Media Center PC's
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mr tibbs
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Media Center PC's
Someone educate me please! I have seen a few of these around, but never really understood what they do. So I can download all of my movies and all of my music on there and use it instead of a DVD player and CD player? Is that the general jist of it? If so are they worth it? Can they play stuff in HD and regular? More questions to come!
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Zomb1fied
In short yes, you buy a small form factor case (microATX barebones) and it comes with a motherboard, remote, sensor for the remote and so on.
Then you need to install XP media center edition and it then becomes a digital video recorder, divx player, dvd player, music player etc.
Shuttle used to make gorgeous little alu barebones systems that could take a decently sized video card in them, newegg used to have em
HTH !
Then you need to install XP media center edition and it then becomes a digital video recorder, divx player, dvd player, music player etc.
Shuttle used to make gorgeous little alu barebones systems that could take a decently sized video card in them, newegg used to have em
HTH !
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Zomb1fied
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mr tibbs
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OK, I understood XP media center and a few other things, but the rest is latin to me. See, I'm like a caveman here, I need plain stupid english here to help me out. 
I see Alienware makes something like this, and it looks cool as hell, but is it worth it? Also, can you still hook one of these up to an external amp?
Here is the Alienware one.
I see Alienware makes something like this, and it looks cool as hell, but is it worth it? Also, can you still hook one of these up to an external amp?Here is the Alienware one.
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Zomb1fied
yip all you need to connect it to an amp is a Y cable that splits the 1.5mm earphone plug into 2 RCAS.
Tip, get a monster cable one. Everyone elses are shit quality.
Alienware. The age old debate is it worth it?
Bottom line? if you can afford it you are getting a stunning piece of equipment.
Personally I built my own using their chassis, but if I could have said "what the hey" and splashed out I would.
Their PCs are gorgeous, use top quality components and are built like coal bunkers.
Tip, get a monster cable one. Everyone elses are shit quality.
Alienware. The age old debate is it worth it?
Bottom line? if you can afford it you are getting a stunning piece of equipment.
Personally I built my own using their chassis, but if I could have said "what the hey" and splashed out I would.
Their PCs are gorgeous, use top quality components and are built like coal bunkers.
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fuzzysnuggleduck
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Keep in mind if you're planning on using the media center to record TV, you're going to need a TV tuner card, and this is where it starts getting a bit pricey for HD content, if your TV service is HD that is. CATV tuners can be dirt cheap but the crappiest aren't worth owning.
If you don't even care about recording TV, you're not really going to need Media Center anyways as that's all it really is, a software DVR (digital video recorder), much like a TiVo.
If you just want to play DVDs and CDs from your computer, all you need is a video card with TV-out and a sound card that can send a signal to your receiver/stereo and the software to play DVDs and CDs (a dime a dozen).
I'd personally stay away from Windows Media Center unless you have an Xbox and plan on using it to stream video to your TV. Just stick with XP for DVD and CD content.
If you don't even care about recording TV, you're not really going to need Media Center anyways as that's all it really is, a software DVR (digital video recorder), much like a TiVo.
If you just want to play DVDs and CDs from your computer, all you need is a video card with TV-out and a sound card that can send a signal to your receiver/stereo and the software to play DVDs and CDs (a dime a dozen).
I'd personally stay away from Windows Media Center unless you have an Xbox and plan on using it to stream video to your TV. Just stick with XP for DVD and CD content.
SOLD: '91 PG 4Runner
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fuzzysnuggleduck
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Zomb1fied
As has been said you need to make sure you have a TV card. A good (pre built) media pc will take care of all that of course.mr tibbs wrote:Can XP still do HDTV or is that up to the video card or something? I'm telling ya, I'm really not edumacated when it comes to this stuff!
Then the signal cables connect into it and using the correct software it works like a TivO device.
I would go with a pre built one man, will save you a lot of headaches
Build list-
OS, depending on what you want to do the OS really doesn't matter. XP should suffice for most if not all needs.
Tuner Card, most tuner cards come with a DVR software so will allow you to record programs. If you want HD get a card capable of ATSC tunning, also get a dual tuner version this allows record and playback simultaneously on two different channels.
Video Card, look at output connections to verify that it provides the connection you need. HDMI/Component/S/DVI........
Audio Card, in most cases I suggest getting one with Optic out NOT digital Coax, the Optic will then plug into your receiver for processing.
Optic Drive, choose a drive to suit your needs, Blu-ray DVD etc.
Memory, not a huge concern unless you plan to use the box for more than recording or play back. 1GB should be more than enough.
Processor, again not a huge concern, what ever is current on the market in your price range should be enough.
Hard Disk....Go big and go in pairs. If you are running this as a media server and opting for low or no compression on your files, I suggest striped drives in a raid 5 array this way you have speed and redundancy. for this config 6 disks will allow performance without data loss if a drive fails.
OS, depending on what you want to do the OS really doesn't matter. XP should suffice for most if not all needs.
