07/22/96 LIVING ROOM COMPUTERS: NIRVANA FOR COUCH POTATOES?

LIVING ROOM COMPUTERS: NIRVANA FOR COUCH POTATOES?

For some time now, makers of consumer electronics and personal computers have been promising ``convergence.'' And with the lines between the two industries blurring, what kind of mutant ``black boxes'' will we need to get the best of both worlds? Several companies are beginning to provide an answer.
One of the most visible offerings comes from Gateway 2000. The North Sioux City (S.D.) computer company has been known as a maverick since it began selling PCs via mail order more than 10 years ago. It's no surprise, then, that it was one of the first to market a ``living room computer,'' the $3,999 Destination D5-166.
On first look, the Destination is basically a PC, featuring a fast 166-megahertz Intel Pentium microprocessor, a CD-ROM, and other snazzy features. What separates the D5-166from other IBM-compatible PCs is its eye-catching monitor. Measuring 31 inches wide by 27.6 inches high by 24 inches deep--and weighing a hefty 133 pounds--it's easy to mistake the charcoal-gray box for a large-screen TV.
ELECTRONIC GUIDE. In fact, with a TV tuner built into the PC's graphic card, the Destination can double as a TV set. To watch, you simply hit the TV button on the wireless keyboard or ``field mouse''--a remote with a miniature trackball that guides an on-screen cursor. That ``wakes'' the PC and monitor from ``suspend mode'' and instantly fills the screen with a full-size television image. If you want to watch TV while you're using the computer, you can shrink the picture to take up any size portion of the screen. Change channels or adjust the volume by pushing the appropriate buttons on the keyboard or field mouse. Both control devices use radio waves instead of infrared rays, which means the PC responds to commands even if the devices aren't pointed directly at it. The back of the PC also has connections for a VCR as well as a high-definition videodisk player.
One of Destination's most interesting features is its Harman Smart TV software, developed by TV Guide and Harman Interactive, the software arm of high-fidelity stereo-gear maker Harman Kardon. By registering a viewer profile and paying a $64 annual fee via the PC's modem, owners can have their Destination automatically download weekly TV schedules from TV Guide.
Each electronic schedule is tailored to the subscriber's region, showing only broadcast networks and cable-TV channels that the Destination owner receives. Clicking on the TV Guide icon brings up a grid showing programs being broadcast at that time. Click on a program box, and a brief synopsis appears. Another click, and the TV tuner switches to the program. Smart TV can also find programs for the week that fit specific interests--say, all broadcast movies starring Cary Grant--and schedule reminders that pop up onscreen.
The problem with watching TV on a high-definition computer monitor is that it magnifies the flaws in the low-resolution TV picture. I noticed on my test unit that the video image often flickers, especially at the edges, and appears very grainy next to sharp computer-generated text and graphics. Even when viewed full-screen, the colors of the video image weren't as sharp as those produced on a typical large-screen TV. No matter how much I tweaked the monitor's knobs and adjusted the software, I couldn't get the color balance and contrast to my liking.
I had no such problems when using Destination for traditional computer tasks, such as browsing the Internet's World Wide Web. The special fonts and icons Gateway developed for the Microsoft Windows 95 operating system make the onscreen text legible from up to 10 feet away. So I could sit back in an easy chair instead of huddled over a keyboard. In that sense, cruising the Web becomes much like TV channel-surfing.
GREAT GHOULS. The huge monitor really makes a difference in playing multimedia games. The wide screen immerses players into computer-generated fantasy worlds. The suspension of reality is even greater when the unit is connected to a home theater system, such as the optional Harman Kardon AVR-10 Dolby Prologic Surround Sound System ($699 if purchased with Destination). Hearing the ghoulish grunts of zombies while playing ID Software's Doom made me duck more than a few times. Even the nonaction trivia game, You Don't Know Jack, from Berkeley Systems (included in the Destination package) seemed more like a twisted Jeopardy TV game show when I played it with co-workers via the wireless keyboard.
Net TV in San Rafael, Calif., is also pushing the PC-as-TV concept. Like Gateway's Destination, Net TV's WorldVision line is a selection of Pentium-powered PCs connected to a large-screen monitor. WorldVision will offer three monitor sizes: 29, 33, and 37 inches, measured diagonally. Each monitor comes with built-in speakers and inputs for an additional TV tuner--such as the one on a VCR or on a cable-TV decoder box. That way, you can watch TV without having to crank up the PC. What's more, a WorldVision 2900 unit with a 29-inch monitor is expected to cost less than $3,000. Also unlike Gateway, Net TV is talking to consumer electronics retailers, such as Fry's Electronics, about selling WorldVision products--a smart move to reach consumers who may need to try out a unit before they commit to buying such a big-ticket entertainment item.
I found an early version of WorldVision to be less refined than Gateway's Destination. For one thing, WorldVision's remote keyboard lacked such essentials as independent volume and channel controls, forcing me to go through pesky software menus. And while the built-in Reveal TV-500 circuit card--a $200 part available for any IBM-compatible PC--has a nifty channel scan feature that can monitor 12 TV channels simultaneously, the WorldVision unit lacked any sort of electronic program guide. Perhaps most annoying was the infrared wireless keyboard, which seemed to generate random mouse clicks as I moved the built-in trackball.
All this aside, a more fundamental question looms: Will anybody want to interact with a big-screen computer in the living room? It's hard to justify spending as much as $5,600 to have a bunch of friends gathered around surfing the Net as if they were watching Seinfeld together. Indeed, if these big-screen concoctions prove to be hot sellers, it may be as souped-up--and very pricey--videogame systems. That said, perhaps consumer-electronics makers are wise to have taken a wait-and-see attitude.
SMART SETS. But they won't be on the sidelines much longer. They are gearing up to offer a slew of new products that merge computer and electronics gear. Sony, for example, introduced a Pentium-powered PC called the VAIO last month. Although the $2,800 PC doesn't have a big screen, Sony promises to offer a dazzling array of computerized audio-video components, including a ``jukebox'' that can handle a mix of up to 100 digital audio CDs and CD-ROMs. Thomson Consumer Electronics has teamed up with Compaq Computer to make a series of big-screen home-theater products that can search and rapidly access menus of TV shows, movies, or CD-ROMs based on viewer preferences.
So just as PC makers are trying to make their wares friendlier, consumer-electronics companies are adding PC-like smarts to theirs. As each side rushes to make its vision of the future a reality, one thing is for sure: The living room is bound to get more crowded.
EDITED BY AMY DUNKIN By Paul Eng