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Media Center Suggestions

  • 28-11-2005 11:49am
    #1
    fletch
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,423 ✭✭✭


    Anybody know anywhere online that sells Media Centers...I've finally brought my parents around to my way of thinking & I want to replace everything in the sitting room with a Media Center....
    Here's what I need
    • Flat Widescreen (picture-in-picture would be nice, above 21")
    • Good quality sound (5.1 not an option because we don't want to be running wires all over the place)
    • Network Card of course (preferably 802.11G)
    • Big hard drive >120GIG for recording n stuff
    • Budget between €1k - €1,500 (altho closer to €1k if possible)
    I've had a look at the Dells but I can't seem to be able to specify a nice machine with their 26" LCD TV.....


Comments

  • #2
    BigEejit
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,739 ✭✭✭BigEejit


    fletch wrote:
    Anybody know anywhere online that sells Media Centers...I've finally brought my parents around to my way of thinking & I want to replace everything in the sitting room with a Media Center....
    Here's what I need
    • Flat Widescreen (picture-in-picture would be nice, above 21")
    • Good quality sound (5.1 not an option because we don't want to be running wires all over the place)
    • Network Card of course (preferably 802.11G)
    • Big hard drive >120GIG for recording n stuff
    • Budget between €1k - €1,500 (altho closer to €1k if possible)
    I've had a look at the Dells but I can't seem to be able to specify a nice machine with their 26" LCD TV.....
    Is that 1.5k for the lot, or just for the puter and not the display. You wont have a lot of that 1.5k left if you get a >21" lcd.....


  • #3
    fletch
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,423 ✭✭✭fletch


    BigEejit wrote:
    Is that 1.5k for the lot, or just for the puter and not the display. You wont have a lot of that 1.5k left if you get a >21" lcd.....
    Yeh I know....I was thinking of the Dell 26" LCD for €550....that would leave me €950 for the box....


  • #4
    darraghrogan
    Closed Accounts Posts: 309 ✭✭darraghrogan


    try get a display that supports dvi - better quality I believe than VGA

    Darragh


  • #5
    FrankGrimes
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,032 ✭✭✭FrankGrimes


    Considering you want the media center PC to be in the living room you will want it to be both decent looking and very quiet/silent. Both of these cost money and you'll be tight on a grand.

    The Silverstone LC17 case is recommended in a good few places. Go for passive heatsinks to replace fans if you can.

    Go with either a Hauppage PVR 500 MCE (note you'll need to buy an AV cable set for about $20 online if you want to connect two set-top boxes which is required for anything but basic cable where you want to watch one channel while you record another) or get two PVR 150s.

    I have 400gb and already I don't think its enough, though I hear that dropping recording quality down one setting takes up much less space and the drop in quality is small.

    You can get 5.1 speakers which have a wireless connection between the front and rear speakers.

    check the MCE compatibility list for every component before you buy.

    Media Center is fantastic but can be a pain to setup so make sure you do your research to limit possible problems caused by hardware issues.

    If you go with an Xbox 360 as an extender you could get an ugly/noisy MCE machine for about 800 I'd say, and watch TV on it and also use it to serve up media to the living room. Though I'd say a wired network is best as personally I doubt you'll get top pic on a wireless connection.


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