Media Center PC for LCD TV

[bluestreetlight]

Staples $497.00
ASE380-ED380M + Canon PIXMA MP160 AIO
Genuine Windows XP Media Center Edition, AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual-Core Processor 3800+ (512KB + 512KB L2 cache, 2.0GHz), 1GB (512/512) DDR2 SDRAM, 250GB SATA hard drive, DVD-Dual drive (DVD+/-RW), 9-in-1 card reader, integrated NVIDIA® GeForce® 6100 and NVIDIA® nForce® 430 graphics, gigabit LAN graphics, V.92 modem

Future Shop $649.97
ASE700-ED630M + HP Photosmart C3180 AIO
Genuine Windows XP Media Center Edition, Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor E6300 (2MB L2 cache, 1.86GHz, 1066MHz FSB), 1GB (512/512) DDR2 SDRAM, 320GB SATA hard drive, DVD-Dual drive (DVD+/-RW), 9-in-1 card reader, integrated Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator X3000, gigabit LAN, V.92 modem

I am planning to get a media center PC beside my LCD TV. Which is bigger bang for the buck?

[Mr Nobody]

Assuming both have an open PCIE-X16 slot, I would choose the first one. MCPCs don't have to be very powerful (a 3800+ X2 is way powerful enough), so the C2D wouldn't help, especially for an additional $150 which you can save and spend on more storage or a dedicated video card, which you may need/want in the future.