Home built Media Centre for storing/viewing DVD collection
Discussion
I've been toying with the idea of creating my own media centre using my current Dell PC (not a good start but hey - I'm working on a budget).
Standard system is a Pentium 4 with 512Mb Ram and 160Gb HDD and its currently linked to my 37" HD LCD in the lounge via a VGA connection.
I've recently bought a new 500Gb internal HDD and will be installing that tonight. The plan is to then rip my DVD collection to the new HDD. I've downloaded MyMovies which I hope will then allow me to managed the collection and view them via Media Centre. Finally I'll need to upgrade the sound card to a 5.1 set up to make use of my AV set-up.
Does it sound like it'll work? Anything that I've missed?
I'm fairly new to this and making lots of assumptions that it'll be alright!
Standard system is a Pentium 4 with 512Mb Ram and 160Gb HDD and its currently linked to my 37" HD LCD in the lounge via a VGA connection.
I've recently bought a new 500Gb internal HDD and will be installing that tonight. The plan is to then rip my DVD collection to the new HDD. I've downloaded MyMovies which I hope will then allow me to managed the collection and view them via Media Centre. Finally I'll need to upgrade the sound card to a 5.1 set up to make use of my AV set-up.
Does it sound like it'll work? Anything that I've missed?
I'm fairly new to this and making lots of assumptions that it'll be alright!
skibum said:
I've been toying with the idea of creating my own media centre using my current Dell PC (not a good start but hey - I'm working on a budget).
Standard system is a Pentium 4 with 512Mb Ram and 160Gb HDD and its currently linked to my 37" HD LCD in the lounge via a VGA connection.
I've recently bought a new 500Gb internal HDD and will be installing that tonight. The plan is to then rip my DVD collection to the new HDD. I've downloaded MyMovies which I hope will then allow me to managed the collection and view them via Media Centre. Finally I'll need to upgrade the sound card to a 5.1 set up to make use of my AV set-up.
Does it sound like it'll work? Anything that I've missed?
I'm fairly new to this and making lots of assumptions that it'll be alright!
Standard system is a Pentium 4 with 512Mb Ram and 160Gb HDD and its currently linked to my 37" HD LCD in the lounge via a VGA connection.
I've recently bought a new 500Gb internal HDD and will be installing that tonight. The plan is to then rip my DVD collection to the new HDD. I've downloaded MyMovies which I hope will then allow me to managed the collection and view them via Media Centre. Finally I'll need to upgrade the sound card to a 5.1 set up to make use of my AV set-up.
Does it sound like it'll work? Anything that I've missed?
I'm fairly new to this and making lots of assumptions that it'll be alright!
Whilst I am sure it will work it just wont work well. To start a pentium 4 is a bit outdated for a media centre and if all you want to do is watch DVD's then buy a DVD player. If, however, you want to do multiple tasks or god forbid re-encode you DVDs into a more compact size then a pentium 4 will be painfully slow and you wont be able to do anything else while it is chugging along. 660GB of disk space sounds like a lot but thats not many DVDs at around 6-8gb per movie, plus operating system and programs and music etc. The most important bit though which you are probably aware of is the noise that the dell outputs. If you are watching a movie there is nothing worse that the constant hummmm of the sustme and cpu fans, as well as the PSU fan and disk drives. It will be very off putting.
All told though it should work and media centre is quite good at organising things and presenting it well. I would look to upgrade th whole thing pretty soon though, especially if you want to go down the HD movies route at a later date. Surprisingly enough if you want to get your hands dirty then a reasonable system can be built as cheaply as £600 and using the likes of the Antec Fusion case look amazing. You can also transplant your new 500GB beauty into it too and save some cash.
Peter
Thanks Peter,
I thought this might be the case which is why the only outlay so far is for the 500gb drive which can be transfered to another PC. I've seen the Antec case and it does look great. Just need to calm down on other projects before I go full stream into building a system from scratch. I read somewhere that a Core Duo ViiV is what I need...
