Topic: Share your HTPC Setup

[jpadua]

Number1,

hey Ive heard about the new Thermalright heatpipe HSF (The one that looks like a souped up engine) that can accommodate a 120mm fan... Is that available in the philippines?

[av_phile1]

Boy, that's a mouthful alright. Thanks number1 and jpadua.  That's another enligtening round.  Let me digest those recommendations  Seems I do have a lot to work on to bring down the noise and optimize my PC as an HTPC.  . 

I think I'm using an ATi Radeon 9800 for my video card. Though i'm not sure if its a pro or something else. I'll check the box tonight.   But it was supposed to be better as it was more expensive than the stock GE Force video card they were offering at PC Exchange Corner at Glorietta where I got my PC last July.   Can't even recall if it has a fan. 

I didn't know I could specify the fans or cooling system to use when I specified my PC at the shop.  I had the impression they came stock with the case, the cpu and the psu.  Those nitwits never advised me though I told them  I wanted a dead silent PC to be used as a music server.   And they recommended an Audigy LS when I said I wanted a professional soundcard with dtx decoding.  Supposed to be better with its 100db S/N ratio than the motherboard sound card.  Turns out it's just another so-so sound card.  Well. the shortcomings seem to appear over time.   Now I know better. Thanks to this forum with you guys.   I might as well get a new PC with all the right stuff for my purpose.  Later na lang when finances allow.  And with the rate of technological advances, i'm sure ther'd be cheaper and better options out there in 6 months time, right? Hopefully the exchange rate doesn't get worst. 

[av_phile1]

5. To what I know, prescotts run really really hot.  So if you want to shave off some degrees in your case an Athlon64 would be better.

Nice to know the Athlon runs cooler.  But is this the only benefit?  I heard it's 64-bit archecture beats anything that Intel has to offer with its 32-bit limitation.  Just not sure if there are already 64-bit PC applications and games to maximize this feature. 

[av_phile1]

Hi,

Was reading PC Buyers guide last week, and I found another local retailer selling an HTPC case.

Cooler Master Cavalier 4


I think I remember it was Axis Global.  I think its 7k if I remember it correctly.

Do they have something in BLACK?  And any idea on their prixe?  Thanks.

[av_phile1]

SATA and PATA drives can co-exist without any problems. Since you have an Asus  P4P8000 SE, you may actually attach 6 hard drives provided that you don't use an optical drive. If you do have an optical drive, then you can attach 5 drives. 3 PATA drives and 2 SATA drives.

Optical drive, you mean a DVD/CD reader/writer?  I have one.  I plan to have another dedicated CD-writer.  So that means If i have two optical drives, I can only have ONE more HDD to add to my existing three HDDs?? 

What if I use a external CD writer connected via USB, is this as good as an internal one?  Are external drives available  out there just as fast?  Thanks. 

[bumblebee]

Boy, that's a mouthful alright. Thanks number1 and jpadua.  That's another enligtening round.  Let me digest those recommendations  Seems I do have a lot to work on to bring down the noise and optimize my PC as an HTPC.  . 

I think I'm using an ATi Radeon 9800 for my video card. Though i'm not sure if its a pro or something else. I'll check the box tonight.   But it was supposed to be better as it was more expensive than the stock GE Force video card they were offering at PC Exchange Corner at Glorietta where I got my PC last July.   Can't even recall if it has a fan. 

