Multimedia Center
Rather than ship the All-in-Wonder X800 XT with third-party multimedia software, ATI bundles its own Multimedia Center. MMC has been around for what seems like forever, and surprisingly, little seems to have changed over the last year or so.

Multimedia Center wraps DVD, VCD, TV, radio, video playback, and media library functions together, and for casual desktop use, it's all right. However, I wouldn't recommend the personal video recorder (PVR) software for anything but occasional recording. MMC needs to launch the TV application, complete with on-screen video and sound, each time it starts a scheduled recording. The software will close the TV app when a recording is completed, but it's incapable of silently recording programs in the background, which is quite annoying. Silent background recording is a standard feature of PVR apps like BeyondTV and Windows Media Center Edition, so its absence in Multimedia Center borders on inexcusable. Normally, I'd suggest ditching the MMC software in favor of BeyondTV or Media Center Edition, but the All-in-Wonder X800 XT isn't supported by either.

To ATI's credit, some of MMC's recording capabilities are more robust than those of Media Center Edition or BeyondTV. MMC can record directly to AVI, MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG4, WMV, or ATI's own VCR format using a variety of user-configurable recording profiles, while Media Center Edition and BeyondTV are limited to MPEG2 recording. Multimedia Center also allows users to apply pixel shader-accelerated VideoSoap filters in real time to clean up messy video signals.

Despite its lack of silent recording, Multimedia Center's 10-foot GUI suggests that ATI intends for it to be used with home theater PCs. The EAZYLOOK interface looks great from the couch, and ATI's insistence on all capitals really makes the name jump off the page.

Unfortunately, EAZYLOOK doesn't have an integrated program guide. The app is able to pull program titles as you flip through channels, though. This capability makes channel surfing through commercials easier, although we'd prefer to see a fully-functional program guide integrated into the EAZYLOOK interface.

Instead, users have to settle for GemStar's Guide+ program guide software. Guide+ does a decent job of displaying program guides, but it's all but impossible to read from the couch. Unfortunately, Guide+ also lacks the ability to record all instances of a given program automatically, regardless of what time or channel it's on. BeyondTV and Windows Media Center Edition do a much better job of automatically scheduling recordings based on a program's title, and ATI would do well to have Multimedia Center emulate that capability.

Don't tell the RIAA, but Multimedia Center can also record and time shift radio broadcasts. When coupled with the AIW X800 XT's FM tuning capabilities, the radio app is a neat addition to a desktop PC.