Re: Advice to new Media Center builder

The future of CableCARD is less then certain at least at this time as cable
companies begin to test switched digital systems to conserve bandwidth.
Switched digital systems are not compatible with either CableCARD 1.0 or 2.0
.. TiVo has already expressed concerns to the FCC how the change by MSOs will
impact the yet to be released Series3 TiVo.

So far the FCC did steped in to require CC1.0 as of July 2005 and CC2.0
support by 2009. CC1.0 supports one decryption stream per card, and is
unidirectional (from the Cable Head-end to your TV). So CC1 doesn't allow
for pay per view or VOD because it can't send request to the head-end.
CableCard 2.0 supports up to 5 decryption streams per card, and is
bidirectional (enabling PPV, On Demand, etc). With CC2.0 one card would
allow you to record mulitple shows while CC1 will require a seperate card
for each program you wish to record.

Until CC2.0 support from the majority of MSOs and the use of switched
digital start to unfold, CableCARD use comes with some limitations and risk.
If you on the other hand have a provider who supports CC2.0 and will commit
to not upgrading to switched delivery, then investing in a new computer or
TiVo Series3 STB for CableCARD support has great appeal.




"xiowan" <xiowan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:CCA59FF3-B452-4FF7-8BF6-9CF418372169@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hi Bobby:
One thing to keep in mind......with that nice widescreen LCD, at some
point you're going to want to watch media in High Definition. If you wait
until Windows Vista comes out you may be a lot happier because it will
have
cablecard support so that you can view high-definition programming thru
your
computer. It may be very difficult to build one right now that is
adaptable
to use of a cable card tv tuner. They are going to be real strict on what
systems can use a cable card tuner to input high definition programming to
protect their content from copying. As I understand it, it won't just be a
matter of replacing a tv tuner card with an updated cable card tuner but
more
a case of it tieing together with all the other soft and hardware so that
their the movie moguls are "protected". Wish I could tell you exactly
what
you need but I'm not sure that info is even available. Just remember,
only
over-the-air high definition content will play on current MCE 2005
pcs......and that won't keep you (or me) satisfied when there is a lot of
satelite and/or cable high definition content in the next couple of years.

xiowan........in tucson

"Bobby" wrote:

Thanks for the advice Rodney.

This is more the sort of spec that I can afford.

Are you happy with it?

Any last minute advice for a MCE virgin?

Bobby

"Rodney James" <rmjames007@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:%23FG0aX1qGHA.5108@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
In My system I did

MCE 2005
Asus P4P800-E Deluxe
Intel 478 3.0
1 GB Cosair PC 3200 Mem
Maxtor 300GB Sata
Maxtor 250GB sata
Seagate 250GB sata
GeForece FX5200 256MB
1 Avermedia 180 ATSC Hd Tuner Card
2 ATI E-Home Wonder Tuner Cards
Zalman AlCu 7700 CPU Fan
Coolermaster Minuet Case with DBmeter
Crystal fontz 632 LCD Display
Dual Layer 4X DVD-RW

This is my forth iteration of this system. The other guy has some
pretty
heavy specs. In my system my MCE computer runs at the Central Meda Hub.
a
Server if you will. besides a media center extender program and a APC
power management program I dont have alot of programs running. this is
the
beauty of running an MCE box as an MCE only and not using the XP
functions. In my opinion the graphic requirements are not that huge.
And
the memory requirements are not either. The main thing I wanted was
storage space for my TV progams that I wanted to record and my music. I
use the sound card that was iternal wiht the board this was a plus
since
it support optical and SPDIF connections.

any way just my two cents. If you are using MCE and MCE only then you
dont
need to sell the farm on hardware.


"cbalmoria" <cbalmoria@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:FDC16AC8-3E6D-44FC-A073-77A123EFD677@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
i can tell you what my system is that i just built. i got all the
pieces
from
new egg and it is vista ready
MCE 2005
intell MB D945Gpm intel VIIV
intel pentium D 930
2 ea 1 gig pc2 5300 patriot memory
300gig seagate sata HD
evga GF 7600 GT video card SLI
500 walt Thermaltake PSU
sliverstone sg01 evolution case
nvidia duel tuner card all for about $1200.00
i run a digital stb [verizon FIOS] through it and love it. it is small
and
quiet with plenty of room to upgrade.
you could up the CPU and the HD, bigger is usally better but more
expensive,
just depends on how much you want to spend.
for me the biggest part of the system was finding parts that MCE 2005
works with.
this is my 3rd MCE computer that i have set up and i built this system
to
last 3 to 5 years with potential upgrades.
as for your sound system, you can put a sound card but i opted for
onboard
MB sound through my PC Klipsch 2.1 speakers
hope this helps
--
cbalmoria


"Bobby" wrote:

I am thinking about building my own MediaCenter PC, having just
bought a
new
37" LCD TV from Dell with zillions of inputs and outputs. I would
like
to
use the MCPC to replace all of my video, CD and DVD boxes. I intend
to
install Windows Media Center 2005 on it.

I want to use the MCPC to watch TV (the TV has a digital tuner and I
will
put another tuner in the PC), play and record DVD, listen to music
(some
streamed from my desktop PC), view photos etc.

Can anyone advise me what components I need to buy? For example, what
CPU
should I purchase? How much RAM is recommended? What size of HD is
best?
Should I buy a case with a few free slots or lots of free slots?

Also, I have a good amp and speaker set-up on my current TV. Can I
use
my
current (surround) speakers or do I need to buy "PC" speakers? And is
there
any way to use my Sony amplifier with my Media Center PC?

Any advice appreciated!

Cheers.

Bobby










.

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