Editor's Note: This unit has been discontinued by the manufacturer.

When Gateway first announced the Media Center FMC-901 family, we were intrigued. Unlike Gateway's previous Media Center Edition PCs, which were generally housed in chassis scrounged from the PC parts bin, this model looks like a piece of gear you'd put in your AV rack. On top of that, Gateway has integrated a next-generation Hauppauge TV tuner and an ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 3-D accelerator in the higher-end, FMC-901X variant we tested. It all adds up the first Media Center Edition PC that actually looks at home in a family room.

The AV-component look of the FMC-901X is helped by the flip-down panel on the front, which hides many of the more PC-centric controls and ports: FireWire port, two USB 2.0 jacks, and slots for Compact Flash, SD, Memory Stick, and Smart Media memory cards.

Below the flip-down panel are audio and DVD playback controls, as well as buttons that call up the primary Media Center Edition functions (My Videos, My TV, My Music, My Photos).

Gateway has added even more I/O to the back of the system, including two more FireWire ports, two more USB 2.0 connectors, and a 10/100 Ethernet connection. A pair of optical connectors offers digital audio output and inputs.

The bundle includes the familiar Media Center Edition remote control as well as a Gyration Ultra GT wireless mouse and keyboard combination. The Gyration mouse works well enough for 3-D games, provided that you use it on a surface with a mouse pad, but it's not quite as easy as a dedicated desktop mouse for gaming. And the compact keyboard takes some getting used to. But all in all, it's a very neat package for most things you'd do with a living-room PC.

Unlike the ASUS DigiMatrix, this Gateway unit is a true Media Center Edition PC. That means music- and photo-playback features are excellent, and the PVR functions are a close match for a dedicated TV recorder. Burning your favorite shows to either DVD "plus" or "dash" media via the dual-format recorder is incredibly easy.

Best of all, TV quality using the Hauppauge TV tuner card is substantially better than in previous Media Center Edition PCs and rivals that of the Sony VAIO Digital Studio PCV-RZ46G we praised last issue (First Looks, February 3). In fact, quality was good enough that you could spot deficiencies in the source material on some highly compressed satellite feeds.

While the system looks good in our AV rack, there is some noticeable fan noise. It's no louder than some TiVo-based recorders we've tested—and not bad considering the 3.0-GHz Pentium 4 and Radeon 9800 Pro inside—but you could hear it during quiet passages while watching TV or DVD movies.

Oddly, Gateway doesn't supply any of the native Audigy 2 software to go with the Creative Labs sound card, nor the jacks for connecting six analog channels from the Audigy 2 to our AV receiver. So even though the Audigy 2 can support DVD-Audio (DVD-A) playback, you can't do it with the FMC-901X.

Another oversight: No component video cable or dongle for the ATI Radeon 9800 Pro is shipped inside the box. So if your display device lacks a VGA or DVI input, you'll either need to get a converter or order a component video dongle from ATI.

All in all, the Gateway FMC-901X is a far cry from the original family-room PC, the Gateway Destination. Its sleek looks and high degree of usability make it an appealing choice if you want the features of a Media Center Edition PC but don't want something that looks like a PC in your entertainment center.