Hi everyone,
I am new to the whole media centre concept and was originally just looking at getting a dvd recorder with a hard drive to record tv shows and not need media on hand but be able to back it up to media in the future. Since doing some research I have decided to build a
budget (being the specific word here!) media centre giving me much more power than the dvd recorder with HDD. I have had experience with building systems in the past but am not familiar with Windows MCE at all, in fact I have never even seen it in operation. With the help of this forum and a bit of research I have decided what I want the system for, and would love some advice on budget parts to build this system.
Firstly, my
needs. I want to be able to record foxtel digital to the hard drive to be able to edit and backup to dvd down the track, and occasionally be able to pause/rewind foxtel. On top of this I would like to be able to watch dvd media, divx/xvid, and play various audio formats. These are the essentials. On top of these as long as I do not have to spend much/any more on top of the budget hardware I would be interested in loading some gaming roms and emulators. My research has so far included the following articles:
Bella's beginners guide to a budget setup (excellent resource, I would just like some advice on some
current budget hardware):
Build Your Own Media Center
TiggerK's guide to using MCE and Foxtel:
MCE - Foxtel / PAY TV Guide
A general media centre article which gave me the idea about the gaming roms:
http://www.makezine.com/extras/4.html
Secondly, the
completed setup. This media centre will initially be connected to a 51cm CRT television with Foxtel Digital connected via component cabling, and additional audio enhancement provided via rca cabling to my stereo via the aux input. (I also have a dvd player connected via component cabling but will not need this anymore, but I do have a PS2 connected via component cabling, does this have to be run directly through the tv or can it be some how routed through the media centre?). Internet access will be provided via network cabling to the main room computer with broadband access (I am presuming that media centre is network compatible with XP and is able to share the broadband connection as my other computers do?)
So any advice about anything, be it software, budget hardware, brands etc. would be much appreciated.
Hope to hear from you soon,
glenb83
P.S. how much is an OEM version of Windows MCE retailling at approximately?
