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stand alone dvd recorder or mini pc??


Mo-S3
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I need to know whether i should buy a dvd hdd recorder to go with my new tv or should i go for a mini pc system?

the thing is i have the shuttle system already running a p4 3.2, 1gb ddr2 ram, pci-ex vga card and twin 200gb sata drives.

I know i would need tv card but is it worth setting this up to record programs etc or just sod this idea and buy a stupidly expensive dvd hdd recorder?

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the question is flexibility or ease of function, a stand alone dvd+hdd recorder will undoubtedly be easier to use, but a sff pc with tv tuner etc. will provide much more in the way of funtionality...

also, IIRC, consider that some hdd based recorders with built in dvd players wont be able to copy the dvds due to copyright...

I'd go for the PC myself, but then im already running that setup and it works for me 169144-ok.gif

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thanks,

do you find that its a pain in the butt to use or would you say its pretty easy?

I would be using media centre on it but want the ease and flexibilty to record programs fairly easily as i wont be only one using it.

Do you use a seperate remote for it or mouse?

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its pretty straight forward provided you're at least a bit familiar with pc's, Media Centre is really user friendly (in a microsoft kinda way) and I havent encountered any problems running it, but if you just want to record tv programs, then i'd go for sky plus or a hdd based recorder, its much simpler, starts up quicker, and runs much more reliably than a pc ever. Media Centre is only worthwhile if you really intend to use all its media features, such as photo/video/audio/internet all via one interface and from one control, and it can take some getting used to hehe, hope this helps 169144-ok.gif

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I'd like to go the way of a small pc set up as i already have a Shuttle pc whereas i would have to buy a new dvd hdd recorder and the ones ive seen are in the region of £500-£800 (sony & pioneer with hdmi connecter)

What remote and keyboard/mouse do you use?

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