Useful media receiver removes need to burn files to CD

The Pinnacle Showcenter connects to your PC via ethernet cable or over a wireless network.

If you've got a lot of digital music, videos and still photos on your computer, it may be time to invest in a digital media receiver. These things are yet to enter Kiwi households in numbers, but they are really useful, allowing you to send media on your hard drive to your TV and stereo.

It means you no longer have to burn all that content you've been hoarding to CD or DVD to play back in the lounge on your regular equipment. Set up properly, a digital media receiver, either via cables or a wireless network, sends everything to one box, giving you control at the touch of a button. That's exactly the idea of the Pinnacle ShowCenter.

It's a plain silver box with the proportions of a DVD player. It sits in the lounge and can connect to your PC via ethernet cable or over a wireless network.

I plugged in via ethernet and was up and running fairly quickly after installing the media player and database software that organises the media files on the computer's hard drive.

I was able to play MP3 files through my TV that I'd loaded into the Pinnacle database. The database is populated when you do a search of your hard drive for media files, in much the same way as Windows Media Player. The tags you give the media files will be displayed on the TV screen menu, which comes through clear and crisp, but it isn't the prettiest menu system around.

You can use the menu to access the internet, but the interface is clunky and typing in domain names on the remote control is like texting on a mobile phone - frustratingly slow.

A good range of file formats are supported by ShowCenter - mp3, wma for audio, jpg, png and giff for still photos, and mpeg1, mpeg2, DivX AVI and XviD AVI for video.

Pinnacle seems to convert some unsupported files, such as WMV, into its own standard so they can play on the ShowCenter. The software has support for CD and DVD burning.

ShowCenter also caters well to connection types. You can plug in TV and stereo via analogue audio and video cables, or the superior component cables. An S-video connector is included as well as a SCART connector for TVs that support it.

But the main interest for me was in setting up a wireless network, since I don't want an ethernet cable snaking through my lounge. Unfortunately, setting up the wireless component of ShowCenter was problematic to say the least.

That's because in the wireless world, the ShowCenter becomes a wireless access point and needs to be configured. This didn't go as smoothly as the manual indicated. When it was up and running, the wireless signal regularly cut out, stopping the video feed. I'm using a high-speed 802.11g network so I found that disappointing. A number of things could have caused this but the overall impression is that wireless takes some technical skill to set up and isn't as reliable as using a cable.

Importantly, ShowCenter doesn't tie up your PC while its being used as a content server. You could be surfing the web on it in one room while music is being streamed to the lounge.

Ascent has thrown in with ShowCenter the Pinnacle PCTV card I reviewed last week, which lets you record live TV sent over the network - a great bonus.

It would be nice if ShowCenter also had a hard drive built into it so it would be able to send audio and video to the TV and stereo without needing the involvement of your network and computer.

PINNACLE SHOWCENTER

Pros: Good support of media file types and audio and video connectors.
Cons: Needs router to go wireless; set-up not straightforward; average menu system.
Price: $508
Herald Rating: 6/10