Here is an article from www.techweb.com about PC Cinema from Tiger Direct which used RealMagic Ventura card from Sigma Designs. The article stresses the fact that the system has great DVD playback quality.
To get a link to the article go to www.techweb.com and do search
on DVD or TigerDirect or PC Cinema.
June 01, 1998, TechWeb News
Add Functionality to Your Boardroom
By Jonathan Blackwood
Hook your boardroom or home-theater sound and
television system up to TigerDirect's Tiger PC Cinema, a full-fledged
AMD-K6-powered computer. Available in 200MHz and 233MHz
models, PC Cinema systems start at just $999. The Tiger PC Cinema
gives you the ability to surf the Net, access reference CD-ROMs and
DVD-ROMs, and run PowerPoint or any other Win95 applications.
It's also a terrific game system.
The 233MHz Tiger PC Cinema I tested came with 32MB of RAM, a
2X DVD-ROM player and a 4.3GB hard disk. This PC doesn't come
with a monitor; it's intended to be used with an existing television or
monitor and can drive either a monitor or a TV-or both at the same
time. Its DVD playback was outstanding, as was its audio CD
playback. Although the NTSC output was a bit fuzzy, it was perfectly
fine for Web surfing; S-Video would improve the picture quality for
Win95 purposes, but my test TV didn't have the necessary connector.
The components I used to test the Tiger PC Cinema also didn't include
AC-3 (Dolby Digital 5.1-channel) sound, but the sound quality was
truly exceptional even in plain old Dolby Pro Logic Surround Sound.
The unit comes with an infrared cordless keyboard and a remote
control.
The Tiger PC Cinema earned a WinScore 2.0 mark of 52-on the low
end for 233MHz Socket Seven systems. In particular, its cached disk
performance was low. But that performance was more than adequate
for this system's intended uses.
This is a first-generation product, and I enjoyed testing it. The
TigerDirect Tiger PC Cinema 233 doesn't offer quite the versatility of
Gateway 2000's Destination Big Screen PC/TV D6-266, but its DVD
playback was superior, and it's a fraction of the Destination's cost. If it
also had a CD-Recordable drive, the Tiger PC Cinema 233 would be
an awesome platform for the boardroom or home.
--Quick View--
TigerDirect Tiger PC Cinema 233
Bottom Line: An inexpensive way to add Internet, DVD playback and
presentation capabilities to a boardroom or home theater
Price: $1,399
Platforms: 95
Pros: Outstanding DVD playback quality
Cons: No USB ports
Strongest Rival: Gateway 2000 Destination Big Screen PC/TV
D6-266
TigerDirect, 800-830-0056, 305-229-1119. Winfo #768
Copyright r 1998 CMP Media Inc. |
