7. A Second PC

This brings us to integrating the DEC into a network. Here's how I look at it: The DEC is the ideal complement to another PC, either a desktop or a portable, located somewhere else in the house. The conventional PC can be used for office applications and content creation, while the DEC is used for content organization and distribution. Both can be used for browsing the Web. To let you do this, the DEC is equipped with WiFi 802.11g, and even has a software access point to allow it to be used as a router. 

On The Big Screen

Now we get down to brass tacks: actual use. You start by choosing a content display. Let's not mince words here; the DEC isn't made to be connected to a CRT TV. The limited video connections and low-definition display deprive the DEC of a good deal of its advantages. A computer monitor is better, but will be too small. Large-diagonal LCDs, as our reviewer Benoît recently noted, don't really meet the requirements for Home Theater use either.

That leaves flat-panel TVs. Here again, it would really be a shame to choose a plasma display or a low-definition projector, even if either of those is better than a tube TV. So that leaves LCD TV, HD plasma, and DVI or YUV HD projectors in the US. I'm almost tempted to say you shouldn't plan on buying a DEC unless you have one of these. And given the price of a projector or an HD plasma, you'll probably go with an LCD TV set, the configuration we used for all our tests. But we also tried with an HD plasma. It's very nice, provided you're at a sufficient distance from the screen. The most luxurious choice will be an HD projector, and if you can afford one, go for it.