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Media Center Laptop

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  • 19-04-2006 10:58am
    #1
    lemeister
    Registered Users Posts: 263 ✭✭


    I’ve been thinking of getting a mid range laptop to use for surfing, email, poker and for watching DivX movies on my TV. I might also use it to watch DVD’s when on holidays, etc. I don’t plan on using for any heavy processing or storage as I already have a desktop that I can use for these purposes.

    I’ve seen that Dell supply Media Center with some of their laptops and was thinking that this might suit my needs best. They have both Inspiron 630M and 6400’s in the €800 - €900 region and these would be just within my budget. I don’t really want to spend anything over this as it’s only going to be for light use (Divx movies on TV?).

    Is this approach best or should I just get a budget laptop and a separate DivX player? I am also presuming that Windows Media Center 2005 can do everything that XP can and more, which seems to be the case from what I’ve seen? Is the remote control always supplied with Media Center or is it an additional purchase as this would be a nice feature in my circumstances?


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    #2
    legologic
    Registered Users Posts: 382 ✭✭legologic


    Media centre has nothing you can't get for free or with XP as far as I could see when I used it.


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    #3
    SouperComputer
    Registered Users Posts: 6,949 ✭✭✭SouperComputer


    legologic wrote:
    Media centre has nothing you can't get for free or with XP as far as I could see when I used it.

    Disagree strongly there, Media Portal is one such software but itsstill in embryonic stages. As a result it is sluggish and buggy. You also have a bit more work to do than MCE to get a working program guide. GB-PVR is another, but is geared more towards a PVR rather than entire HTPC setup.

    @lemeister

    The remote depends on the deal. MCE is meant to be shipped with a TV card and remote, but some companies ship without as a teaser.

    One annoying thing about MCE is that you cannot FF or REW DivX files through the interface.

    Do you want this to be a PVR or just a computer that plays media files.


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    #4
    wingnut
    Registered Users Posts: 1,939 ✭✭✭wingnut


    I got a remote with my MCE DEll laptop, but no tuner card. AFAIK there is only one TV card out at the moment that supports the latest DEll laptops (the new expresscard slots arn't compatible with the old PCMCIA


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    #5
    lemeister
    Registered Users Posts: 263 ✭✭lemeister


    SouperComputer wrote:
    @lemeister

    Do you want this to be a PVR or just a computer that plays media files.
    Well originally I was only going to get a laptop for playing media files and that's all I'll prob use it for initially, but the option of using it as a PVR later also appeals to me.
    Wingnut wrote:
    I got a remote with my MCE DEll laptop, but no tuner card.
    Which Dell model did you get Wingnut?


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