VPC 1000 Multimedia Hub DVD room

[wpc666]

Introduction
Believe it or not, The Home Theater PC (HTPC) concept has been gaining popularly in the last year or so, and there seems to be a never-ending stream of new products that attempt to bring the PC into the living room, or bring the living room into the computer room, depending on how you look at it. The kind folks at www.asour.com were provided me with a new unique ultimate performance machine in this crowded market, the VPC-1000 Multimedia Hub. About the best way to describe the VPC-1000 is that it is a full featured car stereo that fits into a DVD-Rom drive bay. Oh, and it's also a DVD/CD/MP3/FM-Receiver. It is the only one can independent work in the current market as a stereo without share PC source, so it means you don’t need to turn on your PC, and it still can operate fully function (Like CD player, MP3 player and FM receiver, it also have a remote control). This multimedia hub sound’s quality is excellent, because it has SRS WOW 3D; it can compete with my roommate’s stereo (Panasonic SCAK320) after I put a 500W Speaker with a Sony amplifier. It is really good for students, because like my dormitory, is having limit space. And I didn’t need to buy a stereo after I have this. This thing is racking up cool points all over the place. Rock my room every day, and we have party every night. Lose yourself and here is the one shot opportunity with this multimedia tool. http://www.virtual-hideout.net/revie...es/VCP_kit.JPG
Overview
The VPC-1000 is manufactured by a company called Asour. In its essence, the VPC-1000 is a DVD/CD-ROM drive that fits into a standard 5.25" bay. What makes the unit unique is that the drive door has an integrated head unit that incorporates a full featured FM receiver, complete with most of the features you would see on a midrange car stereo. I realize that all these features already exist on the majority of machines these days, so what exactly is the advantage of having this unit? Well, the kicker is that the unit works independently of the computer when the power is off, and it has a remote control. I can envision this unit in an HTPC environment, feeding inputs to a dedicated amplifier and through the speakers. Essentially, you can replace or augment a separate FM tuner or CD Player. One less box to clutter up the entertainment center. We're not talking high-end stereo equipment, but for a dorm room or den this unit can replace a boom box. Note that this unit does not take the place of your sound card. It takes inputs from your audio-out jacks (analog only) and acts as a pass-through for sounds generated by your PC.

Like other multifunction audio decks, the VPC-1000 switches between inputs via the remote control: CD Audio/FM Stereo/PC Sound/MP3. As an MP3 Player, it supplements your sound card and media player, it does not replace them. In other words, with the PC on, you can use MP3 tracks off your hard drive through WinAmp, Power DVD or your favorite media player.
Specifications
?16X DVD-ROM, 48X CD-ROM
?FM radio receiver and SRS WOW audio processor
?Five mode equalizer (flat, rock, pops, classic, jazz)
?Clock and sleep timer
?Four-color vacuum-fluorescent display
?PC power auto-sensing (changes mode depending on power status of PC)
?Plays CD-DA/MP3/FM radio while PC power is off
?Four-channel input selector (CD-DA, MP3, FM, PC-sound/Aux-in)
?32-Step volume control
?SRS WOW processor
The documentation is complete with reference to the audio signal specifications. Here are some of the more common specifications.
?Frequency range: 20Hz-20KHz
?Signal to noise ratio: >=75dB
?Channel Separation: >=50dB
?Total Harmonic Distortion (THD): < 0.1%
The MP3 specifications:
?MPEG Layer 1,2,3
?32Kbit-128Kbit, 44.1KHz, Stereo
?Frequency range: 20Hz-16KHz (bit-rate dependent)
The CD/DVD-ROM drive has these specifications:
?Access time: 120msec (DVD), 100msec (CD)
?Seek time: 110msec (DVD), 100msec (CD)
?PIO-mode 1-4, DMA mode 0-2, MW DMA 0-2
?512KB buffer