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[Paul_Sinnema]

People,

I have the following pleasant situation. We're about to change the livingroom and we want to get rid of the TV, Radio Tuner, CD Player, DVD Player etc.... and replace it with 1 computer that does it all.

I'm going to change to Media Center 9 to control it all and would like to have some input concerning the hardware to choose. I've been searching the web and found the following hardware that could fill the gap:

- A video projector (Several models possible) or a 23,2" TFT screen (give it to me, what are the pro's and con's).
- Radeon xxxx All In Wonder (TV, Radio included)
- DVD Player (or recorder)
- A huge harddisk (should I take SCSI, or will IDE do nicely).
- What motherboard and processor should sufice? (Intell, AMD, EPIA, etc..) should be as quiet and green as possible!
- Should I take a seperate soundcard or is the onboard chip good enough?

I would like to be able to control the whole with 1 remote control.

My ultimate question is: Which hardware suits Media Center best?

Ok, fire away.

Paul.

[KingSparta]

buy a big one

[Paul_Sinnema]

buy a big one

Thanks.........  :-/, I think?

[xen-uno]

Paul,

> A video projector (Several models possible) or a 23,2" TFT screen (give it to me, what are the pro's and con's).

You can't beat the Sony 24" widescreen (GDM-900) for big screen affordability and resolution capability. The only negative with it is you need Arnold to move it around.

> Radeon xxxx All In Wonder (TV, Radio included)

The 9800 AIW specs out better than the 9700, but it's not shipping yet...but should soon

> DVD Player (or recorder)

You can't beat the Sony DRU-500 Multi-format DVD Rec/Player (HP's got a good one out now, too)

> A huge harddisk (should I take SCSI, or will IDE do nicely).

Nothing beats SCSI drives...and actually Quantum SCSI's are pretty reasonable. I think I would get a SCSI UW-160 or 320 drive (Seagate...the best) for a boot drive, then pick up a matched pair of IDE's and hook them up to an Adaptec RAID 1200A card. You would then create a Level 1 mirrored volume, and throw all your valuable data & media files on it. If one drive crashes, you've got the other until you can replace it. The odds of both drives dying at the same time are astronomical.

> What motherboard and processor should sufice? (Intell, AMD, EPIA, etc..) should be as quiet and green as possible

Take your pick, they're all good

> Should I take a seperate soundcard or is the onboard chip good enough?

Since you sound serious about your music, pick up a serious add on card (M-audio is popular here). Motherboard implementations are lacking (at least I think so)

10^-27

[KingSparta]

I have A ATI 9700 Pro Video Board, And love it.

I have A DVD burner But Have Never Used It To Burn A DVD

SCSI i don't feel is needed IDE should be fine, And If You Want A RAID System they make IDE RAID Controlers

[xen-uno]

I think it's more or less a proven fact that SCSI's have maintained quality & reliability through the years while IDE/ATA's have slipped. You don't need a huge boot drive (a 20 to 40 GB will do just fine). Let your mirrored volume store your media, in a fault tolerant manner. The 1200A is an ATA Raid controller (~ $60 @ Amazon).

10^-27

edit: Some models of new motherboards from Intel, Asus and others have onboard RAID...usually for the new Serial ATA drives.

[Paul_Sinnema]

Thanks for the input so far. What about remote control?

[xen-uno]

AIW's ship with the Remote Wonder. MC9 (yes...move up to) comes with a GML for Girder (remote control interface...free...find, DL, and install). There's more on Girder over in the MC9 forum under topic "Girder Explained".

10^-27

[Paul_Sinnema]

You can't beat the Sony 24" widescreen (GDM-900) for big screen affordability and resolution capability. The only negative with it is you need Arnold to move it around.

10^-27

I didn't realize what you told me. The Sony is a CRT, not a TFT. I'm not throwing my widescreen tele out the window to replace it with another huge machine in the room. We are moving to this new solution because we want to get rid of all the bulky, energy consuming stuff! B.t.w. the Sony's price is about the price of a TFT 23" screen!

[xen-uno]

The only Big TFT/LCD widescreen I've seen was nearly $3000, compared to the Sony @ $2000. Resolution modes supported and a whole lot of other things make the Sony superior (other than weight). Dimensionally, it's no deeper than the 19" Dell I'm looking at now. It's alot wider and a little taller.

10^-27

PS: When you get a TFT/LCD of that size, how many dead pixels does the mfr deem acceptable? How fast do the pixels refresh? CRT's are the best method of display (bar none).

...and modern CRT's are marvelously low power (consuming) devices (even the Sony)