Jump to content

a media center machine rocks


88lx5oh

Recommended Posts

i finally got done getting together my media center machine.

would still like to get another/ bigger hard drive in it yet, but ill do that later.

here is what im running.. yes not the fastest by any means, but does well so far.. and this was all had for under $80

intel essex2 mother board

celeron 2.2ghz processor

1.25 gb ram

450 watt power supply

40 gig hd

80 gig hd

ati all in wonder 9600 128mb agp

dvd drive

cd/rw drive

3 80mm fans

PCI slot fan (to cool the video card)

cool master processor fan

black case from microcenter (cant remember the name)

running windows XP media center edition

 

this took me forever to get the proper video decoder to work with media center. alot of trial and error, as well as trying to find all the drivers for certain device of the integrated shit on the mother board.

 

anyways

this has to be the greatest thing ive come across yet.

watch tv on my 50" DLP via computer, use it as a DVR

i have basic cable, but now its like digital with the guide and what not.

setting up recording for whatever shows i like is a breeze, and can do daily or weekly or monthly scheduling. once i get another tv tuner card i can then record one channel and watch another at the same time. i think it supports up to 3 tv tuners.

i have an ati remote (courtesy of Jones) that is wonderful to use with it.

have all my downloaded movies, shows, whatever .. right on hand, no need to burn anything onto disc anymore.

and once i get my file sharing setup on my other PC i can add that PC from the list of drives i want to pull videos from.

 

Music on hand is great as well, although i dont really listen to alot of music in the house, its nice to know my entire MP3 collection is just a button away.

 

i can also view all my pictures on my hard drive, and make slide shows if id like.

 

Media center is a great program that makes it very easy to do just about anything. i was surprised at how well it functioned, usually microsoft stuff is usually a bunch of junk. anyways...

 

ill definately be thinking about building something faster, and newer as a media center machine. but i wanted to try things out first, and for under $80 i think its a great deal.

 

i have Team Fortress 2 waiting to be installed on this machine as well. and im looking at getting one of those xbox 360 wireless controllers for PC.

 

im was not really that big of a PC geek, i liked to download shit and watch movies and occasionally play some games, but now im hooked!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

dude, I told you! Remind me and I'll show you how the Xbox 360 Media Center Extender works... if you mod your old xbox, you can put media center exender on that as well and have it on the other side of the house and access the same stuff as your other TV does... it's really a great way to go!
Link to comment
Share on other sites

do you have a legit copy of media center? I have a legit key and need to reformat but dont have the CD. :-/

negative ...

but it will work with your key.

i just have a work around that i use with it.

if you need a copy let me know

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You haven't even found the best part yet: Netflix on demand movies. Sure, the selection is still pretty limited and it will be a while before they negotiate for new releases, but there is a LOT of good content and any DSL or cable connection can stream DVD quality video instantly. And, you get all you can watch for free with any netflix subscription.

 

O, and MythTV blows Windows XP MCE out of the water. The ability to have commercials completely disappear with no intervention is the only way TV is worth watching anymore, and it's much smarter about scheduling. The only problem is that dual-boot is still needed since the Netflix app only runs on Windows.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have heard that MythTV is picky when it comes to video capture cards? is that still true, or are there more drivers available now?

 

It's getting better all the time but yes, it's not quite as plug and play as XP is when it comes to capture cards. It works very well with a variety of cheap NTSC cards, and a handful of decent ATSC/QAM cards. All you have to do is pay a little attention when you pick out your capture card, and it will be fine.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...