ForeverUnknown Posted August 27, 2005 Share Posted August 27, 2005 I want something to record tv shows and what not, so I was wondering which would be the better choice. TIVO or a MS Media Center? I already have a pc that I can use for a Media Center but what are the benefits for each? Also can MC record a show while you're watching another? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porp Posted August 27, 2005 Share Posted August 27, 2005 Media Center.. Hands down! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianhanson37 Posted August 27, 2005 Share Posted August 27, 2005 Well you gotta consider a few things. How big is your monitor? If you only have like a 15" monitor and a 27" tv tivo might be better. Also how big is your hard drive? If your planning on recording shows you will need a big hard drive so you can store it all. Also consider the price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForeverUnknown Posted August 27, 2005 Author Share Posted August 27, 2005 Media Center.. Hands down! 586438029[/snapback] Any specific reasons? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForeverUnknown Posted August 27, 2005 Author Share Posted August 27, 2005 (edited) Well you gotta consider a few things. How big is your monitor? If you only have like a 15" monitor and a 27" tv tivo might be better. Also how big is your hard drive? If your planning on recording shows you will need a big hard drive so you can store it all. Also consider the price. 586438053[/snapback] Will be viewing on a 20" tv. Hard drive space is no issue. Basically if I go with a media center, I'll need to buy a tv tuner ($135 or so) and MS MC ($130) for a total of around $270. If I go with TIVO, 40hour ($99) or 140hour ($199), and $299 life subscription for a maximum total of around $500. Pricewise MC is better but does TIVO have anything that's better? Edited August 27, 2005 by ForeverUnknown Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martog Posted August 29, 2005 Share Posted August 29, 2005 If you are recording with Media Center and only have 1 tuner, I believe its a limitation that you can only either record or watch TV, or record and watch what you are recording. Though if you had a cable signle going into the TV aside from displaying the media center on the tv, you could flip over the the cable input on the tv and just watch tv like that, if you do have cable, you may have satalite, so I don't know how that will work, all I know is I have just normal cable at the moment. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Warwagon MVC Posted August 29, 2005 MVC Share Posted August 29, 2005 I hate to say it but I would choose Tivo only for the fact that my tivo has not yet crashed once, its ment to do one thing and one thing only, and thats to record TV. Windows Media does TV really good but it also does alot of other stuff which could lead to other stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martog Posted August 30, 2005 Share Posted August 30, 2005 My current Media Center PC has yet to crash on me, and it does only one thing for me right now, and that's record TV, though I do have World of Warcraft installed (don't play it on there) but that's really it. Media Center is fine, and I 2005 is really stable, especially if the drivers do not hate the video card (Had that problem with crappy geforce mx card and old computer, but the new one with a 6600 is very stable) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doug_jnr Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 (Had that problem with crappy geforce mx card and old computer, but the new one with a 6600 is very stable) 586451301[/snapback] MCE only supports DX9 cards so that rules an mx out. anyways... go MCE....disable all unneeded services etc.... install latest rollup 2 patch (emerald), use latest drivers for everything along with latest nvidia mpeg 2 decoder and you will have the best solution out there. Might not be as dedicated as tivo, but can a tivo play divx, xvid, dvd's, mp3's, browse the web....the list goes on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martog Posted September 25, 2005 Share Posted September 25, 2005 MCE only supports DX9 cards so that rules an mx out.anyways... go MCE....disable all unneeded services etc.... install latest rollup 2 patch (emerald), use latest drivers for everything along with latest nvidia mpeg 2 decoder and you will have the best solution out there. Might not be as dedicated as tivo, but can a tivo play divx, xvid, dvd's, mp3's, browse the web....the list goes on. 586556629[/snapback] MCE only supports DX9 cards for the effects yes, but it'll work otherwise with non-DX9 cards. :) I popped a FX5200 in the P3 900Mhz and it did work alot faster for MCE, but the Athlon XP 3000+ and 6600 just work better ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdlarson83 Posted September 28, 2005 Share Posted September 28, 2005 If you are recording with Media Center and only have 1 tuner, I believe its a limitation that you can only either record or watch TV, or record and watch what you are recording. Though if you had a cable signle going into the TV aside from displaying the media center on the tv, you could flip over the the cable input on the tv and just watch tv like that, if you do have cable, you may have satalite, so I don't know how that will work, all I know is I have just normal cable at the moment. :) 586446895[/snapback] Looks like he's looking at getting a dual tuner since he has $135 down for spending on the tv tuner card Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apex. Posted September 28, 2005 Share Posted September 28, 2005 Media Center. Period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martog Posted October 3, 2005 Share Posted October 3, 2005 Looks like he's looking at getting a dual tuner since he has $135 down for spending on the tv tuner card 586591584[/snapback] Don't let prices fool you. The ATI TV Wonder Elite hovers around that range and is only a single tuner. :) Though could be dual tuner, who knows. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galley Posted October 3, 2005 Share Posted October 3, 2005 A DirecTV/TiVo combo unit can record two shows at once while watching something that was previously recorded. Service is $6/month no matter how many units you have in your home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy1 Posted October 4, 2005 Share Posted October 4, 2005 A DirecTV/TiVo combo unit can record two shows at once while watching something that was previously recorded. Service is $6/month no matter how many units you have in your home.586614429[/snapback] Yes, but you must already have DirecTV service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Veteran Posted October 4, 2005 Veteran Share Posted October 4, 2005 Poll added Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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