I didn't know I could specify the fans or cooling system to use when I specified my PC at the shop.  I had the impression they came stock with the case, the cpu and the psu.  Those nitwits never advised me though I told them  I wanted a dead silent PC to be used as a music server.   And they recommended an Audigy LS when I said I wanted a professional soundcard with dtx decoding.  Supposed to be better with its 100db S/N ratio than the motherboard sound card.  Turns out it's just another so-so sound card.  Well. the shortcomings seem to appear over time.   Now I know better. Thanks to this forum with you guys.   I might as well get a new PC with all the right stuff for my purpose.  Later na lang when finances allow.  And with the rate of technological advances, i'm sure ther'd be cheaper and better options out there in 6 months time, right? Hopefully the exchange rate doesn't get worst. 

i believe they just put in what they have in stock:) gilmore would be a better venue if you're particular w/ the components (some of the more popular) you need.

i think the audigy LS is mid level. the audigy 2 (platinum is it?) is thx certified. about 7.5k.

heat sinks will guarantee 0 noise but are not very popular here (in my case, i've yet to see a pc that does). processors use fans for cooling so definitely there'll be noise.

[bumblebee]

Nice to know the Athlon runs cooler.  But is this the only benefit?  I heard it's 64-bit archecture beats anything that Intel has to offer with its 32-bit limitation.  Just not sure if there are already 64-bit PC applications and games to maximize this feature. 

windows xp is 32-bit. it's amazing that intel and amd keep on releasing new processors when the old ones have not seen their full potential.

Optical drive, you mean a DVD/CD reader/writer?  I have one.  I plan to have another dedicated CD-writer.  So that means If i have two optical drives, I can only have ONE more HDD to add to my existing three HDDs?? 

What if I use a external CD writer connected via USB, is this as good as an internal one?  Are external drives available  out there just as fast?  Thanks. 

from my experience, the internal ones are faster.

[av_phile1]

Thanks Bumblebee.  Yup, there's always good reason for Gates to keep up often at the expense of having to upgrade unnecesarily    I guess that's the name of the game in computers.  Your PC is state-of-the-art only for six months or less. 

I guess the Audigy LS is fine but I'm  getting some residual noise I can hear when no disc is playing. Not audible from my listening position but it's there when I place my ears close to the tweeters at hgh volume - whereas my usual CD and DVD components are dead silent at that level.  I am not entirely certain if that's the fault of my soundcard or my Liteon DVD/CD writer. 

[jpadua]

Do they have something in BLACK?  And any idea on their prixe?  Thanks.

I think there is a black version of this.... unfortunately this is for the not so powerhungry HTPC since it comes with a proprietary powersupply of I think 300W...

You can check out Extreme modz for HTPC cases.  Out of all the HTPC cases they have there, the best one would be the LCO3 by silverstone.  I think they sell it of 8.5k


Although the one they have does not have the Vaccum Flourecent Display as the one here in the picture.

This one accepts full size ATX motherboards and ATX powersupply, so you wont have any problems fitting your stuff in here.

With regards to the Optical dive Ive got better success with internal ones than the external kinds.  The discs I burn externally somehow are figity sometimes they work sometimes they dont... again i'm just using an external USB2 Enclosure.  Maybe the prebuilt external models are better.

With regards to the sound card, The Audigy ZS is good but not really up to par with other Audio Soundcards built for audio fidelity.  Audigy really shines for games.  For music you can try other alternatives.

If you want Quality audio output and bit perfect Spdif output, you can take a look at the m-audio

The M-Audio Audiophile 2496


2 Analog Stereo outputs, 2 Analog Stereo inputs, Digital Coax output and input supports AC-3 and DTS passthrough.

This is perfect if you want to enjoy both HT and Audiophile quality Stereo.   For HT use the Spdif outs, for Stereo, hook up the Analog outputs to your Stereo Amp.  Also this card uses the latest 64bit drivers.  Backwards compatible. ... I think.

M-audio'sline of PCI interfaces are used in a lot digital recording studios.

Read reviews about this card... its one of the top choices for Audiophile PC users. 

Another option would be the M-Audio Revolution 7.1
7.1 Analog outputs and Spidif output.   For you I would suggest the 2496 instead.

I know the distributor of M-audio here, I can get it for you if you want.
www.m-audio.com

its about $130 MSRP, so the price in peso wouldnt differ that much since we can get it straight from the distributor.

