Connect your HDTV to the PC
Have you ever been tired by browsing the internet, playing your music, videos, and watching through the pictures on your computer in one room, while rest of the family is having fun in other rooms in the house? Most people have their desktop computers set-up on the desk in one room, which could be near the kitchen, office in the second floor, while others may use laptops to move around through different rooms.
HP came out with a great product HP MediaSmart Connect that let’s you stop worrying about where your computer is located, and rather enable you to access all of the computer’s content on your HDTV. 
Basically, you can watch TV in your family room and after you get bored, just pull out the wireless keyboard or a remove control, flip a channel on your TV and do all your computer work from there. All of those things that you normally do at the desk, can be done at the comfort of being in the living room together with whole family and watching big screen TV. HP MedialSmart is priced around $230.
You can browse the internet, shop for your family vacation on-line, watch your family videos and pictures together in one room or connect to your family members via free internet video calls. You can always use your laptops and desktops to do what you like to do, just this product let you bring more flexibility into your lives and make all entertainment activities more enjoyable. It also provides direct access to Online Media Services, where you can rent or buy thousands of movies, lots of music, watch your favorite shows, etc.
HP MedialSmart is a key element in setting up your home network. The idea is to source all of your information content into central PC (server), and access that content from anywhere in the house, or from outside of the house while traveling. Another great benefit is that it enables to view content of all PCs connected to your home network, not just a main server.
Some of other benefits include:
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Integrated Windows Media Center extender functionality which gives your HDTV multimedia look and features. It provides electronic program guide, watch live and pre-recorded TV like DVR, extended online media like Internet TV and Fox Sport lounge. For TV options, you’ll need to have windows vista and TV tuner installed in your PC
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Built-in wired and wireless networking IEEE 802.11a/bg/n, which lets you easily connect to your router
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Supports JPEG, BMP, GIF and PNG photos and many Video formats
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Plug-in and access your content from portable storage device directly by connecting through USB port
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Universal remote control lets you easily access all your content and order movies
Unlike other products, HP MediaSmart Connect supports all Digital Living Network Alliance compliant media servers. Also, it can stream content from different operating systems such as
- PCs running MS Windows XP or later
- Mac or Linux based computers running on Digital Living Network Alliance compliant servers such as TwonkyVision or RVersity
- Network attached storage devices, such as HP Media Vault or HP MediaSmart Server that have an integrated UPnP media server
For best wireless performance, you may consider using dual-band router that supports IEEE 802.11n Wi-Fi Network. It is recommended to use “n” frequency for streaming video signal to HP MediaSmart Connect as it provides best bandwidth. If 802.11n is not available, then other choice is to use IEEE 802.11a or 802.11g. IEEE 802.11b, due to lower bandwidth, works best with streaming audio or picture. For more information to learn about how to pick your router, please visit the “Network Set-up” Section, or click here.
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