Playaa July 15, 2003 Share Playaa Member July 15, 2003 so I'm trying to build a media pc...as in it will sit attached to the tv and record video and play mp3 files....that is ALL it will do. What kind of tuner card should I get? (I'm looking at this) should I go with a video card and tuner in one or just use a tuner and onboard video? the pc I'm going to be using has an 800mhz processor and 128mb ram (I know it needs more ram but how much would you say?) and will be running windows 2000 Professional. I'm trying to decide what hard drive to get cause I'm on a budget. Is it worth it to get a large hard drive if it's only 5400rpm? (as in 160gb for $110). I know the speed will cause some performance issues but would it be worth it for the available space? anyone out there built a media pc yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwEEziL July 15, 2003 Share dwEEziL Member July 15, 2003 I am also curious as to what the best TV Tuner/Capture card is (aside from the AIWs). As for an HD, you have to take into account the noise the HD spinning will give off. A buddy made a Shuttle XPC for someone, put one of the WD 8MB cache HDs in it, and the guy complained that it was too loud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Playaa July 16, 2003 Author Share Playaa Member July 16, 2003 from what I can discern for the cheap price I need Leadtek makes better tv-tuner cards than ATI does. I have been debating on whether to put my AIW in there....but I can't make myself part with a Radeon 9700 just to record video with, so I will be buying a tv-tuner card. wouldn't a 5400rpm HD be quieter? I'm worried that it will lag the system with the little ram it has and slow processor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[Mmmm]Homer July 16, 2003 Share [Mmmm]Homer Member July 16, 2003 I've seen articles recently that have done media PCs, but they all used the 9700 AIW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hendryx July 16, 2003 Share Hendryx Member July 16, 2003 Recording video takes up ALOT of space. that 160 gig for 110 bucks sounds like a good deal. For a tuner card, I wouldn't recommend the Pinnacle ones. They work for me (I just record shows I might miss), but the quality isn't all that great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Playaa July 16, 2003 Author Share Playaa Member July 16, 2003 well I think I'm going with the HD (since it is so cheap) although I'm thinking of a 120gb external drive for the same price just for portability, plug it up to my pc when Dad's watching satellite. I'm thinking I can get this thing running for less than $200....gonna be kinda cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest zerodamage July 16, 2003 Share Guest zerodamage Guests July 16, 2003 I would say go with this: ATI All-In-Wonder VE 64MB DDR PCI RETAIL On new egg, it is 117 dollars. It is PCI video card and an all-in-wonder together. You will not get much for gaming performance but it is cheaper than buying a seperate video card and a tv card, and the all-in-wonders are the best for what you are looking to do. If you already have a cheapo video card, then take a look at the ATI TV WONDER VE PCI RETAILWatch It is only 45 bucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Playaa July 16, 2003 Author Share Playaa Member July 16, 2003 this machine will be doing NOTHING but being a PVR (Personal Video Recorder I think) so I don't need anything but the onboard video. I may get a better video card if this causes video quality to get better. The ATI TV Wonder VE is only $6 cheaper than the LeadTek and the LeadTek has gotten amazing reviews whereas the ATI has gotten very poor reviews, that's my only real reasoning behind getting the LeadTek. I do appreciate your input though. I would think about getting an AIW but I'm trying to keep this under $200 and I need to get 1) a big HD. 2) a tv-tuner capable card. 3)more ram (found out the system only has 64mb SDRam) so the AIW ATI is no good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest zerodamage July 16, 2003 Share Guest zerodamage Guests July 16, 2003 Well depending on your onboard video, which is crap in most cases, you will not get much good out of this media pc. Unless you pick up a cheap vid card to boot. I haven't seen any reviews of the tv capture cards, I am just reporting from word of mouth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[VI]ROosTEr July 17, 2003 Share [VI]ROosTEr Member July 17, 2003 CompUSA...160 GB $99 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gond July 17, 2003 Share Gond Member July 17, 2003 I have a media pc...here are the specs that I used P3-600 512mb ram 30gb hd ATI AIW 128 Pro Here is what I found. (granted this is older technology). Playing DVD's back always looked a bit blocky. I assume due to going from the small PC monitor to a 32" tv. Some games looked horrid (CS for example). However, Need for Speed Porshe absolutely ROCKS on the TV. Even on the 52" it's hooked to now. The few times I did record I was not totally impressed with the quality. I recorded the Matrix and, other than the blockness, the sound got off track for about 5 minutes in the middle of the recording. The recording size for that movie at DVD quality was about 5 gig. I'm sure the newer AIW cards are better than the one I have so that is a good option...even going with a 9500 might be cool. For capture now I'm using a Dazzle 150. It seems to work a bit better than the AIW I have but it's not made for TV out either...it is a valid option however if you already have a tv out card. I tried the Dazzle 80 but it was worthless...the 150 is the lowest version I felt was acceptable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Playaa July 17, 2003 Author Share Playaa Member July 17, 2003 I completely forgot about tv-out and what ZD said hit a cord. I guess I'm going to hafta put the price of a somewhat nice video card in there too. so. PCI Video card with TV-out (probably 64mb) Tv-tuner card (maybe on video card maybe not) 2-256mb SDRam Chips 1 big HD (either 120gig portable or 160gig interior) and gotta do it for under $200....I don't see it happening. anyone know the reason that the Leadtek card I linked to has 2 coax plugs? is that tv-in/out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwEEziL July 17, 2003 Share dwEEziL Member July 17, 2003 http://www.leadtek.com.tw/multimedia/winfa...v2000xp_2.shtml Nope, looks like one is the TV in and the other is the FM in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Playaa July 17, 2003 Author Share Playaa Member July 17, 2003 well I've been thinking about this all morning and since I'm broke (could have done it if under $200) and it looks to be at least close to $300 I'm probably not going to do it. Instead I'm going to just buy that 120gig portable HD for $100 and save the rest of the money. thx for all your help on this one guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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