You are paying for their experience in finding parts that work well together and sticking it in a living room friendly design.

Would I buy one?

Sure, but I could buy a lot of gear for the price of one. A S1 is one of my dream updates.

---

My VMC setup:
(2) Xbox360s
System 1 -
Dell XPS410 (2.6Ghz C2D, 2GB Ram,Nvidia 8600GT, Blu-ray internal, HD-DVD external (X360 drive), (2) Vboxx DTA150s (OTA HD), 1 HVR-1150 (OTA HD) and Dish Network

Montyward:

Its not that they don't have a nice product with great service, but is is really worth twice the cost?

It's not quite that bad, I have a 420 for my main workstation and after I got it to a reasonable machine it was $1900 and that was only 1 dct and with my epp program discount.  So to me yes,  for a dedicated media center it's worth buying from a company that has people that know and specialize in media center, dell, hp, etc.. aren't those companies, and unfortunately after Chris Morley left VM they're not that company anymore either, which is why I'm going to get an S1 system as that's ALL they do. 

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My Media Center Blog

mabrown:

...after Chris Morley left VM they're not that company anymore either, which is why I'm going to get an S1 system as that's ALL they do. 

Chris did some awesome things for VM as far as marketing and support for users in forums like TGB and AVS.

But, I've been extremely happy with VM's tech support, even in his absence.  They acually know what they're doing, and you don't have to fight through the Level One guy who insults you by asking if you plugged in your computer.

They helped me diagnose a faulty SATA cable in my VMC PC.  They let me know that it'd be OK to update the motherboard BIOS without wrecking CableCard support.  They gave me a straightforward answer about whether TV Pack would be available with/without a new PC purchase.

I'm happy with VM.  I'd buy from them again.  Not to say I wouldn't also look at S1.

Montyward:

Yeah, but for the price of a VM or S1 system, you could buy your second XPS 420 when TV Pack comes out and still end up with a cheaper system overall, and sell the old(er) one.   Who knows when TV Pack is available from Dell, but it sounds like VM isn't going to be releasing it anytime soon either.

Its not that they don't have a nice product with great service, but is is really worth twice the cost?

Exactly. I got my entire system, plus a complete 4 year warrenty w/accidental coverage for under $1500 shipped (and that includes taxes). Oh, and that includes one of my 20" widescreen monitors, a blue ray drive, and a $50 Dell gift card that I intend to use towards my second DCT. They were having a really really good promotion back in June.

So yea, it literally would have been like double to get an S1Digital system. And I wanted an actual tower system, because this is my main computer, as well.

---

XPS 420 Q9300 Quadcore @ 2.5 Ghz
4 GB 800 Mhz Ram
Radeon HD2600 XT 256 mb
Vista Premium w/ Digital Cable support
Ati TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner
Ati TV Wonder Elite Tuner
Hauppauge HVR-950 Hybrid tuner (for OTA HD)
Dual 20" wide screen monitors

I got a simular setup as you did and paid a simular price as you.  I thought the same and couldn't pass a S1 or VM system past the wife test.  But so far, I love my new XPS420 and if I could get the TV pack, I would be extatic, but if not, I am extreamly happy with how it is currently working. 

Got the dual DCT and HDHomeRun working great together, no complaints here :D.  But getting the DRM removed from shows that don't need it would be gravy.

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Ben

I've been shopping options for my second media center, and had not bothered to look at Dell.  Based on some of the feedback here, I thought I should.  To be fair, one would spend $2,442 on the Dell on your way to the equivalent spec S1 for $3,428.  Dell would also throw in a free 20" monitor.  That's assuming you're going to pay Dell for the service equivalent you'll receive by purchasing an S1 - and install dual cablecard tuners.  A thousand bucks sure isn't trivial, but S1 is clearly not double the cost of a Dell.  Even so... you could stick the Dell in an office or basement and purchase an extender for the living room  for a whole lot less than the cost of a premium brand in your A/V rack.  Something I may just do!  Or not... if S1 were to come along with one of their trusty TGB specials!

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-Tom

Yeah, but I got mine for $1,600 including dual tuners.  Point is I could buy another XPS 420, without tuners since I have those, for in the range of $1,200.  Of course, you have to wait for a deal to come around sometimes with Dell too, but $1,200 is the current price. 

If I didn't have an entertainment cabinet that could hold the Dell, then I would probably have bought a VM or S1 system.  I'm not trying to put a stink on the premium dealers, just saying how I would rather spend my money.

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XPS420 w/ 2 ATI OCURs
HDHomerun
DMA2100 Extender x 2

wbbigtymer:

...and a $50 Dell gift card that I intend to use towards my second DCT.

That won't be happening.  You can call Dell and after an hour you'll find someone who knows what that is and then tell you sorry they can't sell you one unless you buy another xps420 as they are only available at the time of purchase.. 