This is more of a project to see if I can get it to work and I think this will be the way forward for the future so just trying to get a foot in the door now.
I was hoping that by using something like DVD Shrink I can get the files down to about 1-2Gb rather than the full size as not fussed about the special features etc...
I thought this might be the case which is why the only outlay so far is for the 500gb drive which can be transfered to another PC. I've seen the Antec case and it does look great. Just need to calm down on other projects before I go full stream into building a system from scratch. I read somewhere that a Core Duo ViiV is what I need...
This is more of a project to see if I can get it to work and I think this will be the way forward for the future so just trying to get a foot in the door now.
I was hoping that by using something like DVD Shrink I can get the files down to about 1-2Gb rather than the full size as not fussed about the special features etc...
i thought of doing the very same thing with the wife's desktop after we got married and had far too many computers between us 
After thinking of all the faffing around installing software and cabling etc. Not to mention the fact that you need to wait for it to boot up each time, I decided on a more simple option. Also, depending on the TV, you might not get a full HD resolution using the VGA connection. My TV is 1080p, but only through component or HDMI. The VGA res. is lower - so it's worth checking out for your model.
I got a Pinnacle Showcenter 200 for 130 quid. It's not the smoothest of interfaces, but once up and running, with playlists etc, I can't complain. You install server software on your PC and point it at all your media files. You can even allow the interface on the TV to search through folders on you computer.
I'm running it wirelessly, which on the odd day will judder movies once or twice. And won't work properly at all with HD movies. But it can be wired in - perhaps to a faster wireless access point if necessary.
The good thing about it, is that it supports 1080i/720p over component which is great for pics, and the sound remains a digital connection due to the optical output. It also supports internet radio.
After thinking of all the faffing around installing software and cabling etc. Not to mention the fact that you need to wait for it to boot up each time, I decided on a more simple option. Also, depending on the TV, you might not get a full HD resolution using the VGA connection. My TV is 1080p, but only through component or HDMI. The VGA res. is lower - so it's worth checking out for your model.
I got a Pinnacle Showcenter 200 for 130 quid. It's not the smoothest of interfaces, but once up and running, with playlists etc, I can't complain. You install server software on your PC and point it at all your media files. You can even allow the interface on the TV to search through folders on you computer.
I'm running it wirelessly, which on the odd day will judder movies once or twice. And won't work properly at all with HD movies. But it can be wired in - perhaps to a faster wireless access point if necessary.
The good thing about it, is that it supports 1080i/720p over component which is great for pics, and the sound remains a digital connection due to the optical output. It also supports internet radio.
I think an ‘all in one’ media PC is the way to go. I am about to do one. I already have my whole CD music collection on hard drive (15GB worth), and the CD’s are now safely tucked away in the attic, thus clearing a not inconsiderable amount of shelf space in the living room – I now want to do the same with my DVD collection (hundreds of ‘em!), as I feel having a stupid amount of DVD film cases adorning the shelves looks a tad ‘uncouth’
Having a media centre, where all of your music and films are stored and can be accessed in one place is very compelling – it becomes a DVD player, music centre, internet browsing platform, powerful games platform etc – however, to do it right, it’s not cheap if you want all those things….
Having a media centre, where all of your music and films are stored and can be accessed in one place is very compelling – it becomes a DVD player, music centre, internet browsing platform, powerful games platform etc – however, to do it right, it’s not cheap if you want all those things….
A nice fast P4 should be able to pull off everything bar actual HD res video. It's more than enough to drive the screen you mention and play audio. For HD content your looking at a fast Core 2 Duo processor.
However more RAM would be a good idea, 1Gb is better but the more the merrier
Drive space is essential, the more the better as no doubt you'd like to just throw DVD's on to the drive and not have to faff around with the discs.
However more RAM would be a good idea, 1Gb is better but the more the merrier
Drive space is essential, the more the better as no doubt you'd like to just throw DVD's on to the drive and not have to faff around with the discs.
