Remember the last Windows Media Center CE Box

With the talk of a headless Windows Media Center System Richard Miller reminded me of Microsoft’s last attempt at a CE Media Center device.  The LG LRM-519 was a Set To Box device with Windows Media Center as a UI. It could download the EPG data over the internet or via dial up (after you paid a one time subscription fee) and looked like it would be a popular device.

For the time it has some interesting features: (taken from Sean Alexander’s blog)

• Network media DVR/DVD recorder, burns all major DVD formats (DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, DVD+R double-layer)
• Progressive Scan DVD Playback
• Built-in Ethernet, 802.11a/g network connections
• Compatible with MPEG, Windows Media Audio and Video (WMA/WMV), MP3 audio, and JPEG images
• Supports PlaysforSure Services (Napster, MSN Music, CinemaNow, MovieLink etc.)
• Supports Windows Media Connect for browsing and enjoying Music, Photos, and Videos over home networks from Windows XP PCs.
• Supports Sync of recorded TV programs back to the PC for transfer to mobile devices.
• Microsoft Electronic Programming Guide
• 160GB hard drive, expandable via USB 2.0 external HDDs- keep slapping them on 🙂
• Single-tuner, supports all services via S-Video etc. (same as retail TiVo)
• USB connectivity to portable hard disks, media players, and card readers
• Available at retail, Fall 2005

I did see one on Microsoft’s stand at CES in 2006 but since then I have heard nothing about the device.  On paper it looks like it should have been a success but it seems to have disappeared without a trace. Did you buy one or did you consider one and why do you think it didn’t take off? Is there a market for a device like this now? The headless device Chris Lanier was talking about was a server and not a client device like this but it’s not a million miles of what was done in the past (on the LG box you could send content back to the XP machine)

Checkout the video demo of the unit from 2005 and the original web site