[bumblebee]

I guess the Audigy LS is fine but I'm  getting some residual noise I can hear when no disc is playing. Not audible from my listening position but it's there when I place my ears close to the tweeters at hgh volume - whereas my usual CD and DVD components are dead silent at that level.  I am not entirely certain if that's the fault of my soundcard or my Liteon DVD/CD writer. 

sir, try listening to the wavs in your hard drive. if there's still noise, then the sound card is contributing to the noise.

[av_phile1]

Thanks bumblebee and jpadua

I've also read and heard good things about this M-audio soundcard lately so it will definittely be on my list for any new PC or upgrade.   

That black HTPC case is really something.  Makes me want to upgrade now.     Have to control myself.  I just have other priorities at the moment, like a new SACD or universal player.  Well, since we're on the subject, are there DVD-A and SACD players for the PC?  Or soundcards to decode the MLP and DSD data streams? 

[bumblebee]

Thanks bumblebee and jpadua

That black HTPC case is really something.  Makes me want to upgrade now.     Have to control myself.  I just have other priorities at the moment, like a new SACD or universal player.  Well, since we're on the subject, are there DVD-A and SACD players for the PC?  Or soundcards to decode the MLP and DSD data streams? 

there may be. but i doubt if there's one here now or in the near future. most people would rather spend on processors and video cards. im one of the pc people and ive yet to see a setup using a separate sound card

the pc industry hasn't really caught up w/ hifi. maybe a few years more.

[number1]

I plan to have another dedicated CD-writer.  So that means If i have two optical drives, I can only have ONE more HDD to add to my existing three HDDs?? 

Yes one more hard drive. With that configuration you must have two PATA hard drives and two SATA drives. Here's why, your motherboard (the Asus P4P800 SE) has two IDE channels (Primary and Secondary). Each channel can accomodate two devices each only, either as Master and Slave drives.  Since you mentioned that you plan to connect two optical drives so they would occupy the Secondary channel already. Which leaves you with the primary channel which can accomodate two PATA drives. Lastly, the another two SATA drives can be connected to the two SATA ports. Total of 4 hard drives (2 PATA and 2 SATA) and 2 optical drives.

What if I use a external CD writer connected via USB, is this as good as an internal one?  Are external drives available  out there just as fast?  Thanks. 

The internal one is better. USB 1.1 connection may not be sufficient. I dont know about USB 2.0. If you plan to get an external drive, try getting one with at least a USB 2.0 or better yet a Firewire (IEEE 1394) connection. Or you might consider putting one of your hard disks in an external enclosure instead.

[number1]

Number1,
hey Ive heard about the new Thermalright heatpipe HSF (The one that looks like a souped up engine) that can accommodate a 120mm fan... Is that available in the philippines?

I dont think so.  I dont think there is a market  or the market is really small for exotic PC hardwares here. I highly recommend purchasing any PC component not available here, at (www.newegg.com). Although you need to have relatives in the US who would readily lend you their credit card and mailing address as newegg does not accept any Philippines issued credit cards nor do they accept any international orders.   

[jpadua]

Thanks bumblebee and jpadua

I've also read and heard good things about this M-audio soundcard lately so it will definittely be on my list for any new PC or upgrade.   

That black HTPC case is really something.  Makes me want to upgrade now.     Have to control myself.  I just have other priorities at the moment, like a new SACD or universal player.  Well, since we're on the subject, are there DVD-A and SACD players for the PC?  Or soundcards to decode the MLP and DSD data streams? 

Currently there are very few options for DVD-A. 
The Audigy2 ZS Platiunum and the M-Audio revolution 7.1 are the only ones, that I have tried and tested.  I think the m-audio Delta 2496 can also output DVD-A im not sure though.

Audigy uses its own mediaplayer for DVD-A and you may also use WinDVD6 Platinum for DVD-A with Video
M-Audio Revolution also can decode DVD-A and uses WinDVD6 Platinum as the Player.

