Mesh Cubex64 3500+ ?

I've been reading a lot on avforums and was thinking of building my own based around a Shuttle case, but this Mesh spec seems a pretty close match to what I wanted and works out cheaper than me buying each component and assembling it. Does this spec have any shortcomings in terms of being HDTV ready, in your opinion?

AMD Athlon™ 64 3500+ Processor
Microsoft® Windows® XP Media Center 2005 Edition
512MB DDR 400 RAM (PC3200) Memory
300GB Serial ATA (150Mb/s) Ultra Fast Hard Drive
128MB nVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT , TV Out/DVI
SONY 16x Dual Layer DVD-RW (R/W all standard formats)*
Dolby Digital 5.1 Audio with Soundstorm technology
Network Ready integrated 10/100 Ethernet
Media Center TV Capture Card + Media Center Remote
6-in-1 Memory Card Reader
Logitech Cordless Keyboard & Optical Mouse
1 Year On-site Warranty + 2 Years Back to Base
Shuttle Case/2 USBs + Additional Features

 

not really that i can see. seems a decent spec and should process 720p and 1080i easily. you will get a nice image with that setup and Gfx card. dont quote me on this as ive yet to test it but if your planning to use FFDShow you cant use it with MCE, maybe some one can clarify it

 

Yes, looks like a nice spec, be interested to know what tv card they are including in that. Also it only mentions one so with no dual tuner you will not be able to watch one channel and record another. Presuming there are no free PCi slots you can add an external powered USB2 hub and extra tv tuners, and other stuff that way. No mention of firewire which may or may not be important to you?

You can use ffdshow with MCE via My Movies.... if you can be bothered. But the 6600gt card with the Nvidia DVD codec gives very good quality for film playback within MCE as it is.


Also, I wonder what they are charging because you could buy all those parts and build it yourself fairly easily if you were so inclined, might save a few quid...

 

Well, it should work out at about £850 + VAT (actually 899 but I'll take the modem and a couple of other bits off the spec). I assumed that with their bulk-buying power I wouldn't be able to shave much off that as an individual buyer. w/r/t the tuner, I'm very attached (not literally) to my Nebula DigiTV USB so I'll probably use that as a second tuner once they bring out their MCE drivers, hopefully in May. As for firewire, I do have a Canopus ADVC55 - a miracle in a tiny box - but I finshed transferring all my old VHS's some while back so that'll probably be heading off to ebay shortly...

 

Great, thank you for the advice!

 

Just rang Mesh up and confirmed that the tuner was a DVB-T Black Gold - the quote on the website came to £1138 including VAT but they did me a deal for £1000 incl. VAT, delivery & warranty for ordering today! I don't think I could beat that with a self-build so I've gone for it....