Is Media center any good?

[Camel]

Is Microsoft media center OS any good, or should I get XP again?

 

Any help would be appreciated.

[Iced_Bullet]

Media Center [stupid American spelling ;)] is essentially XP, just with the capability of recording tv. Plus you also get the nicer defualt skin. So I'd suggest getting Media Center, as it looks nicer than the noraml XP. You wouldn't tell any difference between the two aswell.

 

+ Oh you also get a nice easy to use program 'Media Center' which allows you to view recorded TV programs, Videos, Music and Pictures.

 

But really, I'd stick with a normal XP. Unless there is really no difference in price, or you want to record TV, or want the fancy skin, but that can be changed easily via a legal download :)

[hesonly5]

Get Vista :p That has Media Center in all versions bar Business, and looks a whole lot purtier ;)

[Iced_Bullet]

But there is a major price difference ;) I agree with the perdiness, however, from what I read on his monitor thread, it seems Mellors will not be doing much on his computer, gaming wise (Vista with the DX10 thingy). Also, is after the cheapest monitor, so maybe (assumption) does not want to splash much cash as he has his 360 :)

[hesonly5]

Indeed, I didn't really expect him to go for Vista ;)

 

Anyways, in that case it's prolly easier to go for normal XP, like Iced said.

[Pherelas]

I have Media Center edition and its a bit crap to be honest, if you want XP XP pro is your best bet.

[CarboyZR1]

I actually have Media Center as well. It is excellent. To me it's the Vista Ultimate of XP's.

[Camel]

Well im spendin about £600 on my own pc, mainly for gaming and i dont need a decent monitor as i will mainly use my HDTV and yes i do want to be able to play games in DX10, so would it be easier if I go for vista?

[CarboyZR1]

Well im spendin about £600 on my own pc, mainly for gaming and i dont need a decent monitor as i will mainly use my HDTV and yes i do want to be able to play games in DX10, so would it be easier if I go for vista?

Yes it is. You don't want to get XP now since everyone has Vista now and you need to keep up to date.

[Camel]

Yes it is. You don't want to get XP now since everyone has Vista now and you need to keep up to date.

I dont want it to "keep upto date". I want the one that is best for gaming.

[CarboyZR1]

I dont want it to "keep upto date". I want the one that is best for gaming.

Then I'm not a gaming expert, but I rather wait a bit more until getting Vista.

[hesonly5]

If you want DirectX 10, you need Vista or an XP mod. But if you're going to game on Vista, you need a DirectX 10 compatible card (with HDTV-out if you want to play on one), 2GB of RAM at minimum and a dual core processor...

[Camel]

If you want DirectX 10, you need Vista or an XP mod. But if you're going to game on Vista, you need a DirectX 10 compatible card (with HDTV-out if you want to play on one), 2GB of RAM at minimum and a dual core processor...

well I have got a HDTV and im getting 4GB DDR2 RAM, athlon 64 x2 4800+ or 5000+, nvidia 8600GT 1GB so yes it will have HD output and is DX10 compatible and will eventually be SLI'd

 

I'm not an idiot when it comes to computers, I just wanted to know which would suite me best.

[Guest RB26DETT]

If you want DirectX 10, you need Vista or an XP mod. But if you're going to game on Vista, you need a DirectX 10 compatible card (with HDTV-out if you want to play on one), 2GB of RAM at minimum and a dual core processor...

there's a mod for XP to run DX10???

 

well I have got a HDTV and im getting 4GB DDR2 RAM, athlon 64 x2 4800+ or 5000+, nvidia 8600GT 1GB so yes it will have HD output and is DX10 compatible and will eventually be SLI'd

 

I'm not an idiot when it comes to computers, I just wanted to know which would suite me best.

 

hey mellors, if you're getting 4gb of ram i suggest getting windows vista home premium or ultimate as long as it's a 64-bit processor so that it'll utilize all 4gb of ram. if you get a 32-bit processor, it'll only utilize 3gb of ram even though you have 4gb's.

 

i'd say up your processor and video card. get a amd athlon 64 5400+, you'll just add a few more for better performance. and for the graphics card, i suggest the sapphire radeon hd3850, it's better than the 8600gt. just my two cents.

[hesonly5]

there's a mod for XP to run DX10???

 

I thought so, lemme check... *wonders off into the dark depths of the tinterwebs*

 

 

Hmm, the only thing I can find is the Alky Project but they've closed at the beginning of January and the link back to their forum for the DirectX 10 is dead :(

[Camel]

there's a mod for XP to run DX10???

 

 

 

hey mellors, if you're getting 4gb of ram i suggest getting windows vista home premium or ultimate as long as it's a 64-bit processor so that it'll utilize all 4gb of ram. if you get a 32-bit processor, it'll only utilize 3gb of ram even though you have 4gb's.

 

i'd say up your processor and video card. get a amd athlon 64 5400+, you'll just add a few more for better performance. and for the graphics card, i suggest the sapphire radeon hd3850, it's better than the 8600gt. just my two cents.

 

Well I was going to get the 64bit OS anyway because i know the 32bit only supports 3GB of RAM and i've kinda run out of money, so getting anything better at the moment is a no unless i van borrow some money of my mum(highly unlikely) and i've had bad experiences with ATI so i'll stick with nvidia.