Alienware DHS-300 Series Media Center Entertainment PC

By Alexander Grundner | May 11th, 2004

Alienware has just launched their second iteration DHS-300 series Media Center Entertainment PC (EPC). Originally the EPC was designed around a Shuttle XPC case, but now they have gone high-end, as in high-end A/V component styling. The black-anodized brushed aluminum chassis is specifically designed to be stacked in an A/V component rack and run at near-silent noise levels due to thermal cooling and special noise dampening hardware.

In addition, the DHS features accessories not found on other EPC:

LCD Info Panel
As with any well-designed audio/video appliance, Alienware DHS digital home systems feature an LCD InfoPanel to provide real-time visual feedback of system activity without ever having to power on a display. The LCD InfoPanel displays such information as MP3 titles and track location, DVD titles and chapters, titles of digital photos, the progress of live television recording, and much more.

Front-Accessible Ports
Connect your digital world to the Alienware DHS digital home system. Featuring front-accessible USB, Fire Wire, Stereo In Stereo Out, and Microphone In; you can quickly and easily connect a digital camera, digital camcorder, stereo receiver, headphones, or a microphone.

Media Card Reader
The Alienware DHS digital home system features an 8-in-1 USB 2.0 internal media reader with support for nearly every type of flash media available: Compact Flash™ Type I & II, IBM MicroDrive™, Smart Media ™ 3.3v, MultiMedia™ MMC; Secure Digital™, Memory Stick™ and Memory Stick Pro™, and xD-Picture Card™. With support for all of these media types, media compatibility with the very latest in consumer electronics devices is assured.

Expandability
The chassis, with the ability to easily be upgraded, is equipped with an Intel D865PERLK motherboard and configured in a typical desktop layout (nice feature).

In all, Alienware’s offering is quite impressive and semi-affordable. Prices start at $2,109 and can easily go past $3,000 depending on configuration.

Specifications:
Intel® Desktop Board D865PERLK
Intel Pentium 4 2.8GHz – 3.2GHz
PC-3200 DDR 256MB – 2GB
80GB – 250GB Seagate HDD
ATI 9600XT 128MB – 9800Pro 256MB (with silent Thermal Protection)
DVD/CD-R/RW – DVD+/-R