Humax 9200 or PC with Windows Media Centre

[Vegetarian]

If both the same I would get the Humax 9200 but if WMC is that much better will build a cheep set up... which is better?

 

[ssmacc]

Depends what you want it for, if its just to watch and record TV I’d go for a PVR, if you want all the other ‘stuff’ a PC can give you, I’d go for the Media Centre PC…thinking about it I’d go for the Media PC, you can then add HD content fairly cheaply at a later date, browse the web etc.

 

[El_Watcher]

Probably the only major advantage with the PC would be HD content (in the future) although if you plan to download media from the internet, a PC is the way to go.
The latest Humax box will record 2 programs at the same time, you can upload music to it, and you can download recorded programs from it to a PC (thus being able to burn to DVD or archive).
The other main difference is boot time. An HTPC would take at least approx 30 seconds to boot (depending on O/S and hardware), whereas a PVR should be booted and showing TV within 10 seconds.

 

[Burned_Alive]

The other main difference is boot time. An HTPC would take at least approx 30 seconds to boot (depending on O/S and hardware), whereas a PVR should be booted and showing TV within 10 seconds.

If you set the PC up properly you can set it to sleep instead of shutting down, uses no more power than when it is off and will boot to mce in probably around 5-10 seconds.