This past July, I rebuilt an older PC as a media center. The machine now resides in my entertainment center as an entertainment hub and file server, storing all of my music, videos and pictures.
My Media Center PC sports a P4 2.0 GHz processor, 1 G of RAM, 550 GB of storage, a Hauppauge TV tuner and a ATI All-In-Wonder 9600. It is currently running on Windows XP Media Center Edition. I must have done something right in building the machine; it’s been running well for the last 24 days without a reboot.
I am quit happy with the machine right now, aside from the noise if nothing else is on. However, Lifehacker (one of my favorite reads) has posted an tour on rolling your own DVR and media server with MediaPortal.
MediaPortal is an Open Source application ideal for turning your PC / TV into a very advanced Media Center. MediaPortal allows you to listen to your favorite music & radio, watch and store your videos and DVDs, view, schedule and record live TV as a digital video recorder and much much more.
I may have to give this a try if Windows Media Center gives me any issues.
