So I've been looking at media center PC stuff to finally upgrade the 1GHZ, SDRAM-based several year old PoS that serves at my media PC. Alienware had one of the best packaged ones that I've seen, but at $2000 for the configuration I wanted, it wasn't worth it.
So I bought all my own stuff, for around $850, and decided to build a PC. Well, the mobo isn't functioning (or the chip, not sure), so I'm sorta screwed there.
But, I did take the completely silent (0db) PSU, 2 tuner PVR with FM Radio, Windows Media Center 2005 and 8x AGP $50 videocard with tv-out and put them into the next-newest system I owned.
I got it hooked up, installed the MPEG2 decoder, and configured the TV Guide, etc. So far it freaking rocks. Right now I am listening to the new Chemical Brothers album, recording a tv show, and surfing at the same time. CPU usage on an Athlon XP 2000? 25-30%. Watching tv (with the software decoder) raises the CPU usage, but still keeps it low enough that the video is not choppy, and one show can be watched while another is taped. As for picture quality, I tested my wife, and she couldn't tell which was PC and which was the TV, except one made people look "cooler" than the other. The PC was the offender, but video adjustments/tweaking helped. I'd give it a 9.5/10. My previous setup (5 y.o. video card and USB2 PVR looked like a VCR at best; 4.5/10)
With the PC hooked up to our TV, we can now watch 2 shows at once (Picture in Picture) and record another. Or, record 2 shows, and watch another one. The built-in PVR software for Windows MCE 2005 is very good (easy for basic controls, pause/play/record), but is not as full-featured as external packages such as Sage TV or Beyond TV. Searching is easy enough, and there are several recording options for shows: Quality (Best = 3GB/minute); Channel (restrict to a single channel, or tape across all channels; helps avoid syndicated shows); New or New and Rerun; lead-in and out time (to help with those bastard networks that make shows run a few minutes long/short); How long to keep shows, etc.
The TV Tuner feature works very well. In fact, it brings PVR-like functionality to traditional radio. Admittedly, care factor is low, but it's a nice bonus. You can save stations, and easily navigate between presets (1-9 type of navigation, like car/home radios).
Other features include photo management (slideshow, navigation, etc), DVD playing, Video file management, etc.
So far (2 days), it's been a very nice feature to have in the living room.
Cost for parts in use:
Thermaltake 350w silent PSU: $130
Ati Radeon 9200 128MB: $45
Hauppauge 500MCE: $150
Windows Media Center Edition 2005: $125
Guide listings: $0 (included free with MCE)
So roughly $450 for a Tivo conversion to an existing PC, with unlimited upgradeability (currently using a 120GB hard drive) and free TV guide.
I'd give Windows MCE a 8.5/10; could offer more PVR functions
Hauppauge 500mce: 9.5/10 (hardware decoding would r0x0r. But at $150, it r0x0rs anyways)
Thermaltake: 9/10; Only Active Power Correction would make it better. Although the size was a tight fit in my ATX tower case.
ATI Radeon 9200: 10/10; cheap and perfect for the job. With passive cooler (heatsink) to reduce noise.
Media Center PC
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thibodeaux
- Posts: 8056
- Joined: Thu May 20, 2004 7:32 pm
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thibodeaux
- Posts: 8056
- Joined: Thu May 20, 2004 7:32 pm
Well, as for mobo/ram/cpu; the machine I'm running off of right now cost me $180 for case/mobo/cpu, 6 months ago. RAM, I'd recommend 512MB, which seems to cost around $60-80. In fact, if you want a silent/quiet PC, it will be easier with a slightly older CPU, as it will require less wattage, which makes it easier to pick up a quiet PSU.
I wanted to run it off a 3.2Ghz P4 ($200) with $100 915 chipset mobo. The relative performance of that (according to Tom's Hardware) being twice what I'm running now.
I've got standard (80 channel analog) cable, so I just use a cable splitter/amp to divide the signal.
After 5 days, still loving it. Although, for some reason, it will not index my mp3s. And for commercial skipping, you can only skip ahead 30-seconds at a time (with 7-second back for over-skipping); there is no "skip commercials" feature like BeyondTV has.
I wanted to run it off a 3.2Ghz P4 ($200) with $100 915 chipset mobo. The relative performance of that (according to Tom's Hardware) being twice what I'm running now.
I've got standard (80 channel analog) cable, so I just use a cable splitter/amp to divide the signal.
After 5 days, still loving it. Although, for some reason, it will not index my mp3s. And for commercial skipping, you can only skip ahead 30-seconds at a time (with 7-second back for over-skipping); there is no "skip commercials" feature like BeyondTV has.
It's not me, it's someone else.