Need (want) a media center extender?

Amazon has a special on the Linksys Media Center extenders.

These extenders allow you to control and view media from your MCE PC on another television.

There are two models, the DMA2100 and the DMA2200. The difference between the two models seems to be that the DMA2200 has an upscaling DVD player in it and the DMA2100 does not.

The special at Amazon is $100 off with the use of coupon code MSFTDEAL. After using this coupon price drops to $150 for the DMA2100 and $200 for the DMA2200.

Here's the link to the DMA2100:

Here's the link to the DMA2200:

I want one of these but am going to hold off until I get an HDTV in the bedroom.  This looks like it will work with a SDTV and downconvert the media but I'm not 100% positive.

Clear QAM is not looking good in my area

I used SiliconDust's Channel List by location to determine which channels TimeWarner is broadcasting unencrypted in my area.  The channels I was looking for are not to be found.  No HGTV, SciFi or Discovery for me, looks like I'll have to keep paying for TimeWarner's DVR if I want to record those channels.

I really want a Clear QAM tuner for my HTPC

I've been running the cable DVR (Digital Video Recorder) for about a month now and I love it.  Being able to record Mythbusters, Dr Who and Torchwood makes it worth the $14 a month.  Damn, $14 a month works out to $168 a year, for that amount I should be able to add a tuner to my HTPC that can pick up these stations.

The question is are my favorite stations broadcast in Clear QAM?  Clear QAM is the format that television is broadcast over cable, it is different than the way television is broadcast over the air.  Clear QAM will not allow you to pick up encrypted channels like pay channels so I need to determine if my favorites are encrypted or not.

I've been reading about Clear QAM tuners for months and the absolute best/easiest solutions seams to be  Silicon Dust's HDHomeRun dual tuner network device.  The HDHomeRun has two tuners, each can be ATSC (over the air HD) or Clear QAM.  The device costs $169 just about everywhere, funny that price seems familiar.

If I determine that most of the channels I want are available unencrypted over cable I think I will buy the HDHomeRun and return the cable box.  I'll let you know what I decide.

I got the cable box

I did it, I decided to pay the extra and picked up a Motorola cable HD DVR (Digital Video Recorder) from TimeWarner. Now I can watch and record channels that are not offered OTA (Over The Air) like SciFi, Speed, G4, etc. I'm enjoying my new found freedom of being able to schedule recordings for these channels and watching them as I want.

I haven't given up the HTPC (Home Theater Personal Computer), I still need it to access the web and I have found that the Media Center interface in XP MCE is much better and easier to use than the cable box. If a show is on a broadcast channel I tend to schedule the recording on the HTPC rather than the cable box.

Advantages of the HTPC over the cable box include skip ahead/skip back buttons, automatic commercial skip, and easier search / record functionality. I haven't attempted to connect the cable box to my computer yet, if I could do this then I could record all of my channels on the computer using the cable box to unscramble cable channels.

I intend to, some time in the not too distant future, upgrade my HTPC to a QAM (unencrypted HD over cable) tuner to see what HD channels TimeWarner is carrying in the clear. It's possible that QAM will give me most if not all of the channels I want so that I can give up the cable box.

I'll update you as I try new stuff.

My setup as it stands today:

HTPC:

AMD Athlon X2 3800 Processor

2 GigaBytes of RAM

3 hard drives totaling 936 GigaBytes

DVD +- Burner

ION Media Center Case

2 HD ATSC OTA Tuner cards

Microsoft MCE Keyboard

Microsoft MCE Remote

Monitor:

Westinghouse 47" 47w1 LCD Monitor (not a TV, it doesn't have any tuners built in)

To HTPC or not?

I've got a dilemma, I love my HTPC (Home Theater PC) but I'm being tempted to replace it with a cable HD DVR.  My HTPC is excellent, it records television in HD, plays games and browses the web in beautiful 1080p.  The problem is that my HTPC only receives OTA (Over The Air) broadcast HD channels. I've never hooked up the analog cable channels because a cable converter box would still be necessary.  Now my cable company is offering me HD channels and an HD DVR (Digital Video Recorder) for $10 more than I pay them for services now.

I'm currently paying $80 a month for 6MB cable internet, cable telephone with unlimited long distance and basic cable channels.  For $90 they will throw in cable channels in HD and an HD DVR.  I'm not sure which DVR but whichever it is I'm sure it will work fine.  The idea of being able to record my favorite cable channels  is very tempting.  The only thing making me think twice about this deal is the time, effort and money I've put into my computer.
As I've recounted in prior posts, my HTPC is made up of the following:

ATI TV Wonder HD tuner card

VBOX Cat's Eye DTA-150 tuner card

HIS RADEON 1800GTO graphics card

2GB of RAM

70GB 10,000 RPM SATA hard drive for the system

400GB  SATA hard drive internal for recording

500GB SATA hard drive external for storage (I manually move shows to the external to free space for recording)

AMD Athlon X2 3800+ processor

DVD Read/Write

Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005

Terrestrial Digital DB2 Multi-Directional HDTV Antenna

Eagle Tech Silver Aluminum HTPC Desktop Computer Case


This is a nice computer and I'll still use it for games / browsing / burning DVDs but it just doesn't feel right to give up on Media Center.  Yes, I'll be getting a lot more channels on the cable DVR but my beloved HTPC will be underutilized.  Maybe all I'm feeling is the fondness that one feels when he/she sells a beloved car to buy a new one.  Part of the loss is the sense of pride I have when I show off my HTPC, the sense of community that I have when dealing with others in the HTPC universe.

The HTPC gives me abilities that a DVR never will.  I can burn recordings to DVD, change them to other formats, share them, the DVR won't let me do these things.

I'll try the DVR for a while and see how it goes.  I'll miss playing with my HTPC, now there is no reason to but the HDHomeRun tuner that I've been drooling over.   If the DVR doesn't work out or if the cable company jumps the price my HTPC will be sitting there waiting to pick up the slack.

Westinghouse 37" 1080p monitor refurb for $512

Onsale.com has the Westinghouse LVM-37W3R 37" 1080p monitor for $512 plus $45 shipping (there is a $40 rebate on shipping, weird but nice) making shipping $5. Remember, this is not a television, this does not have a tuner in it. This works great with a Media Center PC or as a PC monitor or for video gaming. Add a tuner to make this an incredible HD TV.

Looking to buy a Home Theater PC (HTPC)?

I've been looking for a good deal on a "gaming" pc for a coworker. Today Newegg's latest email advert had a nice Gateway PC listed. After scouring the details on Newegg's site it turns out that in addition to all the stuff you want in a PC this also has an HD Tuner Card and MCE remote control. This computer is an HTPC all setup and ready to go. Just add rabbit ears or any UHF antenna and you are ready to receive HD broadcasts over the air (assuming your area has broadcast HD in range).

The computer is the Gateway GM5442, for $579 plus shipping and tax it has:
Intel Core 2 Duo E4400 processor,
2GB of RAM,
500GB Hard Drive,
Windows Vista Home Premium (Premium includes Media Center!),
16X DVD±RW Drive,
Optical Mouse and Multimedia Keyboard,
7.1 surround audio and stereo speakers,
Analog/Digital TV Tuner w/3-D Comb
Media Center Remote Control

This looks like a great deal, the reviews are excellent for this computer. Check out the pictures and reviews on Newegg's product page.