Help for Newb- Turning PC into good MCE

u-SM said:
The Hauppage PVR150MCE is just as good (and a little cheaper) as the 250.

Hopefully I'm not gonna confuse things but what about the PVR-350. I would like to control my Sky box and read that this is good input for MCE2005.......

I have read some good reports about it on these forums (I think).....is it worth going for or should I go for a pvr-150 or the nova-t mentioned above......the sweetspot is a bit more expensive I thought as well...getting a bit confused myself as it happens.

Help...!!!!

Gaz
 
Hold on.....
This is the list of supported MCE hardware / software http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/mediacenter/partners/dfw/partnerlisting.mspx that Hauppauge Nova T card is not on it, and having a quick look on google they do a Nova T MCE edition so my betting is that this particular card that you link to on ebuyer is not MCE compatible.

The Hauppauge 150 and 250 MCE cards are analogue, not digital (freeview) you could use them in conjuction with your freeview set-top box, but when you capture from an external source, normally via s-video you lose picture quality.... so it is much easier to stick with a MCE supported freeview tuner, either PCI or USB2.
 
The Nova T is a freeview card and doesn't have s-video in.
The PVR150, 250, 350 and 500 are analogue cards which do have s-video in. IIRC they all have the same MPEG2 enoder. I'm pretty sure the 250 and 350 have been replaced now by the 150 and the dual tuner 500
 
deleted member said:
Hold on.....
This is the list of supported MCE hardware / software http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/mediacenter/partners/dfw/partnerlisting.mspx that Hauppauge Nova T card is not on it, and having a quick look on google they do a Nova T MCE edition so my betting is that this particular card that you link to on ebuyer is not MCE compatible.

Cheeky of Ebuyer as they are selling a bundle package with the tuner and MCE 2005. I'll just use the sweetspot for now and if i'm not happy then i'll look at other options later.
 
WSB said:
Cheeky of Ebuyer as they are selling a bundle package with the tuner and MCE 2005. I'll just use the sweetspot for now and if i'm not happy then i'll look at other options later.
Oh, I may be wrong then, I guess it must work in MCE if they are selling it as a bundle....?
 
Another day and so much more i could be doing to my home av kit(!) Dangerously on the verge of turning this into a very expensive hobby!!! :rolleyes:

So I'm awaiting delivery of:

Super Quiet fans
fan mate 2 and resistor cable
Sweetspot MCE
Windows MCE 2005 + Remote

And I'm still debating:
New Graphics Card
Lightscribe DVD writer

Now onto freeview- looked at the pace twin with built in hdd- saw it on a site for 160 or graded for 140 including delivery. Is it easy to transfer from the Pace HDD to my PC?

Other options include the Sony VTX-D800U for around 80 squid. All quite expensive compared to the 30 pound boxes available from richer sounds but i suppose you get what you pay for- but if anyone knows any good quality freeview boxes then please post them here so I can make an informed choice.

Suppose i better get back to work so i can pay for all this.
 
deleted member said:
Hold on.....
This is the list of supported MCE hardware / software http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/mediacenter/partners/dfw/partnerlisting.mspx that Hauppauge Nova T card is not on it, and having a quick look on google they do a Nova T MCE edition so my betting is that this particular card that you link to on ebuyer is not MCE compatible.
The difference between the MCE and non-MCE version is that the MCE version don't come with the remote control etc. as the thinging is you'll be using teh MCE remote.
 
WSB said:
Now onto freeview- looked at the pace twin with built in hdd- saw it on a site for 160 or graded for 140 including delivery. Is it easy to transfer from the Pace HDD to my PC?
Morning :)

I have a Pace Twin and a Media Center PC - I have had the Pace Twin since it first came out and the HTPC only more recently. They are two totally separate devices, you can capture from the Pace Twin on to the PC if you are determined, but it is a pain, and the quality is not brilliant.

But.... why are you buying a freeview box? If you are looking for twin tuner capabilities, so you can record one channel and watch another, buy another Sweetspot MCE, that's all you need.
 
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u-SM said:
The difference between the MCE and non-MCE version is that the MCE version don't come with the remote control etc. as the thinging is you'll be using teh MCE remote.
I'm not sure about this as if you buy an MCE compatible tuner card you don't get the remote control with it. The difference between MCE compatible and non-MCE compatible tv tuners is whether they will work within MCE or not.
 
deleted member said:
Morning :)
But.... why are you buying a freeview box? If you are looking for twin tuner capabilities, so you can record one channel and watch another, buy another Sweetspot MCE, that's all you need.

I suppose that would be the smart move and allow me to use the Media Center to its abilities.
 
they both work with MCE. The addition on the 'MCE Branding' was done to save confusion. It also offers a cost reduction as they don't need to ship a remote and can remove the IR gubbins from the card. Other than that there'll be one design of card with fit/no-fit options
I'm not 100%, but it wouldn't surprise me having been through some MS labs approval/labeling process in the past if the extra gubbins like remote etc would mean instant failure resulting in the device would then not be listed as compatibubble.
 
WSB said:
I suppose that would be the smart move and allow me to use the Media Center to its abilities.
If I was starting again I would definitely do that, switching between MCE and the Pace Twin is a bit of a pain... but I can record two channels and watch a third! When I extend the media center to the bedroom though, I will only have access to MCE and not the Pace Twin, so another pain.
 
I gave in to temptation and got the lightscribe drive too :devil:

Ordered the sweetspot from pluggedin.tv on monday - anyone have any idea how long it'll be until i get it?
 
Yet another plea for help I'm afraid- once you get into all this it gets rather addictive.

Back onto the making my PC quiet thing-

What fans generally make the most noise on a PC?

I'm looking to change the PSU to something quiet- can i just change the fan or would i need to change the unit? If its the unit- anyone know of any good quiet ones? I've been looking around and dont want to spend huge amounts of money so something that is good quality but also value for money.

All this help is much appreciated. :thumbsup:
 
PSU is a good start - generally those with a 12cm fan are quiet (~21dB)

With CPU and case fans; these are always going to be noisy unless you slow them down, so some sort of fan controller/fanmate if you don't want to spend monet on new quieter fans. CPU wise if you're going to slow the fan down you'll need a more effiencient heatsink; have a look at
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_CPU_Coolers_1.html
Themalright, zalaman and scythe are pretty good performers; it all depends on your budget
 
Thanks for that-

The dell I am running has a p4 2.5Mhz -

I'm gonna open it all up when installing the new kit- dust it all off and see what fans are making the most noise to try and quiet it down.

With regards to PSU- anyone know a good one to go for? I'd say the budget would be around 50 squid tops. My main aim is to have my pc running 24/7 with as little noise eminating from it as possible.

On another note- looking at just how cheap mem has become- another 512mb for 30 squid- tempting(!) I'll see how my PC runs everything with MCE and look at upgrading the ram with the graphics card at a later date if needed.
 
okay- so I opened it up and installed the new kit that did arrive. More importantly- I found the source of most of the noise-

Its the GeForce 4200Ti graphics card- well- the fan cooling it to be more precise- time to go and see what i can do about it(!)
 

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