Shuttle M2000
Viiv Media Center PC

When Intel announced the Viiv (rhymes with jive) platform last January at the Consumer Electronics Show, many present, myself included, didn’t exactly get it. Ten months later, I’ve been using a Viiv-enabled media center PC for a few weeks and I still can’t say with much more clarity what exactly Viiv is, but as a media center, this Shuttle is tough to beat.

But seriously folks. Intel’s Viiv is a platform, a set of processor and chipset specs that any Viiv-labeled product must meet, plus a set of broadband applications making it easier to access online content (like movies and music) from your PC in a more living room-like ecosystem. One of the best things about Viiv, though, is the Quick Resume feature which allows your PC to quickly turn on and off like an electronics device (DVD player, TV …) rather than the slow boot up and shut down procedures other PCs go through.

The Shuttle M2000 incorporates all the Viiv and Windows Media Center required components. It uses Intel’s Core Duo 1.6GHz processor, 1GB DDR2 memory, a moderate NVIDIA 6600 LE graphics card, a 259GB 7200RPM hard drive plus an HDD expansion slot. It provides surround sound via a Realtek HD 7.1 channel processor. Also in the front is a fleet of inputs for a DV camcorder, digital camera memory cards, and USB devices. The DVD drive is a multi-format dual layer recorder, perfect for backing up digital pictures and music or making DVDs of recorded TV shows. All those ports are hidden behind a little door so as to not disturb the elegant look of the machine.

The back of the PC is where you see that this is really more of an A/V component than a workspace tool. For audio there’s a set of 5.1 analog audio jacks plus digital audio outputs for connecting to an AV receiver. For video, the M2000 provides a DVI output plus analog component, and S-video. There are coax inputs for two TV tuners (including a high def ATSC tuner) which turn the PC into a DVR. Ethernet and Wi-Fi provide the network connection. There’s even an FM radio tuner, though with easy access to Internet radio, I don’t see why anyone would need the FM tuner.

The M2000 is a handsome PC. There’s a LED display on the front that shows the status of the machine but other than that, it looks like a largish DVD player. You can turn it on either with the on button on the front or the Media Center remote or wireless keyboard—which includes a very effective trackball.

The M2000 works pretty much like any other Media Center PC, but the Viiv layer ensures a smooth operation. Switching between Windows and Media Center is seamless and fast. You also get smoother access from the Media Center screen to a variety of online services like Movielink and Yahoo MusicMatch, instead of having to go though a Web browser. A feature called Online Showcase includes a double handful of links to news, music, TV and other services. Many of those, such as Akimbo’s IPTV, require a subscription, but others are free to use. Accessing your own stored media is also quite simple, so making the M2000 the apex of your entertainment world is actually quite easy. A CableCARD slot and HDMI output would make this a real challenger to Tivo’s new Series 3.

The Media Center layer lets you access your stored music, pictures and video in an easy couch potato fashion. A larger hard drive would be nice for more DVR and music storage (250GB won’t get you a lot of high definition video). An HD DVD or Blu-ray disc drive would also be welcome. In the meantime, this is a very well-configured living room PC that will happily do your taxes but is a lot more comfortable showing you movies.