ACE May Have Second Media Center Based on AMD Home Cinema

The just-released Hangar18 Media Center PC from Alienware was the first product to be based on AMD's new Home Cinema platform.

Soon, perhaps, we'll see the second product, a yet-to-be-named Media Center from Ace Computers. The product will be a sequel to the company's entry-level LMS Media Center, so for now we'll call it the LMS II.

The LMS II, like its predecessor, is also considered to be an entry-level machine, even though it adds a 5.1 surround sound amp (125 watts per channel) to the mix.

"We are finalizing the designs and don't have final configurations determined yet, but we are aiming this to be similar to the LMS with a few enhancements," says ACE chief John Samborski. What is known for sure is that the base model is shown without a tuner because "we are allowing dealers to specify if they want single, dual or multiple tuners," Samborski says.

The product is expected to be available in July, along with four more affordable models built on both Intel and AMD platforms. "Intel released Salt Creek, and that gives us better platforms for [Intel] Viiv systems and you will see these too … soon" Samborski says.

Salt Creek is Intel's next-generation of Viiv platform for Media Center PCs.

As for the LMS II, there is at least one key distinction vis-à-vis Alienware's Hangar18: "Ours will be sold only through the CE professional channel and of course should be lower priced to dealers than Alienware," Samborski says. "We also won't compete with dealers with direct sales, unlike Alienware."