TiVo vs. Windows XP Media Center 2005
Obvious Diversion has posted an interesting article which talks about the main reason why you should consider purchasing a TiVo instead of a Media Center PC. The author points out the fact that a TiVo costs ~$99 while a standard Media Center PC costs ~$974.99! Check out the article for some more insight…
TiVo’s rebate program has made their DVRs extremely inexpensive. A couple of my friends have purchased a TiVo for around $50! That’s cheap compared to the $200 I spent on my TiVo a little over a year ago.
I recently bought one of the $49 reconditioned 40-hr TiVos for the primary purpose of streaming audio to my entertainment center – at that low price, with the ease of use, why not? The alternatives in the marketplace like MediaCenter PC (expensive), EZ-Stream Universal Wireless Multimedia Receiver (~$250, dubious usability) or the Linksys Media Center Extender (~$250, unknown compatibility) all have major downsides. The TiVo is cheap, easy and setup is a breeze (as long as you get the right wireless adapter).
It should be noted that you really have to include any subscriptions in the mix.
So it would be 99 + 299 for the tivo (still cheap) vs 975 for the PC.
I have a series one and just got a Humax (series 2) to be able to burn dvd’s (quite cool and way easier than ripping from the series one).
I’m also building a mythtv box but it will _never_ replace the tivo in my wife’s eyes (and I don’t blame her).
The other issue is that it’s nice to have a really quiet system and Tivo does that well. I’m lusting after the HP z545 (dual tuner, great case) but at 2000 bucks it’s really outside the budget at the moment.
Replace TiVo with Media Center PC?
One of our family gifts this year (the other was a Saturn 2005 Relay) was a Media Center PC. We’ve moved the TiVO out of our family room and into the master bedroom. I felt a little melancholy unplugging the TiVo and moving it from its home for t…