Maximum PC

anybody know anything about media center pc's? Im thinking about putting together a machine for the usual pvr functions, and the ususal internet and of course, games. Ive been reading about microsoft media center 2005 and of course they say its great. But I cant tell if it will work with my satalite (dish network) or how the video signal is. The video signal quality is crucial., my wife wont let me build this for the living room unless she can watch Dr. Phill in crisp clean clarity. This pc will also have a 42" plasma HD as the monitor/tv., I guess what the queston is, MC 2005 whith separate tv tuner and video cards, or ATI HDwonder and separate vid card and ati software. Which is the clearest? Thanks for any help.

Heres whats in my cart so far.
AHANIX D5 Media Center Black Enclosure
Remote Control with Receiver for Microsoft Windows XP Media Center
Western Digital 200GB 7200RPM SATA
Corsair XMS 512MB(256MBx2)
ASUS "A7N8X-E Deluxe"
AMD Athlon XP 3000+
Microsoft Windows XP Media Center 2005 - OEM
ROSEWILL ATI RADEON 9800 PRO Video Card, 128MB DDR, 256-Bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP, Model "RW98PR-128D"
Hauppauge PCI TV Tuner Card, Model "WinTV PVR 250" -RETAIL

This setup is about $1,300, just wonder if its worth it, thanks again

is Microsoft's media center OS available in stores or still only available via specific OEM's??????

If building from scratch the way to go may be ATI AIW.

If desperately wanting Windows media center OS but want to do the system your way.........get a base system from an OEM that isn't excessively proprietary in its parts ...and then upgrade with parts of your choice. There are a few PC makers that don't cost much and give buyer more flexibility with parts than Voodoo,Alienware,Falcon,Dell, etc that do make PC's with the Windows Media Center OS

Im pretty shure MC 2005 is avaliable with hardware purchase, ie. mobo, hard drive, proc. I would want to go this route if the picture was clearer. I heard that the ati AIW cards come with a bit of video degredation when it comes to the TV part. Other wise ill use xp pro and AIW software. It certainly would be cheaper to not have to buy a whole new OS. Is the video degredation really that noticable? What about AIW vs. separate TV tuner and vid card? And, will it accept the signal from my satalite box, or would digital cable be better? Thanks

Last I looked Newegg had it (WMC 2005)

The ATI AIW is not compatiable with Windows MCE 2005.

looks like a pretty nice setup. i love the d-vine cases. anyway, you should make sure that the hauppauge tuner card does hardware mpeg 2 encoding. i know that ATI sells a card that does it for like $70 (look up the e home wonder on newegg).

media center 2005 should work with your satellite box. the remote that you got has an IR blaster in the receiver, so you just hook that up to the satellite box and everything should work fine.

The Hauppauge has hardware encording on it, it logoed for MCE 2005, and that's one of the requirments.

good stuff. i was just making sure, cuz i've never used hauppauge products before.