Media Center Reviews - The iBuyPower Video Pro Quad Core video workstation

Media Center Reviews - The iBuyPower Video Pro Quad Core video workstation

The iBuyPower Video Pro, though containing Intel's quad core CPU was never meant to be a gaming system. The video Pro is exactly as its name implies, a professional standard hobbyists machine with the video enthusiasts in mind. Starting at just under $2000, that's multimedia Center fits comfortably between budget and high end pricing. Packed with 8 GB of memory, most consumers might feel this is overkill, until they turn their high in Intel core 2 Quad processor on their first video editing project, and it seems quite normal after that. Housed in the Gigabyte Poseidon 310 case, If the dual 500 GB SATA drives and ATI Radeon HD 4850 GPU, Blu-Ray and DVD burners prove to be inadequate (fat chance), then there is plenty of room for further expansion down the road. There are plenty of connectivity options that come by default in this mid priced HTPC by default. There are 6 USB ports, 2 fire wire ports and even SPDIF optical and coaxial outputs to choose from. The home user will be pleasantly impressed with the ability to transcode home videos to DVD format using the included s-Video and composite video inputs.The professional user may miss the omission of an eSATA connector, but with their relatively new use, this oversight can be easily forgiven.

Even though this HTPC was not designed with PC gaming in mind, the benchmark tests administered showed that even in this arena, the iBuyPower could hold its own. The HD 4850 GPU showed its raw power, and coupled with Blu-Ray playback and recording, proved to be a more than capable PC for video editing, home theater, and gaming use.While the mid range price tag might be slightly high for those looking for a budget HTPC, and the features a little light for a higher end model, I feel that the iBuyPower Video Pro is a reasonably priced machine, with plenty of future expansion options and a plethora of default options to make it an all around great choice for the home video editor or media center PC enthusiast who likes to game on the weekends as a hobby.

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