HP Pavilion - Windows XP Media Center Edition from 2006!!

We have the HP Pavilion a1320n Media Center Edition PC on the bench rescued from the Mega E-Waste Haul! Does this system work? Let's give this system the love it deserves! In this video we will get the system posting, do a clean up and add some upgrades!! We will even explore Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005!

#retropc #nostalgia #hewlettpackard #hp #pavilion #ewaste #vintage #pcrepair #restoration #radeon #ati #windowsxp #windows #intel #pentium #mediacenter

[rmcdudmk]

HP had some really slick looking machines during this period. Glad to see it running like a champ again. 👍

[jesiel]

I bought one of these in 2006..not that model but similar. It is a media center pc but with an AMD Athlon X2 I believe…I remember I bought it in the long gone CompUSA.…I still have it…it works but I dont use it anymore. Usually those pcs also came with an IR sensor and a windows media center remote control..the sensor receive the signal from remote and also transmitted IR signal to control the cable box or Dish Network box…I remember I used that pc as a DVR back in the day to record shows when I used to have Dish Network. Old times memories.

[TobiasWilmoth]

I remember having this exact model about 7-8 years ago that I had to completely from scratch, redo and install/update the BIOS on it since it was corrupted to hell and back, and once I got it running, IIRC I installed Windows 7 to turn it into a starter NAS. Good times

[RVail]

An analog TV tuner card was an option on some of those XP Media Center machines, although that was not included on this particular example. Of course, those factory-installed tuner cards would only work with the old analog TV signals, which are no longer being broadcast. However, there are Hauppauge branded digital TV tuner cards available, if interested in adding that kind of Media Center upgrade. Later Windows editions dropped native TV tuner support, but the Hauppauge TV tuner software still functioned in it's place.

[georgez]

You don`t usually see those Machines in such good shape. nice restoration and the Video Card is a nice addition. Thanks for the video

[TheHangarHobbit]

Ahh the era of the stickers, lord I remember getting HPs and Compaqs and the sticker-on-sticker violence was just unreal 🤣 But it is amazing how long some of those old boxes can last, I have an HP from 2009 running in the closet as a backup server, the old Phenom II 925 with 7gb of RAM happily chugging along.

[KiaSedona]

I miss the silver tech era. I remember around 2005/06, every young person started to view silver tech as uncool and tacky (myself included), but now tons of us who grew up with it are nostalgic for it. I guess it's the 20 year nostalgia cycle thing.

[nighttimecoral]

Loved this vid! I really like this era in the mid 2000s where there was such a big focus on being on the whole “entertainment centre” aspect of tech, WMC 2005 was great, the PSP and PS3 XMB were great, Apple Front Row was great, back when companies actually let you own your media lol

[MixShadowlight]

Also, to answer your question about the capacitor plague, it happened between 1999 to 2007. By the start of 2006, most motherboard manufacturers would have stopped using affected capacitors. Although MSI would still continue to face capacitor issues well pass 2006 and into 2007.

[Alex-szku]

My dad had one of these systems around mid 2005. That computer is long gone now so I'm not sure the exact model but I do remember it having an orange/white AMD Athlon 64 decal on the front. I think it had a capture/tuner card of some sort in it too because there were RCA and S-Video ports on the front when you slid the door down. Lots of memories playing Sims 2 and watching movies with that computer until it was replaced in 2008 with a new HP!

[stevencamp]

i see your point using mechanical drives, i'd probably be using them too if i had a surplus..seeing these machines come along makes me happy lol

[FrenziedManbeast]

RCA Video Cable == Composite Video Cable. @ 21:40 that's a Component (not Composite) video cable. Thank you for the vid!

[chrisrudi]

A really very nice contemporary system. Back then, Microsoft was still really creative 😁 I personally really like using this MCE theme, it just looks fresher and more colorful. I never had a Media Center PC myself, so everything passed me by a bit back then. I still have a card reader with USB 3.0 in my gaming PC today. I still use cards like this often. And I also still have an optical drive. But no one needs modem cards like that anymore, what else can we do with them? Even back in 2005 and 2006, they were obsolete and more like a museum.

[frozennorthproductions]

I'm absolutely shocked that you don't have thousands more subs. This video was in my recommended, and I just kinda figured it was another huge retro tech channel, so I subscribed because of course I'm going to subscribe to retro tech... and then I noticed you don't even have 5k yet?! How? This doesn't even make sense. This channel is unreal. I've been watching your videos for about an hour straight now. These are amazing!

[wgb]

The HP Pavilion a1200/a1300 series.
I bought this HP model in 2008 as an empty case (HP surplus, mint condition, never used).
A high quality (and Quiet) ATX power supply (500 watt) was installed.
The Intel DH87RL “Round Lake” (i7, 4770S) mATX motherboard with
internal WiFi antennas (repurposed laptop antennas) behind the plastic front panel.
SSD for Boot Drive, DVD, and two WD Red drives (4 GB) for a Raid 0 Data Storage.

I still use this computer today, it runs Windows 10 !!
Refreshed all the front decals for Intel i7 and Win10 !

[AlejandroRodolfoMendez]

What a cool looking computer. Hp always were looking nice.

[PCUSE]

If I'm not mistaken, there should be a decoder built into the ATI software disk. There also is another program(from memory because I mostly use Linux now) called Stinky's(did not make the name up) that is free. Those old MC PC's are always fascinating to me. RIP WMC.

[shermanzuki]

Ah yes, I love these types of computers ngl

[maxtornogood]

Nice work on the cleanup & upgrades, as always! 😀. I've seen retro channels go straight for the solid state alternatives like CompactFlash without even confirming whether the original drive still works. They care about retro until it comes to the hard drive & *then* they wanna make exceptions. Thanks for keeping the spirit of spinning rust alive!

[maddbanned]

I found this pc in my basement and its fully functional! It is a very cool machine.