Multimedia PC

[BrettCB]

Howdy everyone,

I'm looking into building a Multimedia PC. I'm really going back and forth on parts that I want to put into the machine. I've got a lot of spare parts laying around and I'm debating on whether going ahead and using those or upgrading all the components. Also, I was thinking about going with a SFF case to save room and increase portability since I'm a college student who goes home on the weekend quite often due to my job. This is the set-up I'm looking at. Keep in mind I do a little gaming, but very light.

Aopen XC Cube EA65-II
Intel P4 2.6GHZ Processor (Spare Part)
Mushkin Dual Pack 184-Pin 1GB(512MBx2) DDR PC-3200
Hauppauge PCI Video Recorder, TV/FM Tuner Card
NEC DVD-RW Drive (Spare Part)
SAMSUNG 160GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive

Or, I was possibly thinking of going with the same set-up and opting for a Videocard such as the ATI AIW Radeon 9600XT card.

Let me know what you guys think.

 

[DaveSimmons]

The PVR-150 is just as good and is cheaper, or the 150mce if you'll be installing XP Media Center Edition or BeyondTV / SageTV and don't need the Hauppage remote.

Full hardware MPEG2 encoding is more reliable than the software-based "hardware assisted" encoding of an ATI AIW.

 

[BrettCB]

Do you know what makes the PVR-250 more expensive then? I was just curious if you lose any image quality and such from downgrading to the 150?

 

[wisdomtooth]

to BrettCB:

The AOpen cube you linked to by the way already comes with a TV tuner card and remote control: here

Couldn't track down what that TV tuner card's capabilities are though.

If you want to add your own, maybe you should look at some other models that does not include that TV tuner card... Might be cheaper than that $346 the EA65-II costs.

If it was me, I'd buy my own case and mobo, and I end up with a nice, light, compact home theater component-style aluminum case (12 inches deep, just like a cube) and a better motherboard, for less than $250.

HTH.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: BrettCB
Do you know what makes the PVR-250 more expensive then? I was just curious if you lose any image quality and such from downgrading to the 150?

Ity's an older model that cost more to make. The 150 is a newer re-design of the 250 where "they pass the savings on to you!!"

 

[halfadder]

According to the Multimedia PC people, you need the following specs:
http://archive.cs.uu.nl/pub/MIDI/DOC/MPC-2

 

[Penth]

Originally posted by: halfadder
According to the Multimedia PC people, you need the following specs:
http://archive.cs.uu.nl/pub/MIDI/DOC/MPC-2

That's one of the greatest posts I've ever read.

 

[mcintoshjr]

What about the 350 haupagge? it has analog out.
I too am ready for a PVR opyion on a desktop, along with cature.
I have owned AIW in the past starting with thr 8MB version and pulled off the AIW at 32MB version because of quality.

 

[MedicBob]

PVR-150 or PVR-500MCE would be my choices. The 500 gets you dual tuners at just a little bit more $$$ then the 250.

 

[bookman]

You can read more about this in any of the guides posted in www.htpcnews.com