AMD is hoping to recover lost ground to Intel with the arrival of its AMD Live! Home Cinema offerings.
Heading the charge is Dell-owned Alienware, which has launched its first dedicated home offering using AMD processors. Hangar18 is a high-end PC, powered by an AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual-core processor. The system is one of the few on the market to sport an HDMI interface for connecting and transferring high-definition (HD) video to HDTVs. The system comes with integrated 720p HD support as standard, but full HD 1080p is offered only as an optional nVidia add-on.
The configurable PC features 250GB of storage as standard, but can be expanded to 2TB. There is 5.1 digital surround sound with 200W per channel, thanks to a D2Audio Intelligent Digital Amplifier. Running Windows Vista Home Premium, the device also uses a low-noise cooling solution from Noise Limit.
Bob Brewer, corporate vice-president and general manager of AMD’s desktop division, said: “Discerning consumers want to enjoy digital entertainment at their convenience and the AMD Live! Home Cinema offers a simple, out-of-the-box solution for true audiovisual quality plus easy PC functionality. The Alienware Hangar18 combines the best of the consumer electronics and PC worlds, delivering high performance in a sleek, cool and quiet form factor for an immersive and enjoyable home theatre experience.”
Frank Azor, senior vice-president and general manager of Alienware’s worldwide product group, said: “Consumer demand for multi-function systems is at an all-time high and the ability to consolidate wires, boxes and remote controls is welcome in many homes. The Hangar18 HD Entertainment Center based on AMD’s cutting-edge technology offers consumers total control over their digital entertainment experiences.”
AMD has also lined up a number of other key partners to bolster its living room assault and is banking on its open reference design to attract more PC makers.
Ron Pessner, general manager of Microsoft, said: “The AMD Live! Home Cinema in combination with Microsoft Windows Media Center and Vista Home Premium delivers simplicity, performance and functionality for an outstanding digital media experience.”
