Distributor Enta has claimed that high-end media centre PCs are no longer just a thing of the future as it launches a slew of products to the channel.

These include a range of new gigabyte P45 chipset-based motherboards, an Asus RS160-E5 server, memory products and a PM2412 media centre.

Enta Group has claimed the media centre reflects the way in which people consume media in the UK. According to the distributor, an increasing number of people want interaction with their media, and with TV being too one-dimensional, people are seeking entertainment via their PC. The Enta media centre even comes with a remote control.

Iain Gillogaley, product marketing manager at Enta Group, told CRN: “The more people use media centre on their main television the more need there will be for cases that are pleasing to the eye because they
are in a more prominent position in the house.”

Resellers should also be able to supply their clients with a good case, he said. “The market for this sort of product is growing faster and faster ­ especially as more people see the benefits of using media centre.”
A good size hard drive and a good stock of memory will be handy, Gillogaley said.

The memory products, which are new additions to the ATX Corsair range (the P520W, P620W and P1000W) will find a market that extends beyond the home media centre user, predicted Patrick Goff, Enta Group’s memory product manager.

However, one PC builder warned resellers not to expect too much from the media centre market.

Kriss Pomroy, commercial director of notebook builder Novatech, said: “It is true the age of digital conversion is just around the corner, but it has been for about four years.”

This market will take off eventually because everyone wants to use applications like BBC iPlayer or Channel 4 online viewer, Pomroy claimed. However, problems can occur as there is usually a glitch involving bandwidth, picture quality or a combination of the two.

“It is not worth pushing this technology until the bandwidth problems are solved,” he explained.

Enta also announced last week that it is an official UK distributor for Asus. The distributor will carry the vendor’s server bare bone and its server motherboard products.