Windows Sideshow vs. Media Direct

Are these two programs comparable to each other. I'm not familiar with either but from what I understand, they both allow you to use your computer without the OS. Can anyone elaborate on that.

 

Comparing those two is like comparing apples and oranges. They are quite different; check out the Vista site:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/features/foreveryone/sideshow.mspx

If you Google "windows sideshow", you'll find a ton of articles. Here's one:
http://www.code-magazine.com/Article.aspx?quickid=0512122

 

Looks like Media Direct does everything sideshow does without the dinky screen...

 

eh, sideshow could actually be useful to me somewhat, media direct really isnt, I havent messed around with media direct 3,0, only 2 but still, if I'm actually going to have to go through the trouble of booting up my machine, I feel I might as well just go straight to windows, with sideshow hopefully the lcd will be close to an instant on type device, basically it looks like it could be a modern cell phone without the phone

its by far not a must have feature, but it could be useful, and it looks neat. Personally I would love a notebook with the narrow blue LED lit display across the front just to display hardware status info, component temp/fan speed etc while the unit is on, that would be much more practical than the multiple flahing lights that are all the rage now, those lights are my only gripe about the m1210's appearance, you start with a sleek tastefull design, then bling it out a little, in my opinion all those do are to make it look more like a toy than the actual high performance monster it really is

 

Slideshow can do so much more than MD. You will have access to far more than just music and videos - you'll be able to access your appointments, calendars, email, key documents, etc. No opening the laptop up, no waiting for a scaled down version of Windows to load, etc. Business people will probably be the ones who take the most advantage of this new technology. The average home user probably won't use it much.

 

I like the SideShow concept. But how much will the hardware support cost ?

 

at at a total guess I wouldnt think it would be too expensive, the screen would be the only cost factor, and there are many fairly inexpensive phones and portable media playes out right now using high quality color screens with excellent video reproduction, I recently got a creative labs zen vision m, it was $199, and it has an amazing 2.5" screen, I wouldnt think watching a video could be an enjoyable prospect on such a small screen, but its very good and easily watchable,I've watched several full length movies on it and enjoyed it very much, for sideshow all they would need is the screen so I'm guessing around $100 us for the sideshow option , a little more or a little less dpending on the maker and features

 

Asus has already released their dual display SideShow ready W5Fe notebook. Lets hope DELL will follow them soon

 

Media Direct looks alot better