Ok the, let's start the test! We intentionally used a low-end pc to test Media Lab. The reason of this decision is simple: usually a 3.6Ghz pc is not needed to play movies, mp3s and so. People knows that and the don't want annoying loud fans to cool the thing, so a common choiche is to use a low end pc to be used as an HTPC! Anyway we have kept way over the minimum requirements that Thermaltake recommends (1Ghz Pentium 3).
This is a brief hardware description: - CPU: AMD Sempron 2200+ (1500MHz, 256KB cache L2) - M/B: Asus A7V600-X (Via KT600) - RAM: 256 MB DDR 400 (single DIMM) - HD: IBM 40 GB 7200rpm - VGA: Geforce 2 MX 200 32MB AGP That's a very affordable pc, and suits perfect in a HTPC!

Media Lab software supports all windows OS from 98 to XP, we chose to test the software both on Windows 2000 Professional and Windows XP.

First of all we had to install iMon and iMedian. That's an easy task: the CDROM will autorun and complete the installation in a few dozens of seconds. On the CDROM we got we found versions 3.82 and 1.82, respectively for iMon and iMedian. Once the software is started, if an internet connection is detected, checks for updated versions, and if any, shows the link for direct download. Software is published bu SoundGraph, and this is their download page. Unfortunately old versions need to be uninstalled in order to install the new one. We got the 4.00.0381 versions of both software (last available since 1st Sep 2005) Note: in Windows 2000 os, we had a warning for a missing gdiplus.dll file. Dropping it in the C:/Windows/System32 folder solved it nicely.

By the end of installation software asked which remote controller we had: in this case iMon Pad was selected.

Now iMon software self launches when windows starts, while iMedian can be started by pressing its own button on the remote. If you like, you can set it to auto execute on startup too.

Once the installation is done, you can shut the pc and proceed with hardware installation.

Since MediaLab needs to be powered all the time, installation is not a 30" affair but in 5 minutes even a child would work that out without any kind of problem!

Once you've finished to set up the wiring you can start the pc and Media Lab will be correctly recognized by the OS. Installation is now complete.

Note: this article is the English translation of our Italian original review you can read here:
Thermaltake Media LAB : trasforma il tuo PC in media center