Media Portal Box for $330 (2 Viewers)

bang

Portal Member
November 9, 2005
17
0
Hey, I am new to this. So, cut me some slack.
I have done some research on hardware to build a media portal box and have come up with this list.
https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersio...sition=HISTORY&ID=1745932&WishListTitle=media
I was hoping that some of the experts here would verify my specs to see if all parts are compatible with media portal and with each other.
This would be most helpful.

Along with using this box for watching TV, I would also like to record what I am watching. Again, I am new to this. I would also like to access home movies/pictures on another machine on my network.

Just curious if I can do these things with the hardware I have picked out.

Thanks Again
 

jadz

Portal Pro
August 30, 2004
150
0
Canada
I'm not sure on how it would perform, but I think making this type of shopping list for people who want to setup a HTPC without doing a lot of hardware research is a great idea and would help the project.
 

scoop

Retired Team Member
  • Premium Supporter
  • November 14, 2004
    614
    7
    Hi,

    Ditch the Hauppauge WinTV 401 TV/FM and replace it with a PVR-150MCE. It's only $2 difference. The 401TV/FM is a "software based" card which is unsupported and won't work with upcoming releases. The PVR-150MCE has a hardware MPEG2 encoder onboard, which is mandatory for an analog TV card.

    I can't believe they still charge that much for such useless cards... ;)

    Kind regards,
    Michel
     

    bang

    Portal Member
    November 9, 2005
    17
    0
    I agree with you Jadz. I was going to use MythTv, b/c I have a bit of experience with linux, but this was just easier to deal with.

    Michel, is that the only thing you found wrong with my list? Thanks for the help btw. It would suck to get all this and it not work.

    Any other suggestions would be great.
    Thanks again
     

    scoop

    Retired Team Member
  • Premium Supporter
  • November 14, 2004
    614
    7
    Hi,
    bang said:
    Yes it is!
    Sorry, I forgot to put the link in my post. ;)

    EDIT: The other hardware seems OK, for a low budget system. But, personally I'd go for a desktop case. There are some cheap desktop cases which are rather quiet. It all depends on the total costs, of course.

    Regards,
    Michel
     

    bang

    Portal Member
    November 9, 2005
    17
    0
    thanks again for your help. I hope this case isn't too noisy and the hardware will be fast enough to operate Media Portal.
     

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