These are the only two that I know of... when using DVD-A Discs only Analaog Audio output will pump out high resolution audio, spdif will down convert the stream to CD Quality.

[GM]

the m-audio revolution 7.1 card sounds neat. upgrade siguro ako into that sound card in the near future. right now, I'm quite satisfied with what I have right now though its just an onboard audio(abit nf7s v2 mobo). my new HTPC is running windows media center 2005 with HDTV and SDTV feeds and recording capabilities and DTS/DD5.1 audio out for DVD playback(using PowerDVD 6).

case is Ahanix D.Vine 5


what's inside:
Hauppauge WinTV-PVR 250
VBox DTA 151 ATSC Tuner
Airlink Wireless G Card
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro with Artic Cooling VGA Silencer
1GB Cosair DDR PC3200
Hitachi 250GB SATA
NEC 16X Double Layer DVD±RW Drive


Ahanix' VFD


htpc is connected sa Tosh 46H83 rptv, with Gyration GT Compact Keyboard Suite and Harmony Remote 688

[jpadua]

Hey GM,

Nice Dign case, I'm guessing your not in the philippines   The PVR-250 and the Dign case, gyration remote, MCE 2005 and HDBroadcasts are not available here

Cool rig you got there... , checkout www.htpcnews.com. I have been a member of the forums for more than a yr now. 

My current rig:

Arisetec HT-400 HTPC Case
HEC PowerOP 475w PSU
Newtech DVD-RW
ATI 9800 Pro with Arctic VGA Silencer
Leadtek Winfast XP 2000 Expert TV-Tuner
160GB Seagate Baraccuda SATA
2 40GB IDE Seagate Baraccudas
MSI K7N2-Delta ILSR  with MCP-T Dolyby Digital Encoding Nvidia SoundStorm
Auditrak Maya 44 4in/4out USB Audio Interface
512MB Apacer DDR 3200
Athlon XP 2500 @ 200FSB = (axp3200)
Gigabyte 3D Pro Heatpipe CPU cooler
Imon MM Internal HTPC Remote Control
Airboard IR Keyboard with Joystick mouse control

WinXP Home
Zoomplayer Pro DVD/Media Player
Foobar2000 Audioplayer
Meedio (Front-End) with my very own Meedio Theme (http://www.m2systech.com/stuff)
Showshifter (PVR and Time-Shifting)
Dscaler 4.18 (TV-Viewing)
WinDVD6 Platinum DVD codecs /  Dscaler5 Mpeg2 Codecs
DVD Shrink - DVD Ripping Software
DVD Idle - DVD Region Manager
PowerStrip - Video Resolution Manager

Connected to a 29" PixelPlus 4:3 HDTV Monitor
Marantz SR4300 and JPW Speakers, 10" US Audio Subwoofer

I could quiet down my HTPC, except my CPU is overclocked and my silent boost HSF works well with non-overclocked CPUs, The Gigabyte heatpipe cooler is a bit loud for my tastes.

[GM]

jpadua, that's a cool rig you got there. ang linis palang tingnan ng silver  .  i built my rig piece by piece, and medyo nagmadali ako sa pagkuha ng Ahanix case.microATX PSU lang yung pwede sa kanya though fullATX mobo yung gamit ko.limited ako sa power kaya hindi pa ko makapagRAID. 2 250 SATA HDD sana yung ilalagay ko kaso 300W lang PSU ko.my cpu is athlon xp 2800+ stock.

i'm also using Powestrip kaso medyo annoying rin yung overscan ng Tosh 46H83 ko.i've spent several sleepless nights trying to figure out the right combo pero etong huli sya na yung pinaka matino.right now, 1280x720p lang resolution ko but my TV can do 1080i kaso pag nagsetup na ko ng 1080i, nasisira display ko.with my nVidia GeForce FX5700, i could easily setup my display hanggang 1080i pero tong Radeon 9800, nangangapa ako masyado.the reason why I'm stuck with the 9800 is that its the minimum requirement for HD playback(that I have right now)

