HP Z540 Digital Entertainment Center

Rating:
Summary: Impressive!
Review: I reviewed the z545, but the z540 is basically the same, just with a little less storage and only one built-in tuner instead of two.
I'm extremely impressed with what HP came up with here. I'd been searching for something to centralize all my media (music, video, photos, etc) and for a PC that would be at home in my living room. This is both!
It complements my Onkyo components just fine and doesn't look at all out of place. Now I can keep everything in one unit, time shift my favorite shows, and even surf the web or play games on the big screen. Once I get a couple extenders I'll be able to access all the content from my other two TVs, and additional removable drives should allow for unlimited storage. The z545 is almost perfect. I say almost because it has nearly everything I could ask for. No-subscription PVR functions, integrated wireless, lots of storage, good integration, and full PC functionality to boot. One shortcoming: The PVR functionality does _not_ yet support HDTV. I've heard that won't be available until next year's models. Also it controls cable/satellite boxes via infrared so be careful if you have a satellite box with an RF remote instead of IR. Even so, I'd highly recommend it.