Costco Connection - February 2005

TECHNOLOGY

Entertainment CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7 Memory _CONTINUED _FROM _PAGE ₇

TV to a Media Center PC through cables or Unlike peripherals, such as an external CD or storing files about clients, including attendance wirelessly (the latter requires an additional DVD player, USB flash drives require no records and contact information. piece of equipment, a Media Center Extender). software installations on most computers. “I have to back up my database every

Once you do, you can use the computer to con- You simply plug a flash drive into the USB month, and with a Memory Stick I’m able to
trol what and when you watch on TV. For port on the back of your computer. In most use it on different office computers. It’s so
cases, a corresponding icon immediately fast. It’s easy. It’s idiot-proof,” she says.

appears on your desktop. You can then drag Siegel, who is “in love” with her device’s and drop the icons of the files you wish to large memory, also relies on it for high-speed, copy onto the icon of the flash drive. real-time transfers of files from an employee’s A card with 1 gigabyte of memory can computer. “So instead of having to deal with a store thousands of pages of information. router or e-mail,” she says, “I can just take it Costco member Nancy Siegel likes and use it seamlessly on my computer.” C portable memory for its low cost and convenience. Siegel turns to portable memory at Nesheemah Yoga Center, a small business she Lisa Alcalay Klug, a writer based in Berkeley,

MICROSOFT

example, you can record programs, then burn founded and directs in Bogota, New Jersey, for California, loves her flash memory cards. your favorite episodes onto DVDs for safe storage. You can also pause and rewind live television, browse upcoming programs in an Electronic Programming Guide and search for movies in a Movie Finder (these require access to the Internet).

So how do you set up this system? One way is to place the Media Center PC under the TV in your entertainment center and operate everything by remote control. Or, you can treat the Media Center PC the way you would a traditional computer, keeping it in your home office or on a computer desk. Either way, home entertainment will never be the same.—Tim Talevich

In short, the Media Center PC can replace DVD and VHS players and give you a lot more control over TV programming. Music. You can store your music collection in a Media Center PC—nothing new there. But what is unique is a program to create jukebox-style playlists so you can quickly find and play your music however you want. If you belong to online music services, a Media Center PC also makes it easy to download, store and burn new CDs.

Photos and videos. The first task in getting control of your old photos and home movies is to get all of them into digital format. Photos are easy: Just scan them and file them in the computer. The once arduous task of converting VHS movies into digital format is a now a lot easier with a Media Center PC. You connect your camcorder to the computer and play the video.

After your files are digitized, you can easily find them, edit and crop them and play them through a Media Center PC. No more clicking through carousels to find the right slide or fast-forwarding through tapes to find the right birthday party. The Media Center PC has programs to organize electronic photo albums and create slide shows, even with music, if you wish.