When Microsoft released their Windows XP Media Center Edition a few years ago, I immediately became engrossed in the idea of having movies, music, and recorded tv throughout the house. I soon found out that there are plenty of other alternatives out there, but I've stuck with Microsoft, mostly because of their potential for a beautiful, user-friendly experience. I think this is a killer product, and given the right marketing and development by them this could become a common application across households. So far, it hasn't gotten there yet, but I love using it.
My original design was to have a computer set up with Vista Premium in our home office. This computer would serve as a DVR, media server, and desktop pc. I also wanted to run a RAID 5 setup for a little bit of safety (and yes, I still backup files elsewhere too). Trouble is, the motherboard that I bought to handle all of this had problems (either with the MB or with the user). It had numerous issues, but the biggest one was when I used an XBox 360 as an extender - the pc would either freeze or BSOD on me. After numerous re-installations, I gave up. After some more research, I decided to go a different route.
I decided to build a dedicated Media Center pc for use in the home theater. This machine runs Vista and handles all my television recording and also serves up over-the-air high definition television to my projector. I also have a media server running XP Professional - this machine stores and shares my music, pictures, documents, and videos. I have a laptop running Vista and two extenders; one in the living room and one in the gym.
Media Center
I was against the concept of a media center pc at first; I felt having a pc in the office and having extenders would be better, but there are some very nice benefits to having it in my basement. The computer is housed in a beautiful Antec Fusion case, and it's amazingly quiet. The main function of the HTPC is to handle live and recorded tv - it's hooked up to my projector, and there's nothing like watching college football in HD on a 108-inch screen. It also comes in handy with our Netflix subscription - they have a number of movies that you can stream on your PC, so it's nice to be able to watch those in the theater. And Hulu is another fantastic resource for catching up on any television shows I miss.
It's got a pair of tuners - I recently upgraded to two HD ATSC tuners (one of which is a dual, so I've really got 3 tuners). I have a basic rooftop television antenna from Radio Shack in the attic that serves up OTA HD channels - we just don't watch enough cable tv to warrant paying Comcast $70+ for basic cable and HD stations.
One thing I have to mention: my antenna cable run was split a couple places, so I was having a hard time picking up a few channels that I was getting prior to the split. I bought an in-line signal amplifier for $12 off of eBay (Radio Shack sells the same thing for $37), and the problem has been solved.
Here is my media center:
| Component | Part/Model |
|---|---|
| Case | Antec Fusion 430 |
| Processor | AMD X2 3600+ AM2 |
| Motherboard | A7GM-S AM2/AM2+ |
| Power Supply | 430 Watt ATX12V v2.0 (included w/case) |
| Memory | Corsair XMS2 4GB PC2-6400 DDR2-800 |
| Video Card | onboard Raedon 7600 |
| Audio Output | onboard HDMI |
| Optical Drive | Sony DDU-1615 16X DVD-ROM |
| Hard Drive | Western Digital 1 TB Caviar Green SATA (x2) |
| TV Tuners | Hauppauge WinTV-HVR 1600 |
| VBox Cat's Eye 164e | |
| Case Fans | Antec 120mm Case Fan (2) |
| Operating System | Windows Vista Ultimate |
I also have to mention some of the programs and plug-ins that I use, since they really enhance the Media Center experience (both on the HTPC and on the extender):
- Media Browser - beautiful interface for ripped movies and television shows
- Lifextender - a dead-simple program for removing commercials from recorded tv shows
Media/File Server
This machine has evolved from being an always-on server to a backup resource. It runs Windows XP; I really want to try Windows Home Server at some point, but it doesn't make sense for me right now to have two computers running at all times. So this pc currently serves as a print server, backup, and DVD ripper.
| Component | Part/Model |
|---|---|
| Case | Antec Sonata II |
| Processor | AMD Sempron 2800+ |
| Motherboard | Biostar NF325-A7 Socket 754 |
| Power Supply | Apevia CW500WP4 |
| Memory | Super Talent DDR400 512MB (x2) |
| Video Card | Sapphire ATI Radeon 9550SE 128MB |
| Optical Drive | Asus DRW-1612BL |
| Card Reader | Super Talent INT-AIN1-C |
| Hard Drive | Samsung HD400LJ 400GB SATA2 (x2) |
| Western Digital 40GB PATA | |
| Case Fans | Antec 120mm Case Fan (2) |
| Operating System | Windows XP Professional |
Sony VAIO VGN-FS351J/H Laptop
This has pretty much become our home PC. It's used to surf the net, check email, manage finances, etc. It's also doubling as our Blu-ray player for the living room. This is our second VAIO laptop and I've been very pleased with them - they have too much crapware on initial purchase, but they are sleek and well-built machines.
| Component | Part/Model |
|---|---|
| Processor | Intel Core 2 Duo T6400 2GHz |
| Memory | 4 GB DDR2 6400 |
| Optical Drive | DVD-RW / DVD-RAM / BD-ROM |
| Hard Drives | 320GB 5400 SATA-150 |
| Operating System | Windows Vista Home Premium |
Media Center Extenders
Two extenders serve up media from my Vista Media Center HTPC in the basement: an XBox 360 in the living room and a D-Link DMA2100 in the gym. The 360 is loud, but it's powerful and works very well as an extender. The 2100 is super quiet, but not as powerful (there's always a trade-off somewhere, isn't there?). I'm hoping to grab a standalone extender for our bedroom, but there's no real hurry (and I'd have to find a really good price).
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