Home : January 29 2013 Computer News : Ceton Echo review: Extend Windows Media Center from your PC to your TV

Ceton Echo review: Extend Windows Media Center from your PC to your TV

January 29, 2013

The universe of Windows Media Center Extenders—a class of networking hardware that enables you to connect the PC in your den to the TV in your living room—rapidly shrunk to just one device after Microsoft rendered its Xbox gaming console capable of the trick. Now Ceton is trying to carve out a niche in this space with its Echo—a component barely larger than a Roku box. The only means of connecting the Echo to your TV is via HDMI (Ceton provides a cable in the box). You’ll also need to run an Ethernet cable from your router to device, as the Echo doesn’t support Wi-Fi. The FAQ on Ceton’s website claims that the quality of service available with wireless networking hardware isn’t sufficiently robust to deliver a satisfactory HDTV experience, which is a curious supposition considering that other media-streaming devices (such as the Roku XS and the Slingbox 500) handle HD video over Wi-Fi just fine. If Ethernet isn’t convenient, Ceton suggests powerline or MoCA (Multimedia over Coax) networking as alternatives. The Echo must be paired with a Windows 7 PC equipped with a TV tuner (the Xbox 360 being the only Windows Media Center Extender currently compatible with Windows 8). I used a machine equipped with Ceton’s InfiniTV 4 USB tuner and a CableCARD, which was connected in turn to a digital cable TV service. The combo forms a robust DVR that can record even premium channels such as HBO and Showtime. If you abhor paying for TV, the Echo will work also work with any TV tuner—or without one if you simply want access to your media libraries. After a few more simple setup steps, the Echo lived up to its name, producing a full-on Windows Media Center experience on my TV, same as if I was sitting in front of my PC—or if I’d used an Xbox. Thus I could watch, pause, and record TV shows; listen to my music library; view my photos; play my videos; stream Netflix; and so on. It can’t stream DVDs, but that’s a Windows limitation. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Link: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2025762/ceton-echo-review-extend-windows-media-center-from-your-pc-to-your-tv.html