My digital entertainment center adventure -- Part 1

I snagged probably the last HP Debranded P4 3.0GHz 200GB Digital Entertainment Center TS-255z from the ComputerGeeks the other day. Just take a look at the specs and then marvel at the $435.50 price. My buddy knew I was in the market for some sort of computer-plugged-into-my-TV thing. It took a while for the awesomeness of this to sink in after he shared the link.

The Mac mini was pretty high on my list once Boot Camp entered the picture. (My lady can't handle the OS X for some reason; she fears change.) But the mini's lack of video capture sort of bothered me. I'm not much for recording, but rewinding makes me feel like God.

The 255z is the HP z552 without the OS, instruction booklet, and support from HP. It's the same exact hardware. I figured I'd just install the XP Home that came with my laptop and be done with it. Yes, laugh at my naivete. I haven't put a system together since I've been on laptops. A hardcore gamer I am not. So I plugged in the serial number to activate Windows-- no dice. I called the 800 number and got an education on the Windows world today. Apparently the Windows installed on my laptop (included in the price of my laptop) is only good for that laptop. "If the laptop dies, the Windows dies with it." Yes, he said that. According to the MS customer service rep, OEM versions are tied to the hardware they're installed on. He mentioned that if I had purchased a standalone version, they could've given me another license. I didn't want to mess around with some workaround, so I started shopping for an OS I already had. I thought about Linux for second, and then moved on. The going rate around town for the full version of XP Home seemed to be around $200. I settled on an OEM version of Windows XP Media Center Edition for $109. The Home OEM was cheaper, but I figured I could exploit the hardware more with the OS it was designed around. The little platter is in transit now. I'll document the post-MCE experience in part 2.

In the meantime, I still had an OS that would work for 30 days, so I started tinkering. The remote keyboard worked immediately. The remote control didn't. The network card driver didn't install automatically, so I was a little stuck. My friend, who lives and breathes the internet, found the Marvell network card driver and sent me the link. I performed a thumb drive transfer and began rocking cyberspace in no time. I found the obvious video and sound drivers from ATI and Realtek. Using a digital coax connection to my surround system, I was able to get stereo sound to work but not 5.1. :(. I'm pretty sure the two video capture devices are from Hauppauge, but exactly which driver to use I wasn't sure about. I'm hoping the XP MCE install will solve these issues. If it has all the plug-and-play drivers, I should be golden.

Am I happy? Considering I was plugging my laptop into my HDTV via a VGA cable to watch HD files surrounded by black bars, and I was listening to music through an Apple AirPort, I'm more than stoked. I have a powerful computer that is always hooked up to my TV, sound system, and the interweb for a little over $500. I can take advantage of the TV's full resolution. Once I get the DVR cards working, I can rewind again (the Moxi box from Adelphia and all that came with it was getting ridiculously expensive, so we cancelled). I even installed Call of Cthulhu to see how a game would work on the new system. This game used to freeze on my weak laptop at the lowest settings. I used to see floating eyeballs where heads should be. Now on my bigass TV, this game can be enjoyed in all its macabre glory. It was nightmare-inducing.