Mediacentre

Post by **Doombrain** » Thu Nov 24, 2005 8:56 am

I've got my copy of mediacentre coming soon and i need to know which DVB TV card to get from this list.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/TV_Cards.html

Will any Hauppauge card work??

Post by **Doombrain** » Thu Nov 24, 2005 11:47 am

I'm getting a right e-Hardon about this now.

Post by **Doombrain** » Thu Nov 24, 2005 12:00 pm

Also i'd just like to be clear on this. All i need is a good TV card and a good sized HD, right? I'm not missing anyother hardware am i?

Post by **Tormentius** » Thu Nov 24, 2005 4:57 pm

The Hauppage cards are excellent from everything I've heard. Combine one with a decent-sized HDD (as you mentioned) and a decent software suite and you're good to go.

Post by **AmIdYfReAk** » Thu Nov 24, 2005 11:34 pm

take the winPVR 150 or 250..

persioanlly, i have MCE 2005 with a ATI theater 550 pro, and i am kicking my self in the ass for not getting the PVR's.. :/

anywa, keep an eye out of the MCE eddition's of the PVR's, they dont come with a remote or anything so you save some cash..

Post by **MidnightQ4** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 11:44 pm

if you want to get Digital TV content either over the air or from your cable you will need to get a card with that feature (as opposed to analog). Also you should consider getting a card that supports High Definition. I would recommend doing so, and in most cities with a decent antenna you can get free High Def digital TV this way for most local stations.

To get HD on your cable without a cable box you need a card that supports QAM protocol. Not all of them do, one that I know does is the Fuzion line of cards. If you are not hooking this up as a real media center pc then you may not care about HD. But if you are hooking it up to a HDTV then it really makes sense to get a card that supports HD decoding, and perhaps more importantly, decoding the QAM signal from your cable if that's what you intend to do.

Post by **Doombrain** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 9:10 am

Cheers guys. I need this, any ideas?

The Media Center products from Hauppauge (for example, the WinTV-PVR-150 or the WinTV-PVR-150 MCE-Kit) do not include an MPEG video decoder. If you have a Media Center PC, it comes with a Microsoft certified Media Center MPEG decoder pre-installed.
If you are building a new Media Center PC, please check with Microsoft for a list of certified MPEG decoders. YOU WILL NEED A MICROSOFT CERTIFIED MEDIA CENTER MPEG DECODER TO WATCH TV!

Post by **Doombrain** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 12:18 pm

well i've got the powerdvd codec and can play dvd's in windows however when i play in MC i just get a black screen.

just updating the drivers now

Post by **Doombrain** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 12:49 pm

This is getting better. The GUI used to work before i installed the MC drivers from here

https://support.ati.com/ics/support/def ... lderID=294

My card should work, as listed here

http://www.ati.com/buy/promotions/mcesolutions/

When MC loads I get "your card is not compatible with media centre" which it is because it was working with the drivers windows installed.

Post by **AmIdYfReAk** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 1:07 pm

what videocard are you using?

Post by **Doombrain** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 1:08 pm

FUCKING MINT I'VE GOT IT WORKING

Post by **Doombrain** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 1:09 pm

It's a shitty 9600pro i paid £20 for

winPVR 150 coming tomorrow, shame i can't get DVB off it though, will i need a set top box??

Post by **AmIdYfReAk** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 1:36 pm

you will eather need to have a set-top box ( i.e. a Sat reciver ) OR get a DVB-S Card and run a diffrent program to use it, it will also have PVR functions, and alot of them support the MCE remote.

Post by **Doombrain** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 3:36 pm

I kind of wanted it all through MC. I'll just get a DVB box and pass it through

Thanks for your help mate

Post by **AmIdYfReAk** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 4:46 pm

i know how it feels man, i am kinda in the same boat, i want to use Cable + High-def + Sat on my Media center, and considering it says it supports two analog tuners, and two highdef's for 05 i was thinking it was a go...

untill i tryed. :/

anyway, post with your thaughts and etc mang.

Post by **Doombrain** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 4:47 pm

Will do. Still thinking if i should get the remote or a wifi/BT key/b and mouse

Post by **Tormentius** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 4:56 pm

Doombrain wrote:Will do. Still thinking if i should get the remote or a wifi/BT key/b and mouse

Go with the remote. Its more convenient than screwing about with a mouse or keyboard all the time.

Post by **AmIdYfReAk** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 10:05 pm

i use the MCE remote, and a cordless Keyboard to start the other App's paired with a corded keyboard that sits on the tower.

also, you MIGHT want to wait if you are leaning towards the Keyboard, Microwank has released a MCE keyboard. retail is about 130CDN, no clue what that converts to. but yea

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Dec 01, 2005 12:34 am

If your computer is at least a 2ghz, get a Twinhan 102G, much cheaper.

Post by **AmIdYfReAk** » Thu Dec 01, 2005 1:28 am

that is a DVB-S Card, he is talking for media center, Get with it toxic.

Post by **AmIdYfReAk** » Thu Dec 01, 2005 1:48 am

btw, this is the keyboard i speak of.
http://www.tomshardware.com/consumer/20 ... index.html

Post by **Doombrain** » Thu Dec 01, 2005 9:03 am

That looks like the winner

Well I got it all home last night from work and set it up on my 28” Sony wide screen over s-video. I’m happy with the quality of MC and I still have my diamond pro if I need to do some computing even though I can clearly see XP at 800x600 and 1024x786 @32bit.
What I’m not happy about is the aspect ratio of DVDs when they play. With my normal DVD player the Sony will automatically flick to the right aspect (16:9) but MC won’t and I’m not sure if it’s even meant to, I have to use the Sony’s remote to set zoom or smart. My TV card should be at home tonight so I’ll get to test it then.

What are the recommended settings I should be using for display properties?

Also installing the rollout update made my MC crash after 2-3 mins of running, great, in the end I had to remove it.

Oh, sound.

I’ve got a blaster Live! Card so I’m looking here for a good 5.1 system

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/ ... rs_22.html

This had caught my eye Logitech Z-680 THX® Certified 5.1 450 Watts Speakers.

Thoughts? Do I have everything I need for 5.1?

Post by **Doombrain** » Thu Dec 01, 2005 10:00 am

LOL COOLERS

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/ ... ers_1.html

I need a cooler for a xp2400+. the one i have to too loud. With all the terms they use now i'm not sure which one i should get

Post by **Doombrain** » Thu Dec 01, 2005 10:30 am

Cooler sorted, cheers DC

Post by **AmIdYfReAk** » Thu Dec 01, 2005 7:08 pm

heh, sorry for the lack of responce on my bahalf,

as for the speakers, i am running a pair of logitech Z-5300e's for my MCE, and i must say it is Very Nice. the sub moves some air..

i would recoment it, but if you are going to be plaing Xbox or PS2 through this MCE, dont Buy the computer speakers, there is no way that *I* can find to change the input for MCE to show my Ps2/Xbox, and if i run another app, the picture quality is Shit.

btw, does that sony wide screen have Component's? Red green blue?

if it does, check out the VGA

Component cable. you will get WAY beter picture.