The Monueal LCD display is definitely useful to see at a glance what songs you are playing. There have been times when I would come home and not want to turn the TV on to play my music. A media centre PC is supposed to replace your CD player so not having to turn on your TV is a convenient thing.

The buttons and knobs have a very positive and nice feel. The black metal finish blends in beautifully with my black PC. I love the shortcuts buttons interface - I can quickly hit MUSIC and then PLAY and I'm listening to my music in no time.

The Monueal Ultra Bay also works with Windows MCE as long as you have the IMon Manager running. The only thing you don't get is EQ display compared to when you play music in IMedian.

Software configuration - IMON Manager and IMedian

Monueal IMon Manager
The Monueal IMON software is a daemon that sits in between IMedian and the remote control or Ultra Bay interface. Without this running in the background, the Monueal IMON Ultra Bay LCD will not work and neither will you able to interface with any software. The good news is that with this software running, you'll be able to run Windows MCE in conjunction with the Monueal IMON Ultra Bay if the IMedian software is not to your liking.

The setup also allows you to choose the Imon Ultrapad remote control or your MCE remote control if that is your preference. It is also critical in determining what the QUICKLAUNCH button on your remote will launch: IMedian or your choice of media software control such as Microsoft MCE or Windows Media Player.

The LCD display is also configured using this software and controls such LCD settings such as contrast, font size, text scroll speed etc. I found this feature useful as I was able to increase the font size and customize the display since I found it difficult to read the LCD display from afar.

Next up, PCSTATS looks at the usability of the Monueal iMedian software application - the heart of any good media PC.