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My Media Center Blog

mabrown:

wbbigtymer:

...and a $50 Dell gift card that I intend to use towards my second DCT.

That won't be happening.  You can call Dell and after an hour you'll find someone who knows what that is and then tell you sorry they can't sell you one unless you buy another xps420 as they are only available at the time of purchase.. 

Seriously? That's pretty horrible news. It won't stop me, but it means I'll have to go through a lot more trouble. The good news is I wasn't really planning on buying the second tuner for a while. But while we're all sharing little tips among us cablecard pc users, if you google around, it isn't hard to find the contact info of Dell executives, and yes, they're real and they get you some results.

I am fully confident that if/when I want to buy a second Ati TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner, that they will sell me one, one way or another.

For one thing, I was definitely lead by various Dell employees that I would be able to do this, both before and after the purchase. They might have been in a department other than sales, but I will definitely not let them get away with not selling me a second one without some serious pestering.

But with all that said, it is true that no one at dell even knows what the cablecard tuner is and that is horribly frustrating. You'd think if you called tech support or sales to ask some basic questions, they'd know something.

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XPS 420 Q9300 Quadcore @ 2.5 Ghz
4 GB 800 Mhz Ram
Radeon HD2600 XT 256 mb
Vista Premium w/ Digital Cable support
Ati TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner
Ati TV Wonder Elite Tuner
Hauppauge HVR-950 Hybrid tuner (for OTA HD)
Dual 20" wide screen monitors

If you wait, get a BOCR instead. With a single M Card and if the BOCR is properly designed (we don't know what it will be like yet) it's possible a single unit will tune four programs for you and handle Switched Video as well since the M Card has the capability of multiple data streams.

So one unit will replace two of the current units and have double the features.

 

John

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XPS420: Quad, 4 Gig, 650/1T internal, 3 eSata
Dual ATI Cable Cards (SA-800 M)
T-W W Valley (LA)
ATI Radeon HD3870 (DVI/HDMI)
3 Maxtor NAS (320/500/1T)
2 XP, 1 Macintosh X (10.4.11), HP 280N extender, Linksys DMA2100, DMA2200
Promise Ns4300 Raid 5

BOCR will be around when exactly again? :)

---

My VMC setup:
(2) Xbox360s
System 1 -
Dell XPS410 (2.6Ghz C2D, 2GB Ram,Nvidia 8600GT, Blu-ray internal, HD-DVD external (X360 drive), (2) Vboxx DTA150s (OTA HD), 1 HVR-1150 (OTA HD) and Dish Network

BOCR for Christmas in 2010 ;-)

 

Does anyone really know for sure?

JohnW248:

If you wait, get a BOCR instead. With a single M Card and if the BOCR is properly designed (we don't know what it will be like yet) it's possible a single unit will tune four programs for you and handle Switched Video as well since the M Card has the capability of multiple data streams.

So one unit will replace two of the current units and have double the features.

 

John

LOL - that and $4 will get you a cup of coffee @ *bucks.

But then again, by the time BOCR comes out, you will 1) most likely need to buy a new machine from an OEM, and 2) that cup of coffee will probably be up too $8!

Test

wbbigtymer:

Part #1 (Sorry I had to break up the reply in four sections):

Well you may not be able to use your $50 Dell gift card towards a second ATI DCT from Dell but you can get a new one from Sony through the link below for $299.00 without buying another PC. I'll confirm this works later in my reply. You can always scoop one up on Ebay for around $200.00 as well.

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921665246461&tab=Features

I am in the Home Theater business and am also a small OEM with Microsoft. As an avid gamer my HTPC solution also needed to support the option of adding in a good video card for my games to run at at 720P and of coarse 1080P (if I wanted to push it that high). S1Digital has some great products but I believe there isn't an option to upgrade the Nivida 8500 GT that comes with it. It wasn't meant for a gaming machine but true great HTPC! Velocity Micro does have options to up the video cards and other cool customized options.

For me I couldn't pass up the deal HP had a week ago with an instant $400.00 off so I scooped up an HP D5000t for $1049.99. I ordered it as cheap as I could with the intent to upgrade a few things after I got it. I opted for the Q6450 and the ATI DTC. It comes with a 460 Watt power supply with a 6 pin power adapter so I am all set to swap out the the 9500GS. Here is my config:

HP Pavilion Elite d5000t ATX customizable Desktop PC

Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 for digital cable tuner (32-bit)

Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Quad processor Q9450 (2.66GHz)

3GB DDR2-800MHz dual channel SDRAM (2x1024,2x512)

512MB NVIDIA GeForce 9500GS, DVI-I, VGA, HDMI

500GB 7200 rpm SATA 3Gb/s hard drive

LightScribe 16X max. DVD+/-R/RW SuperMulti drive

15-in-1 memory card reader, 2 USB, 1394, audio

ATI TV Wonder external digital cable tuner 

 Integrated 7.1 channel sound w/front audio ports