Get your ticket to ride the CES 2008 Media Center Express
This year at CES we’re partnering with PodTech to provide ground transportation specifically for bloggers attending CES via the Windows Vista Media Center Express. This is an executive-class coach with a distinctive, custom exterior design, so you’ll know it when you see it. We dreamed up the Media Center Express as a way to help bloggers get between the CES BlogHaus at the Bellagio Hotel & Casino and CES 2008 at the Las Vegas Conference Center, while also providing them an entertaining, hands-on experience with cool technology — and of course refreshments — en route. (If you’ve ever been to CES, then you know how difficult it can be to negotiate the Las Vegas streets while competing with the 150K other people in attendance.) We’ve equipped the bus with PCs and hardware showcasing some of the best aspects of Windows Vista, namely, Windows Media Center and Certified for Windows Vista devices.
If you’re coming to CES, register for the BlogHaus so you can take advantage of the Media Center Express. Meanwhile, check out the set-up of hardware on board:
- Dell XPS 420 with an Intel Core 2 Q6600 Quad-Core (8MB L2 cache,2.4GHz,1066FSB) processor, 3GB (Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz) memory, 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT and 750GB storage (7200RPM SATA 3.0GB/s, 16MB Cache). The Dell XPS 420 also comes with a built-in Windows SideShow device in the front of the case
- Gateway ONE with an Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T5250 (1.50GHz, 2MB L2 cache, 667MHz FSB) processor, 2GB (667MHz DDR2 SDRAM0 memory, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2600XT Graphics Media Accelerator with 256MB of Discrete Video Memory, and 400GB (7200RPM Serial ATA II hard drive w/ 8MB cache) storage
- Xbox 360 with Halo 3 and serving as a Media Center Extender
- Two
Canon mini320 Compact Photo Printers so you can print your photos from the show floor
While on the Media Center Express, you can play Halo 3, check out two top-notch PCs running Windows Vista Ultimate, view your photos and video within Windows Media Center, print photos and documents, compare notes with your fellow bloggers, and generally relax and recharge on the way between the BlogHaus and the Las Vegas Convention Center. To ride the bus, all you need to do is show that you’re a registered attendee of the BlogHaus.
But first, we have to get the Media Center Express to Las Vegas. Leaving tomorrow (Saturday) from the Microsoft Silicon Valley campus, it’ll pack in a few bloggers from the San Francisco area (including Robert Scoble of PodTech) for the ride there. Among them will be Windows Featured Community members Jason Dunn of Digital Home Thoughts and Robert McLaws of Windows-Now. Like all Windows Featured Community members, both Jason and Robert are Windows veterans and experts in Microsoft technology. They’ll have with them a few Certified for Windows Vista devices such as the Canon HV20, as well as Windows Vista in their pockets — courtesy of the Samsung Q1 Ultra UMPC. Both Jason and Robert will be covering their CES experiences on their sites, so be sure to keep track of their impressions as the week progresses.
As for Brandon and me, we’re off to Las Vegas tomorrow to meet the Media Center Express when it arrives. Stay tuned for more Windows Vista news from CES 2008, as we’ll be blogging live from Las Vegas starting Sunday…
Written by Nick White on January 4th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on otherSoftware and CES 2008 and Media Center Extender and Media Center and Featured News and Certified for Windows Vista and Windows Vista.
Over the months since Vista’s release, there has been no doubt about the reduced level of network performance experienced compared to Windows XP. However, some users over at the 2CPU forums have discovered an unexplained connection with audio playback resulting in a cap at approximately 5%-10% of total network throughput. Whenever any audio is being sent to a sound card (even, several users report, while paused), network performance is instantly reduced. As soon as the audio is stopped, the throughput begins to climb to its expected speed. It’s a tough one for users - what do you pick, sound or speed? So much for multi-tasking.” 