Yes a Home Theatre PC is definately the way forward. The gentleman with the pinacle system above will be restricted to just normal resolution movies so no use in having a 1080p screen. Also a VGA concetion will give you whatever resolution your VGA card outputs (mind you a card that outputs 1920x1080 will need to be quite powerful). Also you can get DVI to HDMI converters which will output the exact resolution required for your TV. There will be problems in the future with HDCP and making sure your components are compatible but as I dont think even the HDMI forum knows yet then how can we.
I have used a system for about 4 months now on a HD (albiet 1366 x 768) TV through VGA and it looks great. I have even run a few demos of HD movies through media player/centre and they play fine. The sound card is chanelled through to a Yamaha 5.1 amp so sound is great too. I can now use the internet, play games, watch DVD or home movies, listen to music, watch and record TV (timeshift too)and of course anything else a PC will do in the future. Some upgrading may be required along the way but its a much a labour of love as the cost involved.
Do it.
I have used a system for about 4 months now on a HD (albiet 1366 x 768) TV through VGA and it looks great. I have even run a few demos of HD movies through media player/centre and they play fine. The sound card is chanelled through to a Yamaha 5.1 amp so sound is great too. I can now use the internet, play games, watch DVD or home movies, listen to music, watch and record TV (timeshift too)and of course anything else a PC will do in the future. Some upgrading may be required along the way but its a much a labour of love as the cost involved.
Do it.
road2ruin said:
Yes a Home Theatre PC is definately the way forward. The gentleman with the pinacle system above will be restricted to just normal resolution movies so no use in having a 1080p screen.
Not exactly true.
First of all, as I said, it supports 720p/1080i. So if you download movies at those resolutions, it will play them back. My set up is restricted because I'm running wireless which HD has issues with. I admit, there won't be any difference using it on a 1080p or 720p/1080i screen, but it is HD.
Secondly, if you're ripping a DVD, you're not getting HD anyway unless you up-res, which will be crap. You can't rip Blu-ray yet as far as I know - certainly not with sensibly priced equipment.
As you said, for 1080p, you'll need a hi res graphics adapter but if you do convert DVI to HDMI, you'll need to make sure the converter supports it.
Add up all the cost of doing that, and I prefer the media centre which gives exactly the same results.
HD-DVD has been cracked already and the prices of Blu-Ray and HD-DVD drives are falling daily. With native support in Vista for the XBox 360 HD-DVD drive thats a £120 solution.
One of the key things with Media Centres is that you can have a HD-DVD internal and a BD-DVD internal in the same chassis today. Until we get an EMEA release of the LG HG1000 thats the best option for base covering in the ongoing format war.
As for DVI/HDMI/HDCP there are many cards already on the market that are HDCP compliant for reasonable cost, so no worries on that front.
One of the key things with Media Centres is that you can have a HD-DVD internal and a BD-DVD internal in the same chassis today. Until we get an EMEA release of the LG HG1000 thats the best option for base covering in the ongoing format war.
As for DVI/HDMI/HDCP there are many cards already on the market that are HDCP compliant for reasonable cost, so no worries on that front.
road2ruin said:
I have used a system for about 4 months now on a HD (albiet 1366 x 768) TV through VGA and it looks great. I have even run a few demos of HD movies through media player/centre and they play fine. The sound card is chanelled through to a Yamaha 5.1 amp so sound is great too. I can now use the internet, play games, watch DVD or home movies, listen to music, watch and record TV (timeshift too)and of course anything else a PC will do in the future. Some upgrading may be required along the way but its a much a labour of love as the cost involved.
Do it.
I've done the same with a shuttle, at the same resolution (the max for my TV) and it is fantastic. I'd intended to do it long before and wish I had. Do it.
It fascinates everybody who sees it.
I went for a 3800 AM2 processor and for now am using the onboard sound - I have a CL Audigy to go in it, though.
I don't run games on it - I have a games machine for that - just use it as a media box.
