Media Center PC

[nole1fan]

Just want to see what is the best route to go to build Media Center PC. As you can see that Media Center (PVR), DVD and Video Conversion is the primary goal and gaming is 2nd or 3rd.

I can buy refurbished Sony Media Center PC Sony VAIO VGC-RC110G PD (Dual-Core) 830 3GHz, 1GB Memory, 250GB SATA, DVD±R/±RW, Radeon X300 128MB, Giga Pocket TV card, WinXP MC for about $900. This does comes with Remote Control and Media Center which can do the PVR using Media Center.

My other option is to build one using following components.

DVD Drive - $40
Antec Performance One P150 Silver Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 430-Watt ATX12V v2.2 Power Supply - $120
MSI K8NGM2-FID Socket 939 NVIDIA GeForce 6150 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - $80
CORSAIR XMS 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model TWINX1024-3200C2PT - $89
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Manchester 2000MHz HT Socket 939 Dual Core Processor Model ADA3800BVBOX - $297
Hauppauge which I have - $59
Harddrive 200 Gig - $29

Total = $775 give or take.

Problem with building my own system is that I don't have Media Center, but only Valid License of XP, and will be using free GBPVR (PVR) software.

Please help me determine what is the best route to go.

 

[Jules]

Sony comp sounds good.

 

[nole1fan]

It does since it includes liquid cooling, and very nice case. Only things that bothers me is that it is refurbished with only 90 days warranty. Other then that, it is pretty good system.

There is lure of building your own system which I have done it for friends and myself.

 

[DaveSimmons]

If you build your own, you might look at the $85 Antec NSK400 Media PC case (SilentPCReview article).

You could also go with just an A64 3200+, saving another $170.

The article above also has suggestions for quiet fans, HSF, etc.

 

[tkistre]

If your PVR TV card comes with software to do the TV stuff, do you really need Media Center?

 

[nole1fan]

Not really. all the free stuff like GBPVR works, but always have to do the tweaking, and Media Center is very good for watching tv, and recording, and very slick interface.

 

[tkistre]

I recently got the new Nero 7 with the media stuff built in. I noticed it had TV functions. Anyone tried it with their Media Center? I plan on building one soon and trying to get some ideas. I know MS Windows MCE is suppose to be great, but I'm just looking at options.

 

[bearxor]

I think you're overkilling it, especially if the primary purpose is a Media Center PC.

I would go with the Fry's Sempron 2800+/S754 board combo for $79. 1GB of RAM, nothing fancy, for $80, the cheapest graphics card you can find that is DX9 compatible, a used Radeon 9600 Pro would work great $30, 16X DL DVD-RW $40, MCE 2005 $120, Hauppage PVR-500 $130 and the USB IR reciever for $40 and case for $100.

This is a complete HTPC without Hard Drives for $619. Then add how much storage you need.

I'm running a HTPC with lower specs than this and it works awesome. I have no hiccups while trying to watch live tv and record one show on my PVR-500. A 2.1ghz Barton with 768MB of DDR and a Radeon 9600 Pro. Not only does this computer have the ability to work great as a HTPC, at the same time MCE is running I have my X360 as an extender connected, my phone connected and streaming videos through orb, while bittorrent downloads in the background, all without a hiccup.

I think people always exaggerate what they need for a computer to do what they want. For the $775 that you would use to build your own higher-end machine, I could build a machine that would perform the job just as well, yet run MCE 2k5, with the remote control for the interface, and be able to record two things at the same time. The only thing I would sacrifice is video encoding speed, like ripping from DVD's, etc. My Barton rips a DVD in about 30-45 minutes, I don't think I'd mind waiting the 20-30 minutes it would probably take the Sempron.

 

[nole1fan]

You are right. There is always two thoughts that you can always build system which is probably ok to do the most things except few things that it takes longer time.

Another way to look at things is that if you are already spending $619, you can spend little more, and get system which you may think after few months that you wish you had bought it.

It has happened to me few times in other things I have bought.

 

[nole1fan]

Originally posted by: bearxor
I think you're overkilling it, especially if the primary purpose is a Media Center PC.

I would go with the Fry's Sempron 2800+/S754 board combo for $79. 1GB of RAM, nothing fancy, for $80, the cheapest graphics card you can find that is DX9 compatible, a used Radeon 9600 Pro would work great $30, 16X DL DVD-RW $40, MCE 2005 $120, Hauppage PVR-500 $130 and the USB IR reciever for $40 and case for $100.

This is a complete HTPC without Hard Drives for $619. Then add how much storage you need.

I'm running a HTPC with lower specs than this and it works awesome. I have no hiccups while trying to watch live tv and record one show on my PVR-500. A 2.1ghz Barton with 768MB of DDR and a Radeon 9600 Pro. Not only does this computer have the ability to work great as a HTPC, at the same time MCE is running I have my X360 as an extender connected, my phone connected and streaming videos through orb, while bittorrent downloads in the background, all without a hiccup.

I think people always exaggerate what they need for a computer to do what they want. For the $775 that you would use to build your own higher-end machine, I could build a machine that would perform the job just as well, yet run MCE 2k5, with the remote control for the interface, and be able to record two things at the same time. The only thing I would sacrifice is video encoding speed, like ripping from DVD's, etc. My Barton rips a DVD in about 30-45 minutes, I don't think I'd mind waiting the 20-30 minutes it would probably take the Sempron.

 

[nole1fan]

I don't think you can buy retail Microsoft Media Center Edition unless you buy the computer from reseller.

 

[Jules]

go for the sony.

 

[nole1fan]

any specific reason ?

 

[Jules]

Originally posted by: nole1fan
It does since it includes liquid cooling, and very nice case. Only things that bothers me is that it is refurbished with only 90 days warranty. Other then that, it is pretty good system.

There is lure of building your own system which I have done it for friends and myself.

 

[erwos]

The Sony is pretty reasonable.

If it were me, I'd grab one of those el cheapo Pentium Ds for $130 and go off from there. Maybe the Asus P5RD-1 motherboard, 1gb of RAM, and the NSK400 case. plus the other peripherals you've already named. This approach also frees up some cash for a much better video card, such as the 7600GT, which could prove very helpful if you ever get into watching HDTV. It'll also be _about_ a bazillion times better than an X300 or GeForce 6150. You could also cheap out on the video card and get more RAM, which would also yield a bit of difference.

-Erwos