Media Center on show in Auckland

Microsoft's plan to make its Windows XP operating system the hub of home entertainment may not have taken off in New Zealand, but Computer Lounge in Newton is set to begin parallel importing Windows Media Center, with Microsoft's endorsement.

Media Center is a stripped-down PC designed to sit in the lounge and supply MP3 music files, video held on a hard drive, and picture files.

The machine will also act as a DVD player.

Media Center devices are already on sale in the United States and South Korea. Computer Lounge is displaying Media Center in its showroom and taking orders for the devices, which range in price from $1500 to $2500.

"We'll parallel import Media Center until it becomes available here," said Computer Lounge co-director Paul Pattison.

"We've the backing of Microsoft on that."

Media Center machines generally come with a processor running at a minimum speed of 2.8GHz to cope with video-intensive applications, and could plug into modern TV sets.

Microsoft is developing "extenders" that will allow content held on a computer in one room to be displayed on a TV screen in another room.