If you’re looking for a new media PC, the latest from AOpen is worth a look. Announced on Friday, the new AOpen PC is the XC Encore OE700 and this system all about everything media. It will keep things quiet with the Smart Anti-Vibration System and features a vacuum fluorescent display and support for 7.1 audio.

Some specs include Intel Core 2 Duo processors, 4GB RAM and several outputs including DVI and HDMI, two miniPCI slots, Ethernet and four USB ports. An 8X DVD burner is included along with Windows XP or Vista. You’ll also get a remote control.

Typically, when I talk about a new product from Shuttle it’s a small, bare bones machine that you need to add your own CPU and other parts to before you can use it. Shuttle also makes a line of small computers that are complete and ready to use out of the box.

The latest complete system being offered by Shuttle is called the H7 4500H and is a full media center PC. The machine runs Windows Vista Home Premium and has an integrated DVB-S TV tuner card. The tuner offers users time shifting including recording and pausing of programs. The tuner also has an electronic program guide.

S1Digital has announced it’s latest media center, the P500, and this one features up to four CableCARD tuners plus a QAM/ATSC tuner. There’s also support for internal RAID5 storage, HDMI/DVI and 7.1-channel audio output.

Intel’s latest Core 2 Duo processors are running everything. If you opt for the S800 and P600 you’ll enjoy high definition movies on the standard Blu-ray drives. The new media centers get along with Crestron, AMX, RTI, HAI and PC based-touchscreens over IP or RS-232.

If PCs were being made in the 1950’s they would look a lot like this. Why not? It will match the ‘57 Chevy parked in your driveway. Thomas Thomassen created this beautiful retro media center PC for his final project in BA (Hons) model making for design and media at the Arts Institute in Bournemouth.

Obviously he knows what he’s doing. It reminds me of the old Bakelite radios from the 1940’s-50’s. He created most of the parts through the process of vacuum forming. Some inside specs include: VIA Epia 13000 miniITX, SilenX CPU fan, 1GB RAM, 100GB 2.5″ Harddrive and a Soundgraph iMON Remote Control.

Pearing Core Systems’ MEdiaCOre or MECO system is a digital command center/ convergence device that is basically a compact, hand-crafted cabinet for your living room. The unit runs off of a full-featured PC powered by Windows Media Center. It uses the Internet and your home’s audio, video and other automation to manage your digital life all from one place.

You can watch Internet movies and television, stream Internet radio, listen to MP3s and check out your digital photos and video. The device also helps to eliminate all of your media clutter, because MECO has two cable boxes, a wireless router, Blu-Ray and DVD-RW/CD-RW drives built right into the system, with room to integrate your own components, like iPods and game consoles.

Sotec’s E7 media center PC series adds an iPod dock. A hidden compartment at the base houses a slot where you can plug in the mp3 player. The 21.6 inch PC also features a DVD drive, built-in card reader, 1.3MP camera, wireless keyboard and mouse, 8W Onkyo speakers, NVIDIA GeForce 9300 video card, integrated 802.11a/b/g Wi-Fi module, Gigabit Ethernet, 1GB of RAM and a160GB hard drive as part of the standard option.

It’s powered by an Intel dual-core 2GHz with optional enhancements like 2GB RAM, 500GB hard drive, and a 2.53GHz processor. The E7 should be arriving with an October launch date. The standard version is priced at about $950, while the fully-loaded options will cost you $1560. It’s nice to see an iPod dock included, but it doesn’t make it stand out enough in a sea of PC’s that are all very much the same.

Looking for a handy multimedia gadget to bridge the gap between your PC and your HDTV? This multimedia device could do the trick. The Mvix Media Center is really an external hard drive enclosure with it’s own processor, a Linux OS and some tools to playback just about any multimedia file you have.

This new version of the Mvix adds support for HD video output to your TV and wireless connectivity via 802.11b/g. (You can also connect via an Ethernet cable.) You can connect to your TV like you would connect any other audio and video components with composite, component, s-video or DVI, and you connect audio out with RCA jacks or even use a FM transmitter to play the sound on your FM stereo.

Once set up you simply transfer files from your PC to the Mvix device and play …