Help me spec a media centre!!

[Gopher_By_Fende]

Hi guys,

I've decided to get a new TV. i've got 1200-1300 to spend, and primarily i want a 32" LCD HDTV (im looking at the LG 32LX2R). i was hoping to get a pc to hook it upto, running XP MCE, but if i get that tv @ £999, ill only have 200-300 left. a backup option was one of those buffalo media thingies on the OCUK shop, but i dont know if these are any good.

Any suggestions on the best way to spend 1300 on a big as possible LCD HDTV and a PC to run the media. i wont be playing games on it, but i would like to run sky through it if possible, and use it as a recorder.

any help would be appriciated as i have no experience with media pc's at all.

Thanks

 

[Gopher_By_Fende]

ok, cheers guys, thought it was a long shot but i gave it a go anyway!

regarding the buffalo media centre, does anyone know if this is any good?

i'm having a look one the buffalo site at the mo, but i would like the opinions of someone whos used one if possible

Thanks

ps - the pvr u mentioned sounds good, but unfortunatly i cannot receive freeview in my area!?! but i was thinking of getting a dual LNB for my sky dish and getting freesat, would it be possible to have sky & freesat running though something so i could record one and watch the other at the same time? how would i go about linking my 2 sky boxes to a computer? if i used to rf out on the sky box and had a dual or 2 analog tv cards, could that work?

 

[Gopher_By_Fende]

ok, i know its way more than i said, but if i can get my friends to chip in (it will be going in the front room after all!!) then i may be able to strech my budget a bit.

comments, critisisms and suggestions for the following media PC please -

AMD Sempron 64 2600+ 1.6GHz (Socket 754) CPU - Retail £41.95

Gigabyte K8N51GMF nForce 6100 Micro ATX (Socket 754) PCI-Express Motherboard £39.95

GeIL 512MB (2x256MB) PC3200 Value Dual Channel Kit CAS2.5 £24.95

Samsung SpinPoint P SP2504C 250GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM £53.95

Samsung SH-S162A 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM £22.95

Antec Overture II Piano Black Quiet Media case - 450W Smart Power PSU £66.95

Logitech UltraX™ Media Desktop - OEM £29.95

Microsoft Windows XP Media Centre 2005 Edition - OEM - 1Pk £64.95

Microsoft Windows XP Media Centre 2005 Remote Controller £18.95

Hauppauge WinTV PVR-500 Media Centre Edition Dual TV Tuner £94.95

Subtotal £459.50
VAT £80.42
Total £539.92

 

[Gopher_By_Fende]

im not too worried about not having hd on the graphics yet, i just wanted the tv to be high def coz i dont want to spend a fortune on a tv then have to get a new one when hd is more freely available, i can always upgrade the graphics when i have the money.

what cpu/mobo/ram would you recommend as a minimum for mce?