have two shows I want to watch at the same time? External DVRs can handle two inputs, but this one can’t.”
While a PVR in your TV sounds sexy and aesthetically might be nice to avoid clutter, there are better solutions. The new XBox 360 will be pretty small and I’d assume pretty easy to hide in any living room. As a Media Center extender unit this can run your media while your noisy workhorse box sits somewhere else more discretely in your home.
If anything, rather than a seperate PVR in my TV, put a Media Center extender built in there instead. This way I can upgrade everything to my hearts delight down in the basement or up in the attic, far, far away from my living room and I still get the simplicity and design that I crave — but with the expansion I will most certainly need.
In fact, I predict that you will see extender technology built into HDTVs shortly. Welcome to the networked home.