I did toy with an old 1.7G celeron with XP, running Media Portal but that was pretty torturous.
Bit of an update...
Well in all the excitement of getting my new Hard Drive connected up to the Dell and the first DVD ripped onto it and successfully watching Team America from the computer, I started to think about upgrading the memory. To get this up to 2Gb would cost me best part of anothr £85 and will be specific to the Dell which isnt really geared up for the job. So......
I went on line and bought some new bits and pieces:-
Case - Antic Fusion - looks like an Amp - modern, sleek looking case with digital display, etc...
www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=15738#
Motherboard - Abit Motherboard with Dolby Digital 7.1 output and HDMI output. Perfect for the job.
www.abit.com.tw/page/uk/motherboard/motherboard_detail.php?pMODEL_NAME=iL-90MV&fMTYPE=Mobile+Socket&DEFTITLE=Y
Processor - Intel Core Duo ViiV 1.83GHz - ample for the job?
RAM - 2 x 1Gb Corsair DDR2 553MHz 240 Pin DIMM Unbuffered Non-ECC PC2-4200
I'll then put in the DVD-RW from the Dell as well as both Hard Drives.
I think that I've bitten off well more than I can chew, but very excited about building my own system - just have no idea how to get all the bits working once they are all fitted together!
Well in all the excitement of getting my new Hard Drive connected up to the Dell and the first DVD ripped onto it and successfully watching Team America from the computer, I started to think about upgrading the memory. To get this up to 2Gb would cost me best part of anothr £85 and will be specific to the Dell which isnt really geared up for the job. So......
I went on line and bought some new bits and pieces:-
Case - Antic Fusion - looks like an Amp - modern, sleek looking case with digital display, etc...
www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=15738#
Motherboard - Abit Motherboard with Dolby Digital 7.1 output and HDMI output. Perfect for the job.
www.abit.com.tw/page/uk/motherboard/motherboard_detail.php?pMODEL_NAME=iL-90MV&fMTYPE=Mobile+Socket&DEFTITLE=Y
Processor - Intel Core Duo ViiV 1.83GHz - ample for the job?
RAM - 2 x 1Gb Corsair DDR2 553MHz 240 Pin DIMM Unbuffered Non-ECC PC2-4200
I'll then put in the DVD-RW from the Dell as well as both Hard Drives.
I think that I've bitten off well more than I can chew, but very excited about building my own system - just have no idea how to get all the bits working once they are all fitted together!
skibum said:
Bit of an update...
Well in all the excitement of getting my new Hard Drive connected up to the Dell and the first DVD ripped onto it and successfully watching Team America from the computer, I started to think about upgrading the memory. To get this up to 2Gb would cost me best part of anothr £85 and will be specific to the Dell which isnt really geared up for the job. So......
I went on line and bought some new bits and pieces:-
Case - Antic Fusion - looks like an Amp - modern, sleek looking case with digital display, etc...
www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=15738#
Motherboard - Abit Motherboard with Dolby Digital 7.1 output and HDMI output. Perfect for the job.
www.abit.com.tw/page/uk/motherboard/motherboard_detail.php?pMODEL_NAME=iL-90MV&fMTYPE=Mobile+Socket&DEFTITLE=Y
Processor - Intel Core Duo ViiV 1.83GHz - ample for the job?
RAM - 2 x 1Gb Corsair DDR2 553MHz 240 Pin DIMM Unbuffered Non-ECC PC2-4200
I'll then put in the DVD-RW from the Dell as well as both Hard Drives.
I think that I've bitten off well more than I can chew, but very excited about building my own system - just have no idea how to get all the bits working once they are all fitted together!
Well in all the excitement of getting my new Hard Drive connected up to the Dell and the first DVD ripped onto it and successfully watching Team America from the computer, I started to think about upgrading the memory. To get this up to 2Gb would cost me best part of anothr £85 and will be specific to the Dell which isnt really geared up for the job. So......
