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[Golfbuddy]

Hi technical wizard type guys.

We've just got a new Panasonic 42" Plasma TV with built in Freesat and Freeview tuners. I also bought a new Panasonic 400GB HDD recorder with built in DVD player. All great so far, except I'm £1300 worse off but such is life.

The quality of the TV is just wonderful, especially on BBC HD and on upscaled DVD's from the DVD player, but I'm a bit disappointed that we've only got one tuner on the HDD recorder and, whilst we can record from the TV tuner to the HDD, we can still only record one programme at a time and can't pause the TV if we are recording another channel.

This got me thinking about buying a second PVR but I was recommended to install a MCE system or HCPC, same thing I assume.

So, to cut a long story not particularly short, I was looking for some advice on what sort of specification I should be looking for on such a box of tricks.

Ideally I would want the following functionality:

Ability to record two channels at one time.
Ability to watch Blu Ray discs.
Ability to surf the Internet wirelessly over my existing wireless network.
Ability to play PC games. (I don't have any at the moment but my daughter is quite keen on such things, so needs to be capable of satisfying a teenager in waiting)
Upscaling output to 1080p to get the best quality from the TV. (I think that's right)
Want to stream music and video from other devices or store on internal HDD, I'm not sure which is best.
Surround sound, not fussed over 5.1 but want to output to a decent amplifier, which will have to wait, or through the TV in the meantime.

I can't think of anything else I would like this thing to do unless there is something really cool that I've missed.

I plan to build this myself and have a very capable assistant so I'm not too concerned about this. Also, I am happy to spend decent money on such a system although I don't want to throw money down the drain on stuff I won't need or is overspecified.

[TheBoy]

Hmmmm, my recommendation would always be to use the MCE purely as an MCE, not as a general purpose PC, for maximum stability.


That aside, spec of mine is:
P4 3.2Ghz
915 chipset
2Gm DDR ram
1Tb HDD
nVidia 8500GT video card with DVI and HDMI out
DVD Writer
2 x Hauppauge Nova 500DT dual tuner (4 tuners)
1 x Hauppauge Nova-T tuner
Vista Home Premium

That copes well with its 5 freeview tuners.  I have 1 xbox360 I use as an Extender (MCE in another room).

Mrs TheBoy's brother is playing with FreeSat on his system (nearly identical to mine) with a lot of success, but to get HD to work involves using some 'odd' dlls, which is far from ideal.

[TheBoy]

I would add, imho, although mine is rock solid, and does what its supposed to, I would only recommend to people who were fairly good with computers.  Not sure what your technical abilities are.

[CaptainZok]

Ability to record two channels at one time.
Dual tuner card

Ability to watch Blu Ray discs.
Blu Ray drive/burner if the managerial bonus is healthy this year.

Ability to surf the Internet wirelessly over my existing wireless network.
Wireless card but you will get better performance if you use a wired connection.

Ability to play PC games. (I don't have any at the moment but my daughter is quite keen on such things, so needs to be capable of satisfying a teenager in waiting)
It's a Vista pc so any vista compatible games are fine. You might want to add a joystick/pad or if you an xbox 360 the wired controllers work as is wireless need an adapter.

Upscaling output to 1080p to get the best quality from the TV. (I think that's right)
Think you'll be easiest with a graphics card with built in hdmi.

Want to stream music and video from other devices or store on internal HDD, I'm not sure which is best.
Media centre does either no problem.

Surround sound, not fussed over 5.1 but want to output to a decent amplifier, which will have to wait, or through the TV in the meantime.
Depending on what quality you want most motherboards with onboard audio have at least 5.1 nowadays.

[TheBoy]

Ability to record two channels at one time.
Dual tuner card

Ability to watch Blu Ray discs.
Blu Ray drive/burner if the managerial bonus is healthy this year.

Ability to surf the Internet wirelessly over my existing wireless network.
Wireless card but you will get better performance if you use a wired connection.

Ability to play PC games. (I don't have any at the moment but my daughter is quite keen on such things, so needs to be capable of satisfying a teenager in waiting)
It's a Vista pc so any vista compatible games are fine. You might want to add a joystick/pad or if you an xbox 360 the wired controllers work as is wireless need an adapter.

Upscaling output to 1080p to get the best quality from the TV. (I think that's right)
Think you'll be easiest with a graphics card with built in hdmi.

