Final thoughts, HEXUS.awards and HEXUS.right2reply
At a glance
Advantages
* Great picture and sound
quality
* Can handle most formats now - unlike the original ShowCenter
* Easy to use interface and a breeze to set up
* Able to display HD video that our mains test PC couldn't itself play. Our PC centred on an AthlonXP 3000+ with a Geforce3 graphics card (a bit old, we know) and struggled with most of the HD files, especially those of 1080p, but the ShowCenter 200 had no problems at all
* A good range of output options - video and audio
* Cheap compared to a media server; especially if compared to a media server that can play back HD content. Pinnacle's minimum recommended processor for a host PC is a PIII 1GHz. We didn't check that but had no issues with a system using a Celeron 1.4GHz CPU
* Although not covered in this review, the ShowCenter can also act as a personal video recorder (PVR) when combined with a Pinnacle PCTV tuner. The ShowCenter's documentation on this feature is not as comprehensive as the other sections but the support forums do provide lots of useful information
* Stream internet radio
* Can handle most formats now - unlike the original ShowCenter
* Easy to use interface and a breeze to set up
* Able to display HD video that our mains test PC couldn't itself play. Our PC centred on an AthlonXP 3000+ with a Geforce3 graphics card (a bit old, we know) and struggled with most of the HD files, especially those of 1080p, but the ShowCenter 200 had no problems at all
* A good range of output options - video and audio
* Cheap compared to a media server; especially if compared to a media server that can play back HD content. Pinnacle's minimum recommended processor for a host PC is a PIII 1GHz. We didn't check that but had no issues with a system using a Celeron 1.4GHz CPU
* Although not covered in this review, the ShowCenter can also act as a personal video recorder (PVR) when combined with a Pinnacle PCTV tuner. The ShowCenter's documentation on this feature is not as comprehensive as the other sections but the support forums do provide lots of useful information
* Stream internet radio
Disadvantages
*
Can’t handle QuickTime or Real Media files, even for
conversion to a
compatible format, so third-party conversion software will be
needed
* Wireless connection not recommended for files with an average bitrate greater than 4Mbps and only for audio files when you intend to use your wireless connection for anything else at the same time
* The Stream Server Host program, PMSHost, is a bit of a resource hog - using up about 35MB of RAM even when not streaming
* No multi-byte character-set support
* Have to pay to add Dolby Digital output from the analogue outputs but even then it’s only two-channel. Also won’t handle DTS
* No WMA-Pro through digital outputs – so you need to connect analogue and digital outputs from the ShowCenter 200 to make sure you can get sound from all files
* Although we've not yet reviewed them, there are newer rival products that, on paper, are better spec'd. Among these are the:
* Wireless connection not recommended for files with an average bitrate greater than 4Mbps and only for audio files when you intend to use your wireless connection for anything else at the same time
* The Stream Server Host program, PMSHost, is a bit of a resource hog - using up about 35MB of RAM even when not streaming
* No multi-byte character-set support
* Have to pay to add Dolby Digital output from the analogue outputs but even then it’s only two-channel. Also won’t handle DTS
* No WMA-Pro through digital outputs – so you need to connect analogue and digital outputs from the ShowCenter 200 to make sure you can get sound from all files
* Although we've not yet reviewed them, there are newer rival products that, on paper, are better spec'd. Among these are the:
D-Link DSM-520 - wireless
HD media player (roughly £190 inc VAT) - home page
Buffalo PC-P3LWG/DVD - wireless HD media player with progressive-scan DVD player (around £165) - home page
* DRM protected content is a bit hit and miss and many people have
reported problems playing protected filesBuffalo PC-P3LWG/DVD - wireless HD media player with progressive-scan DVD player (around £165) - home page
Pinnacle's ShowCenter 200 is a great piece of hardware and one that's now very affordable if you look around carefully for a good price. As long as you know its limitations, a ShowCenter will let you quickly and easily enjoy in your living room most of the media stored on the PCs elsewhere in your home.
However if you want to get a ShowCenter to play all of your media, then you'll require some knowledge of video and audio standards and need to acquire and use a range of converter applications.
And, if you're going to watch videos with high bandwidths, forget about wireless. You'll either have to use wired Ethernet or buy into mains-borne-networking, with a product such as the devolo MicroLink dLAN Highspeed Starter Kit.
HEXUS.award
Thoughts on this review and network media players generally? Let us hear them over in this thread in the HEXUS.community.
HEXUS.links
HEXUS.community :: discussion thread about this articleHEXUS.lifestyle.reviews :: devolo MicroLink dLAN Highspeed Starter Kit
HEXUS.lifestyle.headlines :: Pinnacle Studio 10.5 updater
HEXUS.lifestyle.headlines :: Pinnacle releases second patch for new Studio video editor
External.links
Pinnacle - ShowCenter 200 home pageSurf the internet from ShowCenter - Pinnacle support forum thread
Rhapsody - home page
AnalogX’s NetStat Live - home page
D-Link DSM-520 - home page
Buffalo PC-P3LWG/DVD - home page
Microsoft - list of WIA-supported cameras (requires Windows Live ID or Microsoft Passport account)
HEXUS Where2Buy
Ballicom International - ShowCenter 200 buying pageDealTime UK - best deals on ShowCenter 200
Pinnacle - UK eStore page for ShowCenter 200