Tuner Card, most tuner cards come with a DVR software so will allow you to record programs. If you want HD get a card capable of ATSC tunning, also get a dual tuner version this allows record and playback simultaneously on two different channels.
Video Card, look at output connections to verify that it provides the connection you need. HDMI/Component/S/DVI........
Audio Card, in most cases I suggest getting one with Optic out NOT digital Coax, the Optic will then plug into your receiver for processing.
Optic Drive, choose a drive to suit your needs, Blu-ray DVD etc.
Memory, not a huge concern unless you plan to use the box for more than recording or play back. 1GB should be more than enough.
Processor, again not a huge concern, what ever is current on the market in your price range should be enough.
Hard Disk....Go big and go in pairs. If you are running this as a media server and opting for low or no compression on your files, I suggest striped drives in a raid 5 array this way you have speed and redundancy. for this config 6 disks will allow performance without data loss if a drive fails.
I think we've established that "Ka Ka" and "Tukki Tukki" don't work.
Ive had a dedicated media center pc for about a year and a half now. Its fantastic. Any HD other than OTA is (or was, when I built mine) an absolute pain in the ass, though.
If you're looking to get HD from your cable provider to your tv, there are no HD tuners that can decode HD channels direct from cable without a box. This can be solved by modding an HD cable box to output over firewire, but then it means you have to change the channel on the cable box somehow, usually by using an IR repeater (or with further mods, USB is possible.) Of course, that requires having a cable box sitting around that looks ugly and shouldn't be necessary. All of this was to be taken care of with Cable Card support, but at the last minute they threw "certification" rules making it so you have to actually buy a Cable Card ready PC, rather than being able to add cable card support to an existing/home built PC. (which is fine if you aren't building it yourself)
In the end though, its definitely worthwhile. I rarely come across HD content on cable that I cant live without, and OTA works fantastically (although, it requires a good sum of processing power) There are also tie-ins to other MS products, so if you have an xbox360 theres additional payout. You get all the benefits of "tivo" systems, along with access to all of your music, movies, pictures.. along with super future proofing (up to something like 8 tv tuners) and cheap storage space. Its just unfortunate that the way things are setup with cable/satellite providers creates some ridiculous roadblocks..
If you're looking to get HD from your cable provider to your tv, there are no HD tuners that can decode HD channels direct from cable without a box. This can be solved by modding an HD cable box to output over firewire, but then it means you have to change the channel on the cable box somehow, usually by using an IR repeater (or with further mods, USB is possible.) Of course, that requires having a cable box sitting around that looks ugly and shouldn't be necessary. All of this was to be taken care of with Cable Card support, but at the last minute they threw "certification" rules making it so you have to actually buy a Cable Card ready PC, rather than being able to add cable card support to an existing/home built PC. (which is fine if you aren't building it yourself)
In the end though, its definitely worthwhile. I rarely come across HD content on cable that I cant live without, and OTA works fantastically (although, it requires a good sum of processing power) There are also tie-ins to other MS products, so if you have an xbox360 theres additional payout. You get all the benefits of "tivo" systems, along with access to all of your music, movies, pictures.. along with super future proofing (up to something like 8 tv tuners) and cheap storage space. Its just unfortunate that the way things are setup with cable/satellite providers creates some ridiculous roadblocks..
I'm afraid of widths.
just had to add a few notes to this as well. I fully disagree with the ram comment. Go big in this department or go home, especially if you're considering HD.VW337 wrote:Build list-
OS, depending on what you want to do the OS really doesn't matter. XP should suffice for most if not all needs.
Tuner Card, most tuner cards come with a DVR software so will allow you to record programs. If you want HD get a card capable of ATSC tunning, also get a dual tuner version this allows record and playback simultaneously on two different channels.
Video Card, look at output connections to verify that it provides the connection you need. HDMI/Component/S/DVI........
Audio Card, in most cases I suggest getting one with Optic out NOT digital Coax, the Optic will then plug into your receiver for processing.
Optic Drive, choose a drive to suit your needs, Blu-ray DVD etc.
Memory, not a huge concern unless you plan to use the box for more than recording or play back. 1GB should be more than enough.
Processor, again not a huge concern, what ever is current on the market in your price range should be enough.
Hard Disk....Go big and go in pairs. If you are running this as a media server and opting for low or no compression on your files, I suggest striped drives in a raid 5 array this way you have speed and redundancy. for this config 6 disks will allow performance without data loss if a drive fails.
for tuners, stay away from anything but Hauppauge, as everything else is trash. Also, make damn sure every tuner you look at uses HARDWARE DECODING. if it doesnt, it means your cpu is doing all of the work, and you will never have good results.
also, many newer video cards feature HD decoders onboard, which have HUGE gains in decoding of native files. Namely the "midrange" nvidia cards. They absolutely kick ass for the playback of h.264 files.
I'm afraid of widths.