[jpadua]

jpadua, that's a cool rig you got there. ang linis palang tingnan ng silver  .  i built my rig piece by piece, and medyo nagmadali ako sa pagkuha ng Ahanix case.microATX PSU lang yung pwede sa kanya though fullATX mobo yung gamit ko.limited ako sa power kaya hindi pa ko makapagRAID. 2 250 SATA HDD sana yung ilalagay ko kaso 300W lang PSU ko.my cpu is athlon xp 2800+ stock.

i'm also using Powestrip kaso medyo annoying rin yung overscan ng Tosh 46H83 ko.i've spent several sleepless nights trying to figure out the right combo pero etong huli sya na yung pinaka matino.right now, 1280x720p lang resolution ko but my TV can do 1080i kaso pag nagsetup na ko ng 1080i, nasisira display ko.with my nVidia GeForce FX5700, i could easily setup my display hanggang 1080i pero tong Radeon 9800, nangangapa ako masyado.the reason why I'm stuck with the 9800 is that its the minimum requirement for HD playback(that I have right now)

Yeah, thanks! pero maganda yung design ng Dign, aesthetically, mas mukhang hi-end compared to the HT-400... design flaw lang talaga yung pag gamit nila ng mATX... they reserved the space kasi for an ATSC tuner na never naman lumabas .... di ba kaya i modify yung standoffs to fit a full atx board?.

yah... yung 9800 may WMV-HD acceleration... laking tulong sa Mga HD clips and Streams....  Ive only tried ATI ever since so I have no experience setting up HDTV Resolutions with Nvidia Cards... so far naman lahat ng ATI cards that Ive worked with I was able to get basic HD resolutions, 540p 720p and 1080i they all support them naman...   

ako for watching DVDs I dont mind the overscan.. para di nababago yung pixel mapping... as powerstrip as long as nakapako to 60hz and 33.75khz yung frequency masaya na ako    Pag windows applications I switch to 800x600p @50hz... kaya ng TV ko kasi mag PAL so kaya ko mag 800x600 na walang major over and underscan.... although mas ma-flicker sya kasi mas mababa ang refresh rate, but I get the full resolution without interlacing.

 

[jpadua]

By the way I have a Raid Question.....

I have no experience in setting up RAID...

I just got a new 160SATA drive, I found out that my sata ports only work for RAID setup.. .so what I did was I plugged my sata, and setup the raid to strip performance mode 1 array...  then I setup windows on that drive.

My question is... if lets say I plug another drive on my sata port and configure it as array 2 what will happen?

1. if I plug in another identical drive 160GB Sata... will my total space increase to 320GB or will it still be 160Gig but twice the speed.
2. Will I I have another additional drive (currently C:) D: or will it be treated as one drive ?
3. If I Plug a 200GB Sata drive will it work? what will the outcome be?

Pasensya na, I'm totally new to SATA and Raid Configurations... I have no Idea of what I did, but I got my Rig working with one 160GB sata drive and no IDE drives.  I'm just thinking ahead if I want to add more drives to the sata port.. what will happen.

[sebman]

By the way I have a Raid Question.....

I have no experience in setting up RAID...

I just got a new 160SATA drive, I found out that my sata ports only work for RAID setup.. .so what I did was I plugged my sata, and setup the raid to strip performance mode 1 array...  then I setup windows on that drive.

My question is... if lets say I plug another drive on my sata port and configure it as array 2 what will happen?

1. if I plug in another identical drive 160GB Sata... will my total space increase to 320GB or will it still be 160Gig but twice the speed.
- if you set it up as raid 1 you will only create a mirror of your  160GB hdd.. unless you configure it to use raid 0 which is striping then
you will get the whole 320GB as a single drive..

