February 2005

Chicago Sun-Times

Media Center 2005 is immensely seductive, specifically if you're buying a PC for a family room or a dorm or office where having separate screens for a computer and a TV isn't an attractive option

February 2005

Hardware Analysis

It however makes for a nice addition to an existing PC, especially if you want it to do more than surf the internet, send email or play games. Just don't expect a Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 PC to function as a be all and end all consumer electronics device that combines the best of both worlds.

December 2004

Washington Post

Microsoft's Media Center edition of Windows XP - a special layer of software designed to let people enjoy their digital photos, music and videos from across the room - has to rank as one of the company's bigger disappointments in a while.

November 2004

AMD Review

This is pretty much the only thing you need in your living room.

November 2004

PC World

Microsoft's new Windows XP Media Center 2005 operating system has new features that help a PC compete with consumer electronics devices in the living room, and that turn a PC into a home server capable of feeding audio and video to multiple devices on a wireless network.

October 2004

Anandtech

In the end, MCE continues to be a niche product, but if you have the means, then its definitely one worth going for.

October 2004

ZDNet

Media Center Edition 2005 is the best desktop DVR app out there, but it's not yet ready to play hub for your digital home.

October 2004

GamePC

Given these faults, MCE is still (in our opinion) the best home theater product currently on the market by a very large margin.