By way of ThomasHawk.com, The Nears has a great detailed comparison between two leading Microsoft MCE media extenders. While the comparison doesn’t draw a final conclusion, it does rate each product on a variety of characteristics.

If I were shopping for a media extender, I’d definitely check this article out before heading out to the store.

Via eHomeUpgrade, an article in the New York Times suggests that HP will come out with their own media PC called the “HP Media Hub”. As opposed to other HP media PCs that come bundled with Microsoft’s MCE 2005, HP will be based on linux.

This has to sting:

Carleton S. Fiorina, the chief executive, said that by using Linux, rather than Windows, Hewlett can reduce the cost of the device, which has not been set, she said.

“The real motive is not the cost,” she added, but “the ease of use and simplicity.”

Ouch!

eHomeUpgrade points out that Microsoft has posted a useful compatibility list for its Media Center Edition 2005 product. Since rolling your own system is not supported by Microsoft, it takes some finagling to get an Microsoft mom and pop shop to sell you the software separately (you can also check ebay, but be very careful of scams). TheGreenButton.com is also a good resource for MCE2005 questions and issues.

This compatibility list at least takes some of the guesswork out of building a system.