by Ralph Bond (NAPSA)—If a new personal computer is on your loved ones’ holiday-gift wish list, go for a system with a real twist. How about a PC that brings the best of computing, the Internet and consumer electronics all together in a single stylish system? The techno crowd calls them “entertainment PCs” and they are a whole new breed of fun! (www.dell.com), Gateway (www. gateway.com), HP (www.hp.com), Entertainment PCs comein all and link it to a big-screen TV and stereo sound system. a traditional PC, such as surf the couch, remote control in hand, and watching a previously recorded TV show stored on the hard drive of your entertainment PC. Or, with the click of a button, switching gears to surf the sizes, colors and shapes. You can do all the things you’d expect with Web, burn music CDs, you name it, but that’s just the start. Many entertainment PCs include a TV tuner card that will allow you to record and watch TV. As a hybrid PC/TV entertainment hub, most entertainment PCs offer the option to use a remote control to play your digital music, video and photo collection with the click of a button. An entertainment PC is the ultimate personal computing chameleon. You can put one in the den and run it with a mouse and keyboard or—and this is where the fun really kicks into high gear—put it in your family room Imagine sitting on your Web, download a movie or fire up a slide show of your family digital photos complete with music from your digital collection of tunes. If this sounds like a great holiday gift, then here are a few smart-shoppertips: Entertainment PCs are not hard to find, and prices range from as low as $699 up to about $2,700. For examples, see Dell Alienware (www.alienware.com), WinBook (www.winbook.com) and Shuttle (www.shuttle.com). Get a model featuring Intel Viiv™ technology. Look for the Viiv technology logo on the front of an entertainment PC and you'll be assured of havingall the dual-core brain power and high-definition audio and video capabilities to give you a true entertainment experience. Get a brain chip designed for multitasking. Entertainment PCs really benefit from a brain chip that can handle lots of stuff at one time, such as recording a TV show while playing a game in theforeground. Go for a model sporting an Intel Core™ 2 Duo processor. A high-capacity hard drive is a real plus. As your family’s “Grand Central Station” for digital music, recorded TV, family video and photo fun, you’ll need lots of space to store large multimedia files. Look for at least 160 gigabytes of storage capacity. For more on entertainment PCs, visit www.intel.com/Viiv. Ralph Bondis Intel’s Consumer Education Manager.
