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What Is Minimum Spec Required To Run Windows Media Center ?


maneesh
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Dont forget to get components that are officially MCE compatible - otherwise they wont work properly/fully with the MCE GUI (such as the fading effect on the menu system, the waffling background thingy, TV cards are a pain to get to work unles MCE compatible).

I guess this is all in aid of your carputer?

D.

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Dont forget to get components that are officially MCE compatible - otherwise they wont work properly/fully with the MCE GUI (such as the fading effect on the menu system, the waffling background thingy, TV cards are a pain to get to work unles MCE compatible).

I guess this is all in aid of your carputer?

D.

Very useful. thanks!

No, carputer will be XP with gui like frodoplayer. I'm also trying to build a media center pc for home to watch and record tv, inc. freeview, play dvds/mp3s, :shifty:

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To make sure that you don't have any compatibility issues, is it not easier (and sometimes cheaper) to just buy an off the shelf media centre pc?

I've got an HP one, that's got reasonable specs, 2.8GHz dual core processor, 1gb ram, some big hard drive, 256mb graphics, dual layer dvd writer - basically the usual kind of thing.

Having used it for a few months now tho, not sure I'd want anything slower than that :)

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To make sure that you don't have any compatibility issues, is it not easier (and sometimes cheaper) to just buy an off the shelf media centre pc?

Perhaps. I enjoy the challenge of putting one together myself. You do usually save by putting it together yourself, as you only put in parts that you need. With the off the shelf packages, it's usually much more than you need for everyday life. :shifty:

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Perhaps. I enjoy the challenge of putting one together myself. You do usually save by putting it together yourself, as you only put in parts that you need. With the off the shelf packages, it's usually much more than you need for everyday life. :shifty:

No way! You can never have too much power...... :whistling:

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To make sure that you don't have any compatibility issues, is it not easier (and sometimes cheaper) to just buy an off the shelf media centre pc?

I've got an HP one, that's got reasonable specs, 2.8GHz dual core processor, 1gb ram, some big hard drive, 256mb graphics, dual layer dvd writer - basically the usual kind of thing.

Having used it for a few months now tho, not sure I'd want anything slower than that :)

But would it fit in the car? :P I think Maneesh is looking along the lines of Mini-ITX boards, not a tower PC in the boot! Obviously he wants a blue screen of death to go with his blue paintwork and blue strut-brace! :lol:

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For the home stuff, why not pick up a cheap chipped Xbox and run XBox Media Centre, that's just ace for the price you pay and if you fancied it you could install Linux on the desktop, then use something like MythTV for the PVR functionality, it is well impressive and you can also control via HTTP so pop a hole ijn your firewall and you could record stuff from your desk at work onto your machine at home if you ever forget!

Well snazzy stuff!

The only downside is that the standard Xbox struggles when streaming pukka HD content, but you can just get modded versions with twice the power for XBMC usage, all integrates nicely with the MythTV stuff too and you don't need to have the PC anywhere near the telly, just the Xbox and an ethernet cable hidden away somewhere!

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For the home stuff, why not pick up a cheap chipped Xbox and run XBox Media Centre, that's just ace for the price you pay and if you fancied it you could install Linux on the desktop, then use something like MythTV for the PVR functionality, it is well impressive and you can also control via HTTP so pop a hole ijn your firewall and you could record stuff from your desk at work onto your machine at home if you ever forget!

Well snazzy stuff!

The only downside is that the standard Xbox struggles when streaming pukka HD content, but you can just get modded versions with twice the power for XBMC usage, all integrates nicely with the MythTV stuff too and you don't need to have the PC anywhere near the telly, just the Xbox and an ethernet cable hidden away somewhere!

I wouldn't bother with the FriendTech 1.466GHz modified Xboxes, I believe they're a bit problematic. A standard, chipped Xbox running XBMC will do the job nicely as you don't really need HD stuff in a car PC setup. The upside is that it's cheap for the spec of machine you get. The downside is that it's a bit of a lump, even without the 300W inverter needed to run it!

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if you want hdtv on it make sure the video card you buy is hdcp compatible. theres only a handful of them at the mo. there is a radeon that has hdcp and hdmi + good old rgbv on it. i aint to sure about all this hdtv stuff, i reckon it'll it'll get hacked eventually anyway, but just incase it doesnt get a hdcp compliant card.

mac mini's also make great media centres and are tiny and quiet.

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For the home stuff, why not pick up a cheap chipped Xbox and run XBox Media Centre, that's just ace for the price you pay and if you fancied it you could install Linux on the desktop, then use something like MythTV for the PVR functionality, it is well impressive and you can also control via HTTP so pop a hole ijn your firewall and you could record stuff from your desk at work onto your machine at home if you ever forget!

Well snazzy stuff!

that is snazzy. i reckon i will do that then.. cheeers matey!

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