The Home Theater PC is Dead

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What the hell is with everything being "dead" this week?? Today the HTPC is dead but earlier this week it was gaming, the PC, MySpace, the mouse, zombie this, zombie that. I'm starting to look more like necrophiliac than a news guy. :eek:

The problem is that while a computer geek can make an HTPC do just about anything, a typical user has a hard enough time using a PC to surf the web. There are just too many things that can go wrong, and with the exception of some very high-end models, commercial HTPCs are non-existent. HP stopped making 'em four years ago. Dell never even bothered. Nope, no matter how hard PC manufactures and Microsoft try, HTPCs simply will never go mainstream.
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I agree that they wont be mainstream. The general public is too retarded.
 
I would argue they never really got off the ground. HTPCs just simply never had the right combination of features that made them as easy to use set-top boxes. With all the new Blu-Ray players and TVs having built in support for memory cards and USB sticks and even light surfing, the average joe has no need for an HTPC.

Commerical HTPC's for the masses were always a messed because they were just the most basic windows boxes with buggy software running on top of it as a user shell. Most often, it would break down or be hard to control (often no remote). Without built in support for the latest video codecs, there wasn't much use as a media box for the masses either because they wouldn't know how to do anything aside from putting in a DVD. Next gen will be the ones with Netflix and other content delivery marketplaces built in.
 
PC... Dead
Home Theater... Dead
Microsoft... Dead
AMD... Dead
Mouse... Dead
etc

What do they all have in common?

Oh right, shit that alot of people uses but marketeers are trying to push "new" and obsolete bullshit on them that don't meet our needs.
 
The problem is that while a computer geek can make an HTPC do just about anything, a typical user has a hard enough time using a PC to surf the web. There are just too many things that can go wrong, and with the exception of some very high-end models, commercial HTPCs are non-existent. HP stopped making 'em four years ago. Dell never even bothered. Nope, no matter how hard PC manufactures and Microsoft try, HTPCs simply will never go mainstream.
Click to expand...

Most people who have been using HTPC's so far have been building them, not buying premades. Don't really see why anyone would expect that to change.
 
Um, there are millions of HTPCs being sold every month worldwide. Anyone that has hooked up an Xbox360 or PS3 has used one.

The HTPC hasn't died, its just been renamed.
 
*Checks his HTPCs* Nope they seem to be working just fine. Thanks for the scare :p

Seriously though I'm so glad these journalists are this bored to write awfully inaccurate articles about there narrow points of view.
 
HTPC are nice and they were never alive ( to the mass public ). But media devices have really caught up. I switched to WDTV Live and my streaming has been alot easier to maintain thats for sure. I don't have cable TV so TV isnt an issue to me.
 
I gave up on setting up a HTPC years ago... but only because I found a much better solution! I just hook my laptop up via hdmi and set it on my entertainment center.

Why it makes more sense for me:
I don't need my laptop while at home.
I don't need a HTPC while I'm away from home (FIOS DVR is the only way to capture most content anyway)
Laptop has an IR port on the front that my Harmony remote uses for control
I don't have to deal with a "10ft" interface if I don't want to, I just sit the laptop on the coffee table, the HDMI cable reaches
 
FranklyShankly said:
Most people who have been using HTPC's so far have been building them, not buying premades. Don't really see why anyone would expect that to change.
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Most do build their own, but the writer was looking in the wrong spot for premade stuff. I just saw a new ASRock ION 3D setup over on Anand. Just because HP, Dell and the big premade guys aren't making them doesn't mean they don't exist. The writer should have looked at what ASRock and Zotac offer.

Software wise, Media Center does work quite well. Laptops (and even desktops) do come with IR receivers and remotes these days. XBMC and Media Portal are both easy setups as well. If you are capable of installing software, an HTPC isn't stretching it anymore. Most people are just lazy, I could never go back to being handicapped by a cable box.
 
DracoDan said:
I gave up on setting up a HTPC years ago... but only because I found a much better solution! I just hook my laptop up via hdmi and set it on my entertainment center.

Why it makes more sense for me:
I don't need my laptop while at home.
I don't need a HTPC while I'm away from home (FIOS DVR is the only way to capture most content anyway)
Laptop has an IR port on the front that my Harmony remote uses for control
I don't have to deal with a "10ft" interface if I don't want to, I just sit the laptop on the coffee table, the HDMI cable reaches
Click to expand...

So in short, you did set one up...
 
Like any "performance" hardware you have to be smart enough to know how to use it. While the author is correct when it comes to your typical user but for anyone who knows their way around a computer there is nothing better than a well built HTPC. There is nothing mine will not run, everything from your basic HDTV rips to 3D Blu Rays with DTS-MA playback, all at the click (or double click) of a button.
 
I love my HTPC. I think the most logical next step is computers built directly into TVs for the layman.
 
Spare-Flair said:
I would argue they never really got off the ground. HTPCs just simply never had the right combination of features that made them as easy to use set-top boxes. With all the new Blu-Ray players and TVs having built in support for memory cards and USB sticks and even light surfing, the average joe has no need for an HTPC.

Commerical HTPC's for the masses were always a messed because they were just the most basic windows boxes with buggy software running on top of it as a user shell. Most often, it would break down or be hard to control (often no remote). Without built in support for the latest video codecs, there wasn't much use as a media box for the masses either because they wouldn't know how to do anything aside from putting in a DVD. Next gen will be the ones with Netflix and other content delivery marketplaces built in.
Click to expand...

I agree with this. Making an HTPC work requires a tech-savvy person who can set it up to his/her liking. There are so many different stuff to configure, between a tuner card, MPC HC, deinterