I want a media pc for my plasma TV. Build or Buy?
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M$8 Answers
---You don't mention gaming, so the video programs you mention aren't heavily resource intensive, you should get along ok with a middle of the road PC.
---Xbox 360 may be a good road, but you lose web browser, and hence hulu...
---The addition of the "Media Center" tag to any PC computer will add hundreds to a PC's cost. I'd buy a regular run of the mill PC and add in the Tuner card myself. Just make sure whatever machine you buy has Vista Home Premium (for the Media Center program) and then add the card yourself. For $200 you could put 2 cards in it to have one to watch and one to record.
---You could go even lower end on the hardware if you do hardware based TV tuners. I have 2 happauge tuners in a PIII 800Mhz box running MythTV (a linux distro) in full HD with no problems.
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M$
I'm leery of the Apple TV solution because, like everything else they've done lately, it's a vertically integrated solution. You have to buy into the whole thing or not at all, and you can't really tinker with it.
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M$
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
I just setup netflix with mine last night, and it took about 5 mins and most of that was running upstairs to my PC to get a code.
You can set up media center on your PC to work with it to watch all the movies you download as well. Hulu might be the only sticking point with it. Not sure if that is possible or not.
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M$
In the end it should end up costing less.
And this way it will be easier to upgrade.
I always tend to trust computer a little more when I build them.
Have you looked into Apple TV?
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
