XP Media Center PCs, are they worth it?

[DJ-phYre]

I will be graduating high school in exactly one week from today. I had planned on getting a laptop for graduation, but with the many features of the new Windows Media Center PCs, I have been having second thoughts. I want to make sure I know exactly what these PCs are used for.

Windows Media Center PCs can:
- Record live broadcasts / tv shows (just as tivo can)
- The recordings are encoded in MPG format
- These MPGs can be backed up to DVD/VCD/SVCD
- Be used as a stereo (for CD and MP3 playback)

These are just a few of the assumptions I have about these PCs. Are these correct? I have always wanted a TiVO because I am a huge fan of certain series that I would love to have taped/recorded.

The thing is this. The laptop that I customized from Dell was going to be around $1800. This was going to be a low-end gaming laptop. I already have 3 towers, 2 of which I am taking to school with me. One is my main desktop the other tower houses my hard drives and runs as a server. I was wondering if putting a TV Tuner card in one of the PCs would basically give me all the functionality out of the computer just as a Media Center PC would. This would be a cheaper alternative and I could still get my laptop. I have looked at serveral Media Center PCs and seen that there are a lot of them under $1800 which would leave me some money towards a nice 21" LCD

I am just trying to decide. I just need some opinions on some stuff and maybe a little extra info.

Oh yeah, one more question. If I had a gaming PC could I run it with 2 Video Cards (One Top-of-the-line Gaming Card and a TV Tuner / Capture Card)?

Thanks for all the help in advance!

 

[Lee]

http://www.microsoft.com/WindowsXP/expertzone/focuson/focuson_mediacenter.mspx

You can find answers there.

 

[DJ-phYre]

That info was great, but it didn't address the question on TV Tuner cards

 

[dreamliner77]

Build a tower with an ATI All In Wonder and Snapstream software and you're all set.

 

[DJ-phYre]

I am looking into the ATI All-in-Wonder cards, just don't know if I want to fork up that much money right now for a new video card.

 

[dreamliner77]

I am looking into the ATI All-in-Wonder cards, just don't know if I want to fork up that much money right now for a new video card.

You don't want to fork over the money for an AIW, but you'll do it for an overpriced Media Center PC???

 

[DJ-phYre]

You don't want to fork over the money for an AIW, but you'll do it for an overpriced Media Center PC???

You can get a Media Center PC for ~ $1000 USD which is not that bad for a new computer with 3.2gHz and so on. Especially since you didn't build it yourself.