I went on line and bought some new bits and pieces:-
Case - Antic Fusion - looks like an Amp - modern, sleek looking case with digital display, etc...
www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=15738#
Motherboard - Abit Motherboard with Dolby Digital 7.1 output and HDMI output. Perfect for the job.
www.abit.com.tw/page/uk/motherboard/motherboard_detail.php?pMODEL_NAME=iL-90MV&fMTYPE=Mobile+Socket&DEFTITLE=Y
Processor - Intel Core Duo ViiV 1.83GHz - ample for the job?
RAM - 2 x 1Gb Corsair DDR2 553MHz 240 Pin DIMM Unbuffered Non-ECC PC2-4200
I'll then put in the DVD-RW from the Dell as well as both Hard Drives.
I think that I've bitten off well more than I can chew, but very excited about building my own system - just have no idea how to get all the bits working once they are all fitted together!
Excellent! You've evidentilly done your research and chosen some perfect parts for a Media Centre - even though the mobo's got onboard graphics, you still should even be able to play a few games on it (slightly older games though)
Edited to add - you will need to buy a new O/S though, Windows Media centre OEM can be had for less than £80 from the likes of Scan/Ebuyer etc)
Edited by chris watton on Thursday 19th April 09:28
Phew - good to hear that I havent got it totally wrong. Bit of an impulse buyer but I also enjoy the research aspects.
I was being naive then when I thought I could just swap over the old HDD from the Dell and hey presto that will work!
Does anyone know a good resource for a first time builder - last thing I want to do is put things together wrong and fry the new shiny bits!
Also - is it worth investing in Vista? I've heard lots of negatives...
I was being naive then when I thought I could just swap over the old HDD from the Dell and hey presto that will work!
Does anyone know a good resource for a first time builder - last thing I want to do is put things together wrong and fry the new shiny bits!
Also - is it worth investing in Vista? I've heard lots of negatives...
skibum said:
Phew - good to hear that I havent got it totally wrong. Bit of an impulse buyer but I also enjoy the research aspects.
I was being naive then when I thought I could just swap over the old HDD from the Dell and hey presto that will work!
Does anyone know a good resource for a first time builder - last thing I want to do is put things together wrong and fry the new shiny bits!
Also - is it worth investing in Vista? I've heard lots of negatives...
I was being naive then when I thought I could just swap over the old HDD from the Dell and hey presto that will work!
Does anyone know a good resource for a first time builder - last thing I want to do is put things together wrong and fry the new shiny bits!
Also - is it worth investing in Vista? I've heard lots of negatives...
This looks quite a good guide;
www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,1742236,00.asp
I have just bought Vista Ultimate OEM for my new PC (for just over £100), and that includes everything, even the media centre edition!
skibum said:
Bit of an update...
Well in all the excitement of getting my new Hard Drive connected up to the Dell and the first DVD ripped onto it and successfully watching Team America from the computer, I started to think about upgrading the memory. To get this up to 2Gb would cost me best part of anothr £85 and will be specific to the Dell which isnt really geared up for the job. So......
I went on line and bought some new bits and pieces:-
Case - Antic Fusion - looks like an Amp - modern, sleek looking case with digital display, etc...
www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=15738#
Motherboard - Abit Motherboard with Dolby Digital 7.1 output and HDMI output. Perfect for the job.
www.abit.com.tw/page/uk/motherboard/motherboard_detail.php?pMODEL_NAME=iL-90MV&fMTYPE=Mobile+Socket&DEFTITLE=Y
Processor - Intel Core Duo ViiV 1.83GHz - ample for the job?
RAM - 2 x 1Gb Corsair DDR2 553MHz 240 Pin DIMM Unbuffered Non-ECC PC2-4200
I'll then put in the DVD-RW from the Dell as well as both Hard Drives.
I think that I've bitten off well more than I can chew, but very excited about building my own system - just have no idea how to get all the bits working once they are all fitted together!
Well in all the excitement of getting my new Hard Drive connected up to the Dell and the first DVD ripped onto it and successfully watching Team America from the computer, I started to think about upgrading the memory. To get this up to 2Gb would cost me best part of anothr £85 and will be specific to the Dell which isnt really geared up for the job. So......
I went on line and bought some new bits and pieces:-
Case - Antic Fusion - looks like an Amp - modern, sleek looking case with digital display, etc...
www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=15738#
Motherboard - Abit Motherboard with Dolby Digital 7.1 output and HDMI output. Perfect for the job.
www.abit.com.tw/page/uk/motherboard/motherboard_detail.php?pMODEL_NAME=iL-90MV&fMTYPE=Mobile+Socket&DEFTITLE=Y
Processor - Intel Core Duo ViiV 1.83GHz - ample for the job?
RAM - 2 x 1Gb Corsair DDR2 553MHz 240 Pin DIMM Unbuffered Non-ECC PC2-4200
I'll then put in the DVD-RW from the Dell as well as both Hard Drives.
I think that I've bitten off well more than I can chew, but very excited about building my own system - just have no idea how to get all the bits working once they are all fitted together!
Good Choice.
If you are worried about assembling all and getting it running there are many website detailed to explain the process. I did exactly the same with the Antec fusion and as long as you dont mind a micro ATX mobo its great. It looks great, plays great and I love using the internet through it too at a lovely 1366 x 768. I did however buy a seperate graphics card an Asus 7600GS (no fan) and a new cpu cooler and now its so quiet I am glad there is a light and VFD on it to tell me its on. I would also recommend getting some software (if you havent already) to control the DVD drive speed as this can couse some noise when playing DVDs yet doesnt have to spin that fast. I just normally turn it down to single speed and hey presto. To get the most out of a media centre though it is always worth while getting a DVB tuner, go for an internal PCI one with MPEG2 compression (less taxing on the CPU) these can be had for little money nowadays.
Good luck but any problems post em up.
Peter
ThePassenger said:
A nice fast P4 should be able to pull off everything bar actual HD res video. It's more than enough to drive the screen you mention and play audio. For HD content your looking at a fast Core 2 Duo processor.
A P4 with hyperthreading will handle HD video with no trouble, especially with a decent video card. My two year old MCE PC has a P4 3.4 and a GeForce 7300GS with 1GB of RAM and it handles everything I throw at it with aplomb.
Edited by Zod on Thursday 19th April 10:05
Aaargghh!
I knew it was going too smoothly. Have been running the new PC for a week or so, but last night I decided to update the various drivers to ensure that I'm getting the most out of the system - in particular the Digital Sound and HDMI Driver for the display. Downloaded them from the Abit website and unzipped them. I was going through the manual driver update for the display and then it just went black. Came back to life again for a couple of seconds and then black again. Hung for about 20 mins but still no sign of life other than the HDD light flashing away. I turned everything off, rebooted and all it does now is bring up the microsoft loading screen for Vista and then hangs again with a black screen...
I'm assuming that its the video driver update that's caused it to go all screwy. Anyone have any tips on how to sort it before I take it to the local IT shop?!
I knew it was going too smoothly. Have been running the new PC for a week or so, but last night I decided to update the various drivers to ensure that I'm getting the most out of the system - in particular the Digital Sound and HDMI Driver for the display. Downloaded them from the Abit website and unzipped them. I was going through the manual driver update for the display and then it just went black. Came back to life again for a couple of seconds and then black again. Hung for about 20 mins but still no sign of life other than the HDD light flashing away. I turned everything off, rebooted and all it does now is bring up the microsoft loading screen for Vista and then hangs again with a black screen...
I'm assuming that its the video driver update that's caused it to go all screwy. Anyone have any tips on how to sort it before I take it to the local IT shop?!
Tried this a few times last night and the problem is that when it gives me the options of loading windows in safe mode or continue as normal, I can't get the cursor to move. The keyboard and mouse doesn't seem to do anything and it defaults to try and boot in normal mode...
Puzzled as to what to do now?
Puzzled as to what to do now?
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