2. Will I I have another additional drive (currently C:) D: or will it be treated as one drive ?
- one drive only..

3. If I Plug a 200GB Sata drive will it work? what will the outcome be?
- it should also work.. meaning 160+200=360GB whole drive if you choose raid 0..

Pasensya na, I'm totally new to SATA and Raid Configurations... I have no Idea of what I did, but I got my Rig working with one 160GB sata drive and no IDE drives.  I'm just thinking ahead if I want to add more drives to the sata port.. what will happen.

[jpadua]

Sebman Thanks for the Reply! now I understand it more....

one more pahabol question....

right now my 160 SATA in Raid0 is configured with 2 partitions isang 20GB and isang 140GB, if I add lets say a 200GB sata, what will happen? will I have new unpartitioned space? or will it automatically distribute to both partitions or will it all go to the last partition?

Thanks again in advance!

Jay

[GM]

nah, hindi na kayang imodify yung case to fit a full atx PSU in its current design.hirap pa man ding maghanap ng silent PSU na microatx na more than 350W.

Yeah, thanks! pero maganda yung design ng Dign, aesthetically, mas mukhang hi-end compared to the HT-400... design flaw lang talaga yung pag gamit nila ng mATX... they reserved the space kasi for an ATSC tuner na never naman lumabas .... di ba kaya i modify yung standoffs to fit a full atx board?.
 

[jpadua]

Hey Guys,

Finally HTPCs are catching on, T3 contacted me a few months ago to write a very basic how-to-guide to build an HTPC... anyway its out now in T3's december issue.  Its a very basic guide... as in! but at least im on T3 baby!!! my article even has a front cover mini-headline .... cool

Grab a copy if you see one! Thanks!

Jay

[GM]

cool!   congrats Jay.papabili nga ko kopya nyan.

Hey Guys,

Finally HTPCs are catching on, T3 contacted me a few months ago to write a very basic how-to-guide to build an HTPC... anyway its out now in T3's december issue.  Its a very basic guide... as in! but at least im on T3 baby!!! my article even has a front cover mini-headline .... cool

Grab a copy if you see one! Thanks!

Jay

[jpadua]

sige 120 pesoses only :p

[av_phile1]

Currently there are very few options for DVD-A. 
The Audigy2 ZS Platiunum and the M-Audio revolution 7.1 are the only ones, that I have tried and tested.  I think the m-audio Delta 2496 can also output DVD-A im not sure though.

Audigy uses its own mediaplayer for DVD-A and you may also use WinDVD6 Platinum for DVD-A with Video
M-Audio Revolution also can decode DVD-A and uses WinDVD6 Platinum as the Player.

These are the only two that I know of... when using DVD-A Discs only Analaog Audio output will pump out high resolution audio, spdif will down convert the stream to CD Quality.

Now that gives me more argument to upgrade to an M-Audio sound card.

I recall that PC had been fast to catch on with CD playback years ago and spawwned this multimedia revolution.  Then came VCD playback in PCs.  I thought the convergence road was clear.  Now it seems high resolution playback in PCs are hard to come by. 

I really would like to see the day when sound systems, HT and PC become one happy ijtegrated family.  There has been so much talk about "INFOTAINMENT" or "EDUTAINMENT" as well as "MULTIMEDIA" systems - all bannering the convergence of various technologiex once reserved exclusively for this or that hobby.   About the onlly real convergent home entertiainment and PC system I've seeen in the SONY VAIO multimedia system.

I think many computer makers have been sidestepped into another convergence - that of mobile cellphones and computers. That's just fine.  But I would like to see the day when even mobile computing and telecomms converge with audio and video entertainment - like hearing your wav files or watching DVDs stored in your home entertainment  server via your cellphone hooked up to an entertainment center in the office or elsewhere. 

