Dude, I’m Getting a Media Center

I don’t like to think about it, but the death of my PC could have ended much more tragically. Waking up and discovering that I may have lost all of my data, I progressed through each of the 5 stages of grief. At first, I tried to deny that there was a problem, then I got angry at myself for not listening to Thomas Hawk’s advice, this was followed by plenty of promises to be more diligent, if I could only figure out how to repair the computer, and when I ultimately realized it was toast, depression set in over my loss. Eventually, realizing my problems had nothing to do with my data, acceptance was easy — it meant that I was going to transfer my digital life into an entirely new media experience.

Three years ago, I made the mistake of buying a computer from my employer. They had extra units lying around and I liked the idea of having Microsoft Office pre-installed. The computer was old, but still an upgrade over my Windows 98 PC. At first it seemed like this a good solution but, what I didn’t realize, was that all the media-related functionality had been stripped from the machine. It ran on just a half a gig of RAM, had no CD or DVD burner, the video card couldn’t support higher resolutions, and somehow they managed to disable the microphone.

As a media nut, this was a brutal mistake to make for the home PC. So when it came time to get a new machine, I wanted to make sure that I kept all my functionality options open – such as handling PC gaming and streaming digital video well.

Specs for the gadget fans:

DI-700-XFIRE: Intel 700-class Crossfire workstation
Case: Cooler Master Centurion 5 Mid-tower
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 3GHz Dual Core 1333MHz FSB 4MB cache
Motherboard: ASUS P5W DH Deluxe (Intel 975X)
DDR2 Memory: 4GB Dual-channel: 4 x 1024MB DDR2 667 MHz PC5300
Hard Drive with Serial ATA 2 interface: 320GB 16MB cache 7200RPM
Hard Drive #2 with Serial ATA interface: 320GB 16MB cache 7200RPM
Serial ATA RAID: RAID Level 1 (mirroring)
Optical Drive : 18x SATA Dual-Layer DVD±RW w/ Software
Crossfire Video Card: Two X1650 Pro 256MB for Crossfire mode
Removable Storage Device(s): Internal 8-in-1 Card Reader
Sound Card: On-board high-definition sound system
Network Card: Integrated LAN with 10/100/1000 Fast Ethernet Controller
TV Tuner: Dual-channel TV-Tuner with PVR software
Additional Case Fan: Extra case fan
Power Supply: 500 Watt Crossfire/SLI ATX power supply with 120mm fan
CPU Cooling: Manufacturer’s CPU Fan
Operating Systems (OS): Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Edition

I’m looking forward to the extra horsepower, but the dual tuners excite me most. Even with my two TiVo Series3 tuners, I still run into recording conflicts. Some nights are popular, and I don’t like having to make choices due to those bogus :03 start times.

Media Center will be a change of pace compared to TiVo, but I’m looking forward to seeing the progress Microsoft’s made on the Vista platform. Initially, I plan on using my Xbox 360 as an extender, but care far too much about having access to the internet, to stick with that for too long. Microsoft’s WebTV may have never taken off, but for me, open access is the killer app.

I’m also excited to finally be able to start exploring some of the other PC DVR solutions out there. Over the years, I’ve read an awful lot about SageTV, BeyondTV, and MythTV, but have never been able to fully evaluate the differences in their approach to time shifting. I feel like I made the right choices with the components that I selected, but won’t know for sure until it arrives and I test it under real world conditions.

Davis Freeberg is a technology enthusiast living in the Bay Area. He enjoys writing about movies, music, and the impact that digital technology is having on traditional media. Read more at Davis Freeberg’s Digital Connection. Davis is a TiVo shareholder.