XP Media Center not all it's cracked up to be?
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Greetings from The VACM Team,
In This September 13, 2006 Issue:
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- XP Media Center not all it's cracked up to be?
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* The Bottom Line...
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What is Windows XP MCE? Essentially, it's Windows XP Professional
Service Pack 1 (SP1) with an additional application, Media Center, and related
multimedia support. XP MCE runs only on very "hefty" PCs. And even with a
very "hefty" PC running MCE, it will seem to run very much slower than it should.
For instance, a 3GHz PC will seem like a lowly 1GHz PC when running MCE.
In addition, you will need a fast video card and FireWire connectivity for attaching
a DV camera, a TV tuner card for interacting with a cable or satellite signal, and,
optionally, other multimedia features, including a DVD writer, surround sound speakers,
and front-panel access to the types of memory cards used by most digital cameras.
Many manufacturers now offer Media Center PCs. The main thing to remember is
that XP Media Center is still buggy and consumes massive PC resources, which
equates to a PC that runs slower than you think it should...
XP Media Center Edition is geared toward the home user, the college dorm, the
apartment, or children's room, where a PC might be an acceptable alternative to
a TV. And it could be used as complete, all-in-one entertainment center. That is,
you could use the PC with a mouse and keyboard to interact with applications
like Word and Internet Explorer (IE), as you would expect with any PC, but when
you want to watch or record TV, listen to music, view photos, or digital movies in
a more comfortable way than watching the PC screen, you can actually use a
remote control as long as you connect your PC to a TV (large or small screen)
that you are not too far away from (10 feet or so).
XP Media Center does give you TiVo type functionality, but the bottom line is that
you can much better performance by getting a hefty XP Professional system and
install just the multimedia software you need. XP Media Center has a tendency
to make a powerful PC look like a real dog. And there are still numerous bugs in
XP MCE that will have you rebooting your PC more than you think is sane. And XP
Media Center Edition is just as vulnerable to viruses and spywares as any other
version of Windows, make no mistake.
A decent XP Media Center PC these days would have at least a 3GHz processor,
at least 512MB or RAM and a huge hard drive. The choice is certainly yours.
If you have a fast PC already, though, and plenty of RAM and hard drive space,
you might just want to opt for a good capture card and software for your
multimedia desires. And while you may see good reviews on the Hauppauge
video capture cards, please take not that Hauppauge cards have serious
limitations, including lots of hardware incompatibilities, software problems,
very poor technical support, etc. Our tests (and numerous calls to Hauppauge
tech support) resulted in a working TV capture configuration that would work
only on a Windows 2000 system. We suggest you check your favorite for
"Hauppauge Card Gripe" for more information.
Still think you want a Window Media Center PC? Well, make sure you have at
least a 3GHz processor, a minimum of 512MB of RAM (preferably 1GB or more)
and a large SATA hard drive (at least 250GB).
The other option, if you have the recommended hardware minimums, is to install
only the software you need on an XP Professional PC. And this may be the
best option for those who are technically able to do so, or who have a "trusted"
computer geek friend.
Remember, that you will not only have software and configuration to do on Windows,
but you will also have wiring issues with coaxial cables and network cables
and possibly more, depending on what you want to do.
In our experience supporting business and home users, our recommendation is
to never buy a Media Center PC that you intend to use just for business purposes
including spreadsheets, accounting, word processing, etc. Media Center is
an expensive toy. Don't put it in your office... at least... not yet...
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* What You Should Do
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1. Consider carefully what you need a new PC to do. For
primarily business use, go with XP Pro or even Win2000.
2. Whatever you decide, click here to get today's #1
AntiSpyware Software and keep spyware from trashing
you new PC
3. And, of course, if you do not have AntiVirus software on
your PC, you are lucky to be able to get to this web
page at all. If you haven't already, install
a quality AntiVirus software such as Norton.
4. (Optional but STRONGLY recommended to further protect
against spywares and viruses)
Install a personal firewall. VACM recommends the
#1 personal firewall, much more effective than the
one in Windows XP, and all other name brand firewalls.
You can get today's #1 firewall by clicking here.
Best Regards,
Marc Deschenes, VACM Editor
The VACM Project at
Automated PC Solutions
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*** Be sure to check out the appendix at the end of this alert
******** APPENDIX - Handy How-To Tips ********** * How To Boot into Safe Mode Shut the computer down so that the power is off.
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