Question about Media Center PCs

It is just Win XP with some extra features. It's the extra features that make it a Media Center. Just think of it as a VCR that has access to all your photos, videos and music.

BTW I think that PC is a good buy for the price.
 
It says you can hook it up to your tv and pause/record tv? Im But I mean is this all built in and all I have to do is plug it in/set it up? Or am I going to have to like pay monthly for that or what?
 
You might want to look around the HTPC section for info: http://www.hardforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=103

It looks pretty decent, just drop in a good basic video card like a 6200 or a 6600 and it should be ready for use. The tuner looks like ATI's older design E-Home Wonder, I would consider changing that to maybe a Hauppauge PVR150 or one of the cards that is based on ATI's 550 Pro chip which is the improved (updated) new version of the E-Home cards.
Deathjester said:
It says you can hook it up to your tv and pause/record tv? Im But I mean is this all built in and all I have to do is plug it in/set it up? Or am I going to have to like pay monthly for that or what?
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No monthly fees (which is why many build an HTPC or a MediaPC in the first place) and it's mostly plug and play.
 
Unless your have a TV connection going through your copmuter, they Media Center isnt all that great. All it is, is a program anywyas
 
Look at the HTPC section on the AVS Forum. It is pretty extensive.

Aack! That wiring job on this HTPC just kills me. You can use an HTPC as a regular desktop PC. Looks like it has some type of TV tuner card. You can watch and record TV (SD only) on this PC by connecting to the TV tuner card. You can watch DVDs on the PC, but you are limited to VGA connections to your LCD. Understand that if you want to put this in your living room and connect to your TV or receiver, you have some limitations here.

This box that you are looking at uses integrated graphics. BAD. Even if you may not be gaming on this PC, the moderate video demands of an HTPC will require some sort of actual video card. Looks like there is a PCI slot to upgrade this.
 
claudius said:
Unless your have a TV connection going through your copmuter, they Media Center isnt all that great. All it is, is a program anywyas
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MCE is still pretty useful even without a tuner card - it's basically XP Pro (without the ability to join a domain) for cheap. I've seen a few oem's offer it as a free option in place of XP Home, which makes it a very good deal.

 
yeah the media centers usually have some sort of multi format memory stick reader, tv tuner and capture device, and also works as a DVR but you have to run the coax cable to teh tuner card
 
Those gateway media centers seem to be pretty nice computers. Personally I like how tiger recomends you add ddr to it(system takes ddr2)
 
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