[GM]

Microsoft is already pushing this "convergence" in their series of media center products that is based on Windows XP. right now, if you have Windows Media Center 2005 machine, you can treat it as a central station of all your medias. you could get a Media Center Extender for XBOX and stream all you media contents from your Media Center to your XBOX.Microsft Portable Media Players by Creative,Samsung and iRiver can be use to synch all your media into a handheld where you could watch recorded TV shows and listed to music on the go.you could also use your Microsoft-based smartphones(voyager) and PDAs(XDA2) to synch almost all the medias stored in your media center.

many computer makers already were releasing their MCE-based machines. HP,Dell,Alienware,Toshiba were just some of the major players.Alienware has some of the coolest MCE machines available btw.

right now, watching DVDs and Live TV from a Media Extender device is still not possible but these features are on its way

[bumblebee]

Now that gives me more argument to upgrade to an M-Audio sound card.

I recall that PC had been fast to catch on with CD playback years ago and spawwned this multimedia revolution.  Then came VCD playback in PCs.  I thought the convergence road was clear.  Now it seems high resolution playback in PCs are hard to come by. 

I really would like to see the day when sound systems, HT and PC become one happy ijtegrated family.  There has been so much talk about "INFOTAINMENT" or "EDUTAINMENT" as well as "MULTIMEDIA" systems - all bannering the convergence of various technologiex once reserved exclusively for this or that hobby.   About the onlly real convergent home entertiainment and PC system I've seeen in the SONY VAIO multimedia system.

I think many computer makers have been sidestepped into another convergence - that of mobile cellphones and computers. That's just fine.  But I would like to see the day when even mobile computing and telecomms converge with audio and video entertainment - like hearing your wav files or watching DVDs stored in your home entertainment  server via your cellphone hooked up to an entertainment center in the office or elsewhere. 

there's this one article ive read from tomshardware.com about convergence. this was a part of his review for the 100$ creative ddts decoder (decodes all formats from dd to pl2x).

http://www6.tomshardware.com/consumer/20040120/index.html

[jpadua]

About bit perfect spdif outputs,

Most soundcards can not output 44khz spdif Audigy 2 included... apparently Audigy and most soundcards resample the audio to 48khz... I dont know how important this is to you (I cant even tell the difference heheh), but for audiophiles its a big deal i think... anyway the only sound cards that do not re-sample are soundcards based on the ENVY chipset which include, the audiotrak Prodigy 7.1, this soundcard by chaintech (forgot the name), Mad dog 7.1 and M-Audio Revolution 7.1   I think the m-audio 2496 does not resample although its not based on the envy chipset.. im not so sure though.

About Windows Media Center 2005,

Its great, OS and Frontend bundled in one.  Has great features like DVD, TV recording, Slideshow viewing, Music Playing, ripping burning, so many features.   Unfortunately (no matter how much I want to have this OS)  the philippines is not ready for this....  I'm starting to feel like we are in the stone ages... aaargh anyway,  DVD viewing, slideshows, mp3 are cool features of MCE 2005 but the heart and soul of MCE is its TV recording and scheduling, allowing the user to never miss a TV show.   Something like a Tivo without a subscription fee.

MCE schedules the recordings by displaying an up-to-date show schedule for tv programs for all channels with descriptions categories etc.  You can record shows by your favorite genre, if you like to record only comedy shows, or if you are into sports, MCE can do this automatically for you.  You can also record shows simply by scanning the show schedule and simply marking the TV shows you want to record for the day, for the week, for the month.. and so on.

Why is the philippines not ready for this... because we (the philippines) dont have a damn EPG!!!  (electronic program guide) oh how I wish we did. MCE automatically downloads EPG data from your cable service provider on a regular bases for updated show schedules.   knowing how our country is.. it looks like were never going to have this in the next 5 years or so.  Looks like MCE will never be in the mainstream here.  Thats why we never saw it... MCE has been for such a long time already (MCE, MCE2004 and now MCE2005)

Other than that I guess we can take advantage of everything else MCE has to offer, but is it worth the money... we can do all those already with free software... my only reason for getting MCE would be when we have philippine EPG available. 

Its just so frustrating don't you think.