Want to stream music and video from other devices or store on internal HDD, I'm not sure which is best.
Media centre does either no problem.

Surround sound, not fussed over 5.1 but want to output to a decent amplifier, which will have to wait, or through the TV in the meantime.
Depending on what quality you want most motherboards with onboard audio have at least 5.1 nowadays.

Only Microsoft streamable formats can stream to extenders.  There are ways around this though.

With a bit of registry tweaking, any number of tuners can be added - I run 5 tuners, was 6, but had to lose one to fit video card in

[Golfbuddy]

Thanks guys. I was looking at HCPC cases and quite liked the ones from Silverstone. Are there any others I should be looking at? Ideally, I would like this to sit under the TV and look like any other bog standard bit of AV equipment.

Edit.

Just a thought. Is there a Vista Media Centre Edition? I just fancied a really nice interface rather than a PC type screen?

Another Edit.

Jaime, I take it that XBox 360 has HDMI output if you're using it as an extender? Could the Sony PS3 be used in the same way? That has a built in BluRay player doesn't it? I guess I could use the PC in the dining room in that case.  :-?

[Mr Skrunts]

Whats a HCPC ?

[BigAl]

Whats a HCPC ?

Home Cinema Personal Computers
http://www.hcpc.co.uk/

[Mr Skrunts]

Whats a HCPC ?

Home Cinema Personal Computers
http://www.hcpc.co.uk/

Ahh, cheers.  

[CaptainZok]

Thanks guys. I was looking at HCPC cases and quite liked the ones from Silverstone. Are there any others I should be looking at? Ideally, I would like this to sit under the TV and look like any other bog standard bit of AV equipment.

Edit.

Just a thought. Is there a Vista Media Centre Edition? I just fancied a really nice interface rather than a PC type screen?

Another Edit.

Jaime, I take it that XBox 360 has HDMI output if you're using it as an extender? Could the Sony PS3 be used in the same way? That has a built in BluRay player doesn't it? I guess I could use the PC in the dining room in that case.  :-?

IIRC the arcade (basic model) doesn't have HDMI but my elite is connected via HDMI to the tv and works fine.
Think the PS3 will probably play streaming media but I'm sure someone who's got one will be able to clarify.
Media centre comes as standard in home premium and ultimate flavours of Vista and the one thing the PS3 won't do I'm pretty sure is allow you to control the media centre and watch live and recorded tv.
If you need any more info give me a shout on msn or by phone.

Edit.
Mine lives in one of these clicky.

[TheBoy]

Thanks guys. I was looking at HCPC cases and quite liked the ones from Silverstone. Are there any others I should be looking at? Ideally, I would like this to sit under the TV and look like any other bog standard bit of AV equipment.

Edit.

Just a thought. Is there a Vista Media Centre Edition? I just fancied a really nice interface rather than a PC type screen?

Another Edit.

Jaime, I take it that XBox 360 has HDMI output if you're using it as an extender? Could the Sony PS3 be used in the same way? That has a built in BluRay player doesn't it? I guess I could use the PC in the dining room in that case.  :-?

vista home premium, and vista ultimate have the media centre components.  As does the beta Windows 7 if you want a ply before spending.

Silverstone cases used to use the Soundgraph VFD and Remote. If it does, its rather awful software/driver will drive you crazy.  I use a Elonex Artisan case.  I also have a spare Coolermaster CM260 case (uses soundgraph).

My mce extender, being an early xbox with no hdmi, connects to tv upstairs via vga, or other tvs in house via scart.  None of the other tvs are hd, so cannot comment on upscaling through extender

[Ken T]

I still think Nebula Freeview cards are pretty good. I added a 3rd card to my system recently; as a way of testing I recorded 7 programs, at once  

Mind you, you fill up HD's pretty fast  

Ken

[Ken T]

Oh yes, the Nebula's can stream TV over a network. It takes a bit of setting up but works well.

Ken

[Golfbuddy]

Thanks for the advice guys. Looks like this could end up as quite an expensive project but ultimately interesting and worthwhile, if not a little frustrating.  

[Martin_1962]

Could the Sony PS3 be used in the same way? That has a built in BluRay player doesn't it? I guess I could use the PC in the dining room in that case.  :-?

Yes - and it is good for games and BLuRay playback