Media Centre PCs
Discussion
Has anyone bought one to hook up to an HDTV? I need ideas.
I had a look around the interweb and have seen a few for sale but I am not sure on the HD elements and they all seem quite expensive and have small disks for recording. Having looked at componants it looks like I may be best off building one up from scratch but am not sure about TV tuners (are any HDTV compatible yet) or GFX cards that have 1080i HD output and exactly how XP MCE + the remote works. The chasis would also have to be near silent which poses issues. And what software do people recommend? I am perfectly happy building a PC from scratch but would appreciate media centre specific advice, especially considering that if I get a Monster TV this will be on a budget!
Thanks in advance!
Jim
I had a look around the interweb and have seen a few for sale but I am not sure on the HD elements and they all seem quite expensive and have small disks for recording. Having looked at componants it looks like I may be best off building one up from scratch but am not sure about TV tuners (are any HDTV compatible yet) or GFX cards that have 1080i HD output and exactly how XP MCE + the remote works. The chasis would also have to be near silent which poses issues. And what software do people recommend? I am perfectly happy building a PC from scratch but would appreciate media centre specific advice, especially considering that if I get a Monster TV this will be on a budget!
Thanks in advance!
Jim
JimboCTR said:
Has anyone bought one to hook up to an HDTV? I need ideas.
I had a look around the interweb and have seen a few for sale but I am not sure on the HD elements and they all seem quite expensive and have small disks for recording.
I had a look around the interweb and have seen a few for sale but I am not sure on the HD elements and they all seem quite expensive and have small disks for recording.
It's not so much of an issue, as you can burn to DVD. That said, my recording disk is 160GB.
JimboCTR said:
Having looked at componants it looks like I may be best off building one up from scratch...
Anyone who has built PCs before should be fine... although they can be awkward due to the smaller cases, as most people are used to towers these days. The biggest headache is installing the OEM MCE software properly... there is a knack to it.
JimboCTR said:
but am not sure about TV tuners (are any HDTV compatible yet) or GFX cards that have 1080i HD output
They generally interface via a DVI interface
JimboCTR said:
and exactly how XP MCE + the remote works.
Via USB. There is a USB IR job, that has two remote (wired) devices to control other boxes - like Sky.
JimboCTR said:
The chasis would also have to be near silent which poses issues.
Why? Decent rollerbearing fans and you'll be fine. Cases are designed with this in mind... look at quietPC - use rubber isolators as well - you wont know it's there.
JimboCTR said:
And what software do people recommend? I am perfectly happy building a PC from scratch but would appreciate media centre specific advice, especially considering that if I get a Monster TV this will be on a budget!
Thanks in advance!
Jim
Which software are you talking about? Personally I'd wait for Vista, otherwise go for Windows MCE...
www.hushpc.de
I have a MCPC. My TV has a native resolution of 1360 (ish) x 768. So 720p can be displayed to its full potential but 1080i/p cannot. I have a SkyHD box plugged into the HDMI port on the tv.
I also have a MCPC plugged into the VGA socket and run a ATi graphics card in 1360x768 natively. The PC has XP Media Center edition on it (which ROCKS!). I run the sound from the PC into my stereo and can therefore listen to music with it. If watching TV via the MCPC I have to switch the stereo on.
I bought an Elonex eBox - which is waaaaay too noisy. Its replacement (in a year or two) will be a Hush PC (absolutely silent) running Windows Vista Home (which has Media Center in it apparently). If you spec up a Hush to be everything you want, though, you will be spending mucho wonga sadly.
My MCPC *will* play WMV HD content - but there ain't much of it around unless you are into BitTorrent in a way I simply can't be bothered with.
Plotloss seems to be your man with some alternative good advice. Including building your own with a nice case from Scan IIRC.
I have a MCPC. My TV has a native resolution of 1360 (ish) x 768. So 720p can be displayed to its full potential but 1080i/p cannot. I have a SkyHD box plugged into the HDMI port on the tv.
I also have a MCPC plugged into the VGA socket and run a ATi graphics card in 1360x768 natively. The PC has XP Media Center edition on it (which ROCKS!). I run the sound from the PC into my stereo and can therefore listen to music with it. If watching TV via the MCPC I have to switch the stereo on.
I bought an Elonex eBox - which is waaaaay too noisy. Its replacement (in a year or two) will be a Hush PC (absolutely silent) running Windows Vista Home (which has Media Center in it apparently). If you spec up a Hush to be everything you want, though, you will be spending mucho wonga sadly.
My MCPC *will* play WMV HD content - but there ain't much of it around unless you are into BitTorrent in a way I simply can't be bothered with.
Plotloss seems to be your man with some alternative good advice. Including building your own with a nice case from Scan IIRC.
Thanks so far...
Software:
In terms of software I was assuming that MCE was the way forward but do you need additional software suce as BeyondTV or similar?
Noise:
I have not had a lot of luck with previous computers, they have all been noisy ba$tards. I guess I just need to put a bit of thought into the fans!
HD Source:
I may get SkyHD but its more for future proofing. HD content will mainly be HD DivXs etc. downloaded from the states. Possibly may get a Blueray/HD DVD drive for it too at some point.
Software:
In terms of software I was assuming that MCE was the way forward but do you need additional software suce as BeyondTV or similar?
Noise:
I have not had a lot of luck with previous computers, they have all been noisy ba$tards. I guess I just need to put a bit of thought into the fans!
HD Source:
I may get SkyHD but its more for future proofing. HD content will mainly be HD DivXs etc. downloaded from the states. Possibly may get a Blueray/HD DVD drive for it too at some point.
Edited by JimboCTR on Tuesday 12th December 10:21
JimboCTR said:
Thanks so far...
Software:
In terms of software I was assuming that MCE was the way forward but do you need additional software suce as BeyondTV or similar?
Software:
In terms of software I was assuming that MCE was the way forward but do you need additional software suce as BeyondTV or similar?
MCE does all you need - no additional software required in that sense. You will need a DVD (software) player that is compatible with MCE, and something to burn discs with, like Nero.
JimboCTR said:
Noise:
I have not had a lot of luck with previous computers, they have all been noisy ba$tards. I guess I just need to put a bit of thought into the fans!
JimboCTR said:
HD Source:
I may get SkyHD but its more for future proofing. HD content will mainly be HD DivXs etc. downloaded from the states. Possibly may get a Blueray/HD DVD drive for it too at some point.
Not sure if MCE supports Blueray/HD DVD at present... but I'm sure Vista will.
Podie said:
JimboCTR said:
Thanks so far...
Software:
In terms of software I was assuming that MCE was the way forward but do you need additional software suce as BeyondTV or similar?
Software:
In terms of software I was assuming that MCE was the way forward but do you need additional software suce as BeyondTV or similar?
MCE does all you need - no additional software required in that sense. You will need a DVD (software) player that is compatible with MCE, and something to burn discs with, like Nero.
JimboCTR said:
Noise:
I have not had a lot of luck with previous computers, they have all been noisy ba$tards. I guess I just need to put a bit of thought into the fans!
JimboCTR said:
HD Source:
I may get SkyHD but its more for future proofing. HD content will mainly be HD DivXs etc. downloaded from the states. Possibly may get a Blueray/HD DVD drive for it too at some point.
Not sure if MCE supports Blueray/HD DVD at present... but I'm sure Vista will.
Apparently Vista will accept the Xbox 360's HD/DVD drive.
I use mediaportal, it is not quite as easy as MCE to setup but does have more tweakability. And it runs on XP. MCE will be easy to setup with a basic single or duel card setup, if you want a mix of card types (freeview and analogue) MCE will not do it without registry hacking. MCE will mess about with MP3 tags and picture libaries (this can be a real pain to fix especially if you have older music on MP3.
As for hdtv's I have a toshiba 32wlt66 and connect this with a DVI to HDMI (1080i)cable from a nvidia 5500 card, this gives a perfect picture from Nova-t freeview cards, my NTL box is connected via composite video to a hauppauge PvR150 card, this is ok but the picture is not as good as the freeview cards.
It is all about keeping the video signal digital.
As for hdtv's I have a toshiba 32wlt66 and connect this with a DVI to HDMI (1080i)cable from a nvidia 5500 card, this gives a perfect picture from Nova-t freeview cards, my NTL box is connected via composite video to a hauppauge PvR150 card, this is ok but the picture is not as good as the freeview cards.
It is all about keeping the video signal digital.
Have a look at www.tomshardware.com it has an excellent guide to HTPC's. Lots of factors looked into like quiet components, heat dispertion, tuners and all else. The main problem I have found so far is getting a good case. If you look at Komplett.co.uk it has a special HTPC case section, lots to choose from. Regarding the Signal to the HD television as long as it has a DVI or HDMI input I wouldnt worry as just about all graphics cards can cater for this. The problem in the future will be the HDCP encryption as you will need and HDCP output source as well as an HDCP input source (most new HD TV's have this).
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