Published: June 30, 2009 | Source: Antec | Author: Tom Koflach

Antec Veris Multimedia Station Premier

Introduction

Media Centre PC’s have only really emerged in the last couple of years, and are now big business, with many companies producing a variety of media orientated products. Antec are one of the contenders in this new market, and today we will be looking at part of their Veris series; the Veris Multimedia Station Premier.

When building a Media PC most will buy a specific HTPC (Home Theatre Personal Computer) chassis, which will have all the bells and whistles, and will therefore make integration with your living room simple. This is all fine, unless you already own a case which isn’t quite so suitable for HTPC use. For people in this pickle, Antec have come up with the Multimedia Station, which offers a way of upgrading your current case to make it living room and remote control friendly. Here is a complete features list for the Multimedia Station:

IR receiver with LCD display to see system information, adjust the volume, check email status, and more
IR receiver mounts in external 5.25″ drive bay
Sleek remote with incredible functionality, allowing user to play and manage media, change settings, and browse via the easy-to-use Thumb Pad Mouse controller
IMEDIAN software allows the playback of most media formats through internal codecs, full 1080p HD support, and a simple and convenient graphical interface
Support for CD/DVD, removable storage, network media, and digital/TV analog cards
Fully compatible with all versions of Windows XP and Vista

The LCD is undoubtedly the eye catcher with this device, and should make your PC stand out from the crowd, adding a little bit of pizazz to the drive bays, which are often pretty dull. The compatibility with network media etc is welcome, as is the ability to work on XP or Vista. Looking on Antec’s site it would seem the drivers also work with Windows 7, although they haven’t been certified for use and as such there may be bugs present. The features don’t give a lot away about the appearance of the device, so it’s about time we had a look….