Re: Building a Media Center all in one box
- From: "Steve Larson" <r@xxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 25 Aug 2005 21:58:54 -0400
I have a 250GB Tivo Series 2 and an MCE2005 box running with a p4-2.66 Intel
cpu with 768MB, an FX5900 graphics adapter with DVI/VGA/TV-OUT, and a bunch
of disk space. I bought the lifetime service with Tivo, so I don't pay
fees. The MCE box operates MUCH faster when scrolling through the program
guide grid and just general navigation. MCE2005 is very user friendly, I
was VERY surprised with that. The Tivo box is very easy to use, but then
again, so is the MCE box. The Tivo box will never be upgradeable to run any
faster, nor will it ever handle HD signals. The MCE box can be upgraded,
and possibly may handle cable/satellite HD someday, but it can currently
handle OTA HD. The Tivo box is quiet and pretty cool-running, my MCE box is
loud and would be hot if I tried to quiet it down. The MCE box will be much
more expensive than the Tivo if you go nuts with the fancy case, quiet fans,
and quiet power supply. Which brings up another point...the reason the Tivo
is slow. The Tivo power supply is small and weak, hence it is quiet and
runs cool, yet it can't support a whole lot of horsepower, which explains
the slowness. I bought the Tivo w/ lifetime subscription for around $440
after rebate. I might have to spend double that to build a full MCE box
from scratch. You really need at least a p4/2.6, a 2.8 or 3.0 is even
better. Any more than that is overkill, and might just run hotter.
I keep my Tivo with the TV and home theater, while my MCE box is in my
office, where I spend a lot of time. I record programs on each, they're
each useful devices. I bought the Tivo box before I assembled the MCE box,
and I fell in love with the concept of recording digitally and not having to
dink around with tapes. The only reason I have an MCE box is because I
already had most of the parts running in a spare box, and I wanted to give
MCE a try. If simple recording and viewing is all you really need, go with
Tivo. If you want a box to do a lot more, such as video transfers and such,
and you don't mind the extra expense, then go with MCE.
"PäraÐ/§ë £o§t" <NOSPAMparadiselost_@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1124985281.5580cac61a978d6113119c7d34e032f2@xxxxxxxxxxx
> I've been lurking for a bit now and found a few threads regarding
> building your own media center but most seem to deal with counties
> other then the US. So I figured I'd spew my idea/plan here and see if
> anyone can help me out. Thanks in advance to anyone who does reply.
>
> You can jump to the SNIP if you want to avoid some of my spew.
>
> I own an incrediable amount of pre recorded vhs. A few months ago I
> decided that rather then keep everything I had taking up tons of house
> space I'd try encoding it and keeping it on a computer. I'm still in
> the middle of that project because I have to capture then re encode
> into Divx which I found to be a very nice format for both size and
> quality. (I am keeping the vhs, but now boxed up and stuffed in the
> garage as I encode)
>
> In the midst of this I started thinking well why not also install a
> dvd player and see if I can find a case that is built horizontally
> (like an old desktop) plus some of the newer cases come in a variety
> of sizes and shapes.
>
> Then I received a newsletter from winxpnews discussing their new media
> center PC. I'd heard of XP media center but I had always figured it
> was just a version of XP that featured better media cataloging or
> something. This email discribed it and I was amazed to learn it's
> potential. I also own a Tivo and that's probably the only reason I
> watch TV prior to tivo I never bothered.
>
> SO I started looking around for information. Unfortunately Microsoft's
> site is lacking badly, they are very, um pushy, about purchasing a pre
> built. The only pre built PCs (laugh) I've ever owned were an atari
> 400 and 800 and I still tinkered with them swapping ram cards to up
> the ram in the 800.
>
> Basically my original plan has turned into a monster that information
> on the proper equipment has been hard to come by. I want to build a
> box with Media Center that has the room for my vhs (check, have 4
> 250gb drives in the box I'm using now) can replace my dvd player,
> tivo, and theatre.
>
> The theater replacement is the latest addition, I figured why have a
> seperate console when PCs have featured 5.1 and 7.1 for a while now.
>
> SNIP-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> So onto my ever growing list of questions.
>
> First can anyone that has used both tivo and media center comment on a
> comparison? Tivo is fairly idiot proof and features a very nice search
> ability. The search is what I am mostly concerned with. I've come to
> understand that media center has the same type of service as tivo but
> it's currently free (I assume that will change once media center
> becomes more used). But is it's programing downloads as extensive as
> tivo? Tivo's search by keyword or title generally reach at least 1
> sometimes as far as 3 or 4 weeks. Is media centers as good or better?
> any discussion on this would be appreciated.
>
> Does anyone currently use a PC (or media center pc) as their DVD
> player? Is it comparable? I never bothered getting a dvd player for my
> PC because I never saw the point until more software was available or
> I got a dvd burner. I think it'd be kind nice because not only can I
> watch the normal movie but I could access the dvd rom content.
>
> Dual tuners. I'm not so concerned with recording two at one but being
> able to watch live tv while recording would be nice. I saw and saved
> the list of xpmc approved cards posted here but I haven't checked them
> out yet. Are any dual tuner or will I simply need 2 cards to utilize
> this?
>
> I think the box i'm currently running is an AMD 1.5 ghz with 512 ram.
> For the playback of my collection it's been fine but i'm concerned
> with it's power for encoding on the fly and in particular dual
> recording. Should I bump up the proc and ram to say 2.5 or 3ghz and
> say 1gb ram?
>
> My theater replacement. On my use pc I have 2 speakers + subwoofer.
> I'm currently using the on board sound because I simply didn't see a
> reason to continue using my sblive gold anymore. I play games and
> music with my pc and most of it sounds great, though I have a few
> operas that are done with enhanced audio for surround sound.
>
> Since I'm unfamilar with 5.1 or 7.1 sound I'm gonna sound like a newb
> here but bear with me if possible. Will a 5.1 system be a worthy
> replacement for my current theater (which is a faily cheap one). Will
> dvds utilize it? My encodes are from vhs so I encode using just stereo
> sound I tried a few different formats when I was encoding but frankly
> noticed no difference other then size. Frankly I never noticed a
> difference when playing them on my vcr through the theater. DVD yes,
> vhs no, course my vcr while one of the best years ago is only Hi-Fi
> stereo.
>
> Based on what little I know my sb live gold is fine as the sound card
> then I buy the 5.1 speaker set up and plug it in and I assume the
> speaker outputs are via the sub? Or for true surround sound do I need
> a specific sound card (all I've ever seen have the single headphone
> plug output (2.5mm ?) or a digital ouput which I assume a decent 5.1
> will accomodate. If i'm way off here any suggestions would be
> appreciated.
>
> Lastly, (that I can remember on a half cup of coffee) I've found a
> media center remote. I cannot find any info on the MS site (shoot me
> if you type in one query and do) though it appears to be a Microsoft
> product. All i've seen have a little roundish dealy that receives the
> signal. Does microsoft make one with a receiver that is say made to
> fit in a 5 1/2 inch bay? I figure I can adapt the standard one to do
> that if I need to but i figured that an offical product that fits into
> the bay would be available. The box I'm looking at has 2 bays, so I
> figure 1 for the dvd and 1 for the infared receiver. Minor rant I
> cannot believe the price jump on essentially desktop cases. Just a
> short time ago I remember you couldn't give away a desktop case, now
> that they are used for "media centers" they are insane in price.
>
> I'm sure someone might jump in with why not just purchase a pre made.
> 3 reasons. First I'm fairly poor. I can do this a step at a time as I
> have cash. Second, It will do what I want, storage of my collection,
> dvd player, theater, and tivo, instead of trying to find one that
> suits my purpose, not to mention the only one I saw that comes with a
> TB of drive space was $2700. And lastly because I've basically always
> built my own PCs and call it pride or ego or whatever, I enjoy doing
> it.
>
> Thanks for any help people can give me and I'm sure as I progress (and
> wake up) I'll find more questions to ask.
.
- References:
- Building a Media Center all in one box
- From: PäraÐ/§ë £o§t
- Building a Media Center all in one box
- Prev by Date: Re: Dual-Core Processors and MMORPGS
- Next by Date: Re: Would this MCE 2005 scenario work?
- Previous by thread: Re: Building a Media Center all in one box
- Next by thread: Re: Building a Media Center all in one box
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
