Full Review - Setup and Use
Setup and Use
It’s not uncommon to get a fancy Media Center PC and then have the manufacturer reference the Microsoft website as a means for setup steps rather than printing a comprehensive manual. Fortunately Vidabox ships 5 separate manuals, each specializing in a certain part of the setup process. You get one that addresses the software setup and configuration, another for hardware installation, a quick hardware installation guide, a separate troubleshooting guide, and then a larger comprehensive user’s guide; talk about impressive. But let’s get real; the better you explain the setup and installation process, the less likely you are to have people calling you for help. Smart move.
We had no problem hooking up our RoomMate test system using the provided Quick Hardware Guide. If you are using a set-top box provided by your satellite or cable company, then you will want to attach the two included IR blasters to make the RoomMate system compatible. It looks ugly having all of these cables dangling everywhere, but until you start to see more Cable Card compatible Media Center PCs there is just no way around it. Make sure that you use the S-Video inputs first when connecting your set top box, then the RCA inputs or coaxial inputs as a last resort. If you have regular analog cable, then simply plug the coaxial cable running from the wall into the back of the RoomMate system. Use the cable splitter so that you can use both of the TV tuners. This will allow you to watch one program while you record another at the same time.
If you decide to keep the standard keyboard and mouse, we recommend using the USB to PS2 adapters and utilize the PS2 ports on the back of the system. This will free up the two USB ports on the back so you can use them for your IR receiver. The RoomMate does come with both Digital Optical and Digital Coaxial inputs, but only the Digital Coaxial input is on the back; the Digital Optical input is on the front hidden behind one of the covers. This is a pain because most receivers out there come with the Digital Optical connection rather than the Digital Coaxial and if you want to utilize the Digital Optical input, you are forced to open the front cover and run a cable around to the back – it’s not a pretty site. Another caveat is that the RoomMate only comes with analog VGA and S-Video output; we would have preferred DVI output. The nice folks at Vidabox explained that you can not really tell the difference between analog VGA and DVI outputs, but we disagree. When you are putting an image on a large 32-inch TV or larger, every little bit counts, especially when you are feeding video in from your wall to the set-top box, into the Media Center PC and then into your PC; degradation is going to happen. 
The included keyboard, mouse and remote control
If you are going to use the RoomMate at your desk as a PC first and a DVR secondly, then you will find the included mouse and keyboard work just fine. Like we mentioned earlier, we would have preferred a Logitech or Microsoft keyboard instead of the Kensington. If you plan on hooking the RoomMate up to your home theater system, we would recommend purchasing Vidabox’s wireless keyboard w/integrated trackball so you can surf the web or watch TV wirelessly.
Vidabox uses Windows Media Center Edition 2005 software which works great and is easy to setup. Make sure to set aside 30 minutes or more to get your system setup for use. The onscreen guide is very simple to follow and provides steps for troubleshooting any issues.
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by Daniel T. on October 11, 2006:
“I actually own one of these and I am very happy with it. VidaBox has done a great job polishing it up with good support etc. I do wish it had DVI output though, I did not think about it at the time of purcashe.” More...