While we’re a bit late for June, you get a major geek out in return!  This month, Jere and I are joined by Andy Van Til of DVRMS-Toolbox fame as well as Josh Shenkle, the Minnesota Maven to discuss all things hardware.  From video card chipsets, to processors and storage, we’ve got you covered.  If you’ve been wondering what to look for when selecting an HTPC video card, this is the show you want to listen to.
With topics like deinterlacing, HD playback, I/O speed and caching, you’re sure to find …

Yes, you can go searching around the web and learn how to build your very own PC.  It’s not a difficult process and there are lots of how-to’s out there.  That said, since we deal quite a bit with HTPCs here at The DMZ, I thought it would be good to share with our readers how you too can build your very own HTPC and know exactly what’s going on with your system.
While pre-built systems offer you convenience and ease of setup, building your own PC offers a lot …

Oh do we have fun this week!  After moving through a ton of reader email and comments (THANK YOU!), Josh and Adam get into the question of fair use and recorded TV.  How long should you be allowed to keep your recordings?  Can you archive them forever or are you obligated to buy the DVD series once it’s available?  We try to focus on these questions this week.  (Notice I said we try.  We stray a bit!)
We had some great emails and comments this week and you’ll find links …

While most people in the Media Center community have probably at least tried running the Windows 7 RC or RTM, there are those still running Windows Vista.  Wouldn’t it be great if you knew whether or not your system or your DIY system components were Windows 7 compatible?  It sure would!  Ya know what would be even better?  Knowing whether or not those components are also Windows 7 Media Center compatible!
Well you’re in luck.  While perusing The Green Button this morning, I came across a link right on the front …

This procedure also works for installing Windows Home Server, XP, Vista, Windows Server, or just as a plain old boot disk. If you just want a boot disk, you’ll still need to put some files on the prepped USB stick.

There are a lot of reasons to install from a USB stick rather than a DVD. The number one reason is speed, installing from the thumb drive is many times faster than a DVD. Another reason may be that you want to edit the cversion.ini file so you can upgrade from …

We were able to go live again this week and it is fun!  Josh and I both missed the live show last week so it was good to have the chat room there while we recorded. 
Once again, we talked about Cable Card this week.  You can find the link in the show notes which will show you how to turn any Vista or Windows 7 machine into a Cable Card capable PC.  It’ll be interesting to see how this develops over time!
Also this week, we get to hear …

While searching for products to review, I came across one that honestly, I’d never heard of.  That’s not to say that I know every piece of gear on the market but more that when something claims what Hava does, you’d think it would be well publicized in the Media Center community.  Especially with a product that’s been around since 2006.  There are a few reasons why we who use MCE, as well as other HTPC software users haven’t heard of Hava, but I’ll get to those in a bit.  …