Should I buy a DVD HDD Recorder or a PC with Windows Media Centre

jmc160

Yeah, it's a brilliant picture.

The TV's no good as a monitor so it's no good using that display for any other computing functions, hence my having a proper monitor attached as well (which hardly gets used for that computer, but there's a second machine on there as well through a KVM switch).

MCE works differently to anything else that;s displayed - there's an option in the setup where you choose your display type, be it CRT, LCD, projector, etc. and I think it then optimizes the (media centre) resolution for that display type, so we get a lovely picture and everything works really well.

MiserlyMartin

Thats very interesting. As you say, you can't beat a PC for flexibility and compatiblity with playing every type of file you throw at it on your lounge TV.

How do you navigate around when you want to watch PC TV ie you tube? Do you have to use the monitor or can you get by using the CRT just for that? I think it will be a long time before they make flatscreens that are on par with CRT's so it will be a while before I get one. Your set up sounds a good solution.

jmc160

To be honest, for anything that requires a browser or any software other than MC, I use the monitor.

But I might just try out youtube on the TV!

When I built the media centre pc, it was with the view to use it purely as a dedicated media centre. There's another computer on the KVM switch that's used for other stuff, so if nothing's being watched, it does get used for a quick surf or something, but generally the telly's on.

When I decided to do this, I had the choice of upgrading my existing PC or building a whole new one. The latter did cost much more than the first option would have, but I'm glad I did it. It allowed me to build a machine that's optimized to run Vista, which is incredibly graphics and memory intensive.
The other reason I went for the new build option is because when you use Media Centre on a second screen, it locks the mouse onto that screen, preventing you from using the computer functions at the same time. It's fair enough, I mean why would you want to use the computer while watching telly?

If you're using the computer and not the media centre, it will still do its job on the background, like recording any scheduled TV shows.