Do you own a HTPC / Media Center PC?

[Oneslowz28]

I'm curious about how many of our members own an HTPC. I am talking about a dedicated PC that is relegated to Home Theater / PC on your TV use. If you do what is it capable of? EG: Simple DVD / Internet TV playback, Blu-Ray playback, TV Tuning, Video Capture, or even Big Screen Gaming?

[dr.walrus]

I don't have one nor want one... simply because my main PC fulfils all the tasks of a HTPC - it IS my gaming/movie/tv/music platform, but it's seriously not dedicated.

[TheMainMan]

Tri-core AMD with 3 tv tuners and a 1.5TB hard drive outputting to a 46" Samsung LCD via a GT210. This is my Odin build slightly modified after the Fail known as Vail.

[FuzzyPlushroom]

I don't have one nor want one... simply because my main PC fulfils all the tasks of a HTPC - it IS my gaming/movie/tv/music platform, but it's seriously not dedicated.

Exactly. I watch TV and movies on the desktop in My System when alone (on a 21" CRT) as well as playing games; it has a TV tuner, and my PS2's hooked up through it. I use my laptop (17") for movies when someone else is over. Both are, at various times, hooked up to my sound system as well.

[Technochicken]

I have one that I built, with a 2.6 Ghz Core 2 duo, 2 Gb DDR3, and Intel 4500HD graphics. It would be rubbish for games, but it works great for streaming and dvd's which is all it gets used for.

[jdbnsn]

My watercubed PC is a HTPC with wireless, 3 HDDs full of movies, DVD, TV tuner, Windows XP Media Center ed. 2005, and a 720p projector that is set up at the hospital in the resident lounge.

[jalyst]

I'm in the midst of putting one together that'll:

*tune into dvb-c, dvb-t, dvb-s (not subscribed right now), & dab+
*Stream content, play streamed content
*Capture HD vid. and SD audio
*Leech stuff...
*Be a short-term NAS.
There's a lot more to it, but that's it's basic use.

I will eventually have a much more in-depth build log.
Prolly not on this forum but I can link to it from here if anyone cares.

*edit*
If any very experienced case modders can help-out here I'd be most grateful
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/forum/showthread.php?p=321815#post321815

[Oneslowz28]

Jalyst, thanks for answering the poll. Is there a reason you will not be posting the build here at tbcs? If there is something I can do just let me know.


Thanks to everyone who has already answered the poll. Keep the votes coming.

[jalyst]

Nothing personal,
It's just that a few other forum's are more suited for most of the things I have in mind.
This one's good for case modding & what-not, but that's a peripheral aspect of what I'm doing.
If anyone can add some advice to my thread (http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/forum/showthread.php?p=321815#post321815), I'd be most grateful, thank-you.

[farlo]

phenom 2 x3 720
2x2gb ddr800
geforce 9600 gs0
500gb wd hdd(will get a larger hdd when its close to full)
dvd burner
planning on getting a bluray rom since they're getting so cheap

running optical audio out to my surround sound, and dvi to a 37" lcd.

light gaming, and dvd backup, netflix(because the wii really sucks for navigation) streaming TV such as revision 3.

[The_Crippler]

Crap...can't remember the exact spec of the processor in my HTPC media server, I think it's a dual-core Phenom. Other than that:

4GB RAM
3TB RAID for storage
Linux-based operating system.
Two TV tuner cardsThis server is linked to minimal-spec frontends on my TVs in other rooms.

[AmEv]

Officially, I don't have one.

I am building two as of right now.

[diluzio91]

laptop with a dead screen for streaming/media center streaming from my desktop.

[simon275]

My media center is

Core 2 duo 7500
4gb ram
1tb drive
GeForce GT 220?? with HDMI out to 46" Sony Bravia LED LCD

Running Mythbuntu

[The_Crippler]

Let's hear it for Mythbuntu!

[x88x]

I don't have one atm, but once I get a TV (whenever that happens) I'll be building one. It'll be an extremely light-weight one, as small and silent as possible, with (like all my systems) a small SSD onboard, connected to my fileserver for storage. Unfortunately, atm I think it'll probably be running Windows in some form, just because of the state of Linux Blu-ray support. :(

[Oneslowz28]

Not to mention no Netflix with Linux. Netflix uses MS Silverlight to stream the videos.

[PauL]

Dont have one. Would like one, but probably wouldnt end up using it lol...

[The_Crippler]

Not to mention no Netflix with Linux. Netflix uses MS Silverlight to stream the videos.

Have you tried the Moonlight plugin? I've had varying degrees of success with that and things calling for Silverlight. (Have not tried it with Netflix.)

[Oneslowz28]

I have not. My HTPC is running Windows 7

[x88x]

Have you tried the Moonlight plugin?

Unfortunately, it doesn't work. Moonlight 2.0 has most of the features of Silverlight 2.0 that Netflix uses...except for the DRM support...which means it doesn't work. :( Makes no sense to me, since the Roku works just fine and it's Linux-based.

..and yes, I forgot about it when I wrote my first post, but that's another reason my HTPC will probably have to be Windows-based.

BTW, just tried it, and this is what you get. So, even if Moonlight 2.0 did support all the necessary features, Netflix would still block it. ...hmmm, I wonder if I spoofed my browser agent... :think:
http://i428.photobucket.com/albums/qq3/x13931x/netflixOSerror.png

EDIT:
Tried that...got this. :(
http://i428.photobucket.com/albums/qq3/x13931x/netflixError2.png

[The_Crippler]

Well...can't win them all. I admit, there's a little chicken and egg there for me - on one hand, I don't use Netflix, so I haven't looked into it. On the other, I haven't looked into it much, because I know I can't (easily) use it.

Linux is NOT for everyone, and I will never be one of those guys that tries to push it out there in a flurry of "DOWN WITH MICROSOFT!"

It works for me, because I don't need a Windows license on all the networked machines I use for my media system, there is some fun software to toy with, and it works very well for my applications.


The important part is - those of us with HTPCs have ones that work for us and do what we ask of them.

Now, excuse me while I finish mucking with my Windows partition on this frontend so that I can stream the Silverlight app for Arena Football this season...



:D

[Okele]

I want to build an HTPC, but I have a 360 for streaming netflix, and a PS3 that plays Blu-Rays. Just doesn't seem to be a need for one. Although I suppose, if I ever got a projector, that would be reason enough to build one.

[d_stilgar]

I have my NES PC. It was hooked up to my standard def 32" CRT TV, but we gave it away months ago. Tonight my wife and I went out and got a 55" LED LCD TV. It's pretty big and awesome, but the resolution is going to be too much for my little NES, which only outputs at 480i max. That's the big limit of a stock NES build.

I'm probably not going to build a new HTPC any time soon. I'm getting a PS3 tomorrow and it can stream HD files from my desktop (where I sit now), play netflix in HD, and is probably the best bluray player on the market, so there is little to no purpose in getting a new dedicated machine except for the fun of it, hulu, and if I wanted to play PC games on the large screen.

[Airbozo]

Use my HTPC for watching Blue Ray's and NHL Center Ice Live.

No gaming, no browsing. Just movies and Hockey.

[Twigsoffury]

Does it count if my gaming computer is used as my primary Television,HTPC,interweb and gaming rig?

Kinda fun to watch television in eyefinity (works with winamp HDTV plugin)

[slaveofconvention]

My Media Centre is an Athlon x2 5200, 4gb ram, 320gb notebook drive, blu-ray and quad digital OTA tuners in a thermaltake DH101 media centre case, attached to a pair of logitech speakers and a 22 wall mounted monitor - it is the bedroom TV and as it archives all recorded TV to the windows home server every day, the hard disk is more than enough (although I'm not 100% sure it'll be able to keep up if the thing tries recording from all 4 tuners at once) running Windows Media Centre under 7 Ultimate x86 - I did have it running x64 but had a couple niggles - it may go back though as only 2.5 of that 4gb of ram is showing under x86 - I knew I'd lose SOME ram but wasn't expecting to lose THAT much....

[Waynio]

I don't have one nor want one... simply because my main PC fulfils all the tasks of a HTPC - it IS my gaming/movie/tv/music platform, but it's seriously not dedicated.

LOL me too & is part of the reason I'm trying to make it super quiet without any hassle of water cooling & is why I stubbornly stay with at least 6 hdd :D.

[x88x]

& is why I stubbornly stay with at least 6 hdd :D.

Bah! HDDs don't belong in a main system or HTPC! They're too noisy! Stick those noisy HDDs in a dedicated fileserver in a closet somewhere and snake a gigabit ethernet line to it, then stick SSDs in all the other systems. Problem solved. :D

[Waynio]

Bah! HDDs don't belong in a main system or HTPC! They're too noisy! Stick those noisy HDDs in a dedicated fileserver in a closet somewhere and snake a gigabit ethernet line to it, then stick SSDs in all the other systems. Problem solved. :D

Hmm I've never done a file server before & when you put it like that yeah it totally makes good sense :D & could be the advent of me making tiny gaming/media pc's :D but a file server would need to come first :).

[d_stilgar]

Does it count if my gaming computer is used as my primary Television,HTPC,interweb and gaming rig?

Kinda fun to watch television in eyefinity (works with winamp HDTV plugin)

My personal opinion is that it's an HTPC if you use it on the couch. What you're describing is a computer that you just happen to watch TV on. That's my opinion though, I don't make the rules.

[Munty]

Why would I want to use my computer to watch tv? If I watch tv on the computer then where do I play my games, on the tv??? I'm not a console owner either so no clever responses lol

The PC is for games, the TV is not surprisingly for tv. I can use both at the same time due to their relative location to each other and based on system specs I can easily use this pc to do anything but watch blu-ray.

That said why would I spend a fortune on blu-ray when DVDs are now ten a penny? Complete waste of money for a slightly better experience. If I want to be immersed in a film I'll watch it at the cinema.

All that said, we have a lot of internet channels now (in the UK) that allow us to catch up on certain programs we missed, so I do use that to watch my favourite programs when I miss them on the box. My first port of call for watching tv though, is, was and always will be, tv...

[AmEv]

New poll time:


How many of you have a dedicated file server?

:rolleyes::whistler:

[x88x]

How many of you have a dedicated file server?

And how big is it? ;)

[AmEv]

Currently, it is still in progress.

Intel Nightshade motherboard.

Ubuntu 10.04.

9GB SCSI w/ 120GB IDE.

Plan on tying in our 1TB ExtHDD to it.




WIP to come.

[Twigsoffury]

My personal opinion is that it's an HTPC if you use it on the couch. What you're describing is a computer that you just happen to watch TV on. That's my opinion though, I don't make the rules.


but i do use it on the couch as a television.

With multiple monitors i can also use the PC while someone watchs TV (they can even change channels using my ATi Wonder II Remote while i play games) on another

You need

Abode Standalone Flash player/ Abobe Ocotoshape something plug in

Then it'll let you use the computer while a video is in full screen on another monitor, with out those plug-ins the full screen window will minimize anytime you click outside the secondary screen.

pretty neat (figured it out not to long ago)

Can even alt+tab between windows and it'll bring up the task bar above the video or game your playing.

[Twigsoffury]

but i do use it on the couch as a television.

With multiple monitors i can also use the PC while someone watchs TV (they can even change channels using my ATi Wonder II Remote while i play games) on another

You need

Abode Standalone Flash player/ Abobe Ocotoshape something plug in

Then it'll let you use the computer while a video is in full screen on another monitor, with out those plug-ins the full screen window will minimize anytime you click outside the secondary screen.

pretty neat (figured it out not to long ago)

Can even alt+tab between windows and it'll bring up the task bar above the video or game your playing.

http://i56.tinypic.com/fp06bp.jpg

they do move your mouse though when they use the remote (wish you could have two independent pointers) so you've got to tell the other person when you want to do something.

You can get a Awesome cinema experience using eyefinity, dragging the window across the three screens for a ultra wide-screen presentation(from the couch you tend to forget about the edges between monitors, probably be a lot better with three LCDS) its just fun to watch movies in a new way if you've already got the hardware and the set up for it.

[d_stilgar]

Well, if you use it on the couch then it's an HTPC by my definition.

[Drum Thumper]

I got a dual core SFF HP computer off of ebay for ~$50. Currently running Element (http://elementmypc.com, check them out!) on it. My Tri Core computer houses all my media, so I stream from 7 to Linux, which can be a royal pain at times--turns out there's a bug in Windows 7 that can be fixed by a bit of registry editing.

I know, no netflix....yet. I think I may have found a bit of a workaround though. More details to come.

And yes, it is a legit workaround. No, it does not involve a VM.

[x88x]

I know, no netflix....yet. I think I may have found a bit of a workaround though. More details to come.

And yes, it is a legit workaround. No, it does not involve a VM.

If you do find a good workaround, I'll be very interested to hear it....it's been really annoying not being able to access my netflix account the last few months.

[farlo]

thanks for that link DT, im gonna have to try that with dual-boot.

my 9600gso popped some caps before i had a chance to use it, was going to get a 8800gt, but ended up getting a 5670 instead.

[chaksq]

I sorta do. Thought of building a separate HTPC box but decided it's not a good use of my money right now. I hook my laptop up to my roommates TV using HDMI and watch content through that.

I want some sort of remote control for the laptop though. Something that can act as a mouse plus other functions, preferable customizable and can be custom mapped. Anyone have any low budget suggestions? Either with a USB reciever or bluetooth.

[xr4man]

look in here http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/forum/showthread.php?t=25973 at the remote i got. it's not customizable, but it was on $25 from amazon.