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media pc

post #1 of 8
1/28/05 at 8:14pm
Thread Starter 
Has anybody put together a media pc? I've got a spare desktop, and I plan to hook it up to my Plasma TV (with RGB inputs). I also have an ATI USB 2.0 TV Wonder, and the desktop has a DVD burner and Audigy 2. So, most of the basic ingredients are there except for:

- a good wireless keyboard, ideally with something like IBM's integrated TrackPoint and media control buttons.

- good PVR software

- painless DVD burning software (from the PVR'd images)

Any suggestions?
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post #2 of 8
1/28/05 at 8:43pm
I got the Logitec Wireless MX Duo to go with my new 8400 and its a great set up.
Maybe you should pick up an AIW card. I think they come with everything else you are looking for except the burning software.
I've burned a couple of DVD's with the Sonic software that came with the 8400 and it seems OK.
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post #3 of 8
1/28/05 at 9:10pm
Thread Starter 
Yeah, I've got the MX Duo, and I love it for on top of a desk, but I'd like to find a keyboard with an integrated pointing device. A mouse doesn't work too well when you're kicking back in a recliner. IBM makes keyboards with an integrated trackstick, but no wireless model AFAIK.

My TV Wonder came with some PVR-like software, but I'm not crazy about the interface, and the online program server they use doesn't include info for Dish Network, my satellite provider.

I guess I'll google around a bit and see what I can come up with.
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post #4 of 8
1/28/05 at 10:02pm
Tvoon (german) free software for Tivo capability. (google)

Otherwise, use XP Media Center Edition 2005. It's pretty painless.

You can use MSI's tv software if you have an msi tv tuner card and MSI AIW video card. The AIW cards come with a remote control.
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post #5 of 8
1/29/05 at 3:37am
Thread Starter 
I checked out Tvoon. Looks cool, but even the english version still has lots of german and poorly-translated english. And it didn't support the ATI TV Wonder.

I may try MCE2005 next. I don't know why MSFT only sells it as an OEM version and doesn't offer an XP upgrade. It must be due to limited hardware support, I guess.
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post #6 of 8
1/29/05 at 11:03am
Quote:
Originally Posted by dellbert
I may try MCE2005 next. I don't know why MSFT only sells it as an OEM version and doesn't offer an XP upgrade. It must be due to limited hardware support, I guess.
I've been using it for about a week now and it is definitely worth it. It was also incredibly easy to set up. Are you sure it is compatible with a satellite set-up?

I don't think I've ever seen a non-lappy keyboard with a track stick but I must confess I've never looked.

Good call on the 8400 Dellbert. Pretty sweet machine so far.
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post #7 of 8
1/29/05 at 12:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by dellbert
I checked out Tvoon. Looks cool, but even the english version still has lots of german and poorly-translated english. And it didn't support the ATI TV Wonder.

I may try MCE2005 next. I don't know why MSFT only sells it as an OEM version and doesn't offer an XP upgrade. It must be due to limited hardware support, I guess.
The tv tuner, especially, has very limited support. I have MSI's tv tuner in my entertainment box, have to use MSI's TV software to view/record shows, as MCE2005 doesn't recognize that a tv tuner even exists.
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post #8 of 8
1/29/05 at 9:30pm
I also think MCE2005 will be the best software to use for this purpose. I think the OEM version is actually less expensive than XP Pro, even though MCE is built on the Pro. But the problem is it has a very short list of supported TV cards. Here's a list Microsoft provides: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/m...erlisting.mspx
I don't see any ATI USB tuners there, so chances are it's not supported. But the list may be incomplete and you may be lucky. The easy way to check is to find out whether ATI provides Media Center drivers for the card. To use a card with MCE, you can't use the stock drivers. You must use the MCE drivers.
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