A/V Integrator to Establish Media Center Dealer Network

For a long time, we've suggested that custom integrators interested in Media Center Edition think local. We love the national players that do a good job of catering to the custom channel, but the smaller local guy PC builders can be a CE pro's best friend, especially considering that so few traditional A/V integrators are experts in PC-based entertainment systems.

One integrator was so happy with his own local PC-building partner that he's taking the concept national -- perhaps a bit of an oxymoron for a dealer enamored of his relationship with the Media Center builder down the street.

The dealer is Home Entertainment Inc. (HEI), based in The Woodlands, Tex., not far from Houston. HEI founder Kevin Buchanan, a long-time "traditional" A/V dealer, was one of the earlier advocates of Media Center Edition (MCE) PCs, and began selling systems a few years ago. He toyed with building the systems himself and buying from a national provider, but ultimately he decided to partner with Cannon PC, based in Spring, Texas.

Buchanan has an interesting business model. He employs his own skeleton crew to sell home systems and manage projects, but the heavy lifting is done by a cadre of contractors with whom Buchanan has worked for many, many years. So he leans pretty hard on Cannon, which trains both the subcontractors and the HEI crew on Media Center. Cannon remains on call virtually all the time for issues that arise in the field. Being an expert out-sourcer, Buchanan is all for that.

In the process, Buchanan has come to enjoy the customized service that Cannon provides. Unlike off-the-shelf Media Centers that Cannon sells en masse, the products sold through HEI are custom-built. HEI demands that the highest-quality A/V components go into the Cannon-built, HEI-branded PCs and that superfluous programs be stripped from the machines.

That's the same philosophy HEI will employ when it opens Fluid Digital Media (Web site pending), a business for selling Media Center PCs to other integrators around the country.

Buchanan says his background as an A/V integrator prepares him to serve the Fluid dealer network. "Audio dealers want everything handed to them -- not just a box," Buchanan says. "They want a system they can go in and install and know they can make money on."

Fluid will help dealers make money by shipping products that are tested in its own facilities. The units will be burned in for five days, and all drivers will be tested. A special router that ships with the Media Centers will recycle every three days to keep the Internet connection stable.

If there is a problem in the field, the dealer simply clicks the "Tech Support" button under "More Programs," to be connected remotely to Fluid technicians. The techs can be invited to tap into the PC in question.

Retail cost for the Media Center PCs are expected to range between $6,000 to $15,000, but there is a heavy service component after that. Customers will be charged a recurring fee (shared between Fluid and the dealer) to receive automatic updates for Vista and various drivers. All of the updates will be tested in the Fluid lab before they're passed on to Fluid PCs in the field.

Fluid has not established an exact price for the maintenance service yet, but Buchanan suggests it could range from $25 to $50 per month. He's confident consumers won't balk at the price. "If someone's paying $8,000 or $10,000 for a server, he won't care about paying a monthly service fee," Buchanan says.

For customers who do object to the service agreement, Fluid provides them with detailed descriptions of how to update their servers on their own -- uninstalling and installing new drivers, testing out patches, etc. If that's not enough to scare them, dealers should remind them that service calls required to fix destabilizing software will be billed at $125 per hour.

The Fluid products are based on Windows Vista Ultimate and feature liquid cooling for processors and convection cooling for video to enhance product life while minimizing noise levels. Buchanan expects to get ISF certification for the Fluid PCs.

A variety of options will be available, including CableCard compatibility, Blu-ray/HD DVD drives, and Autonomic software for controlling Media Center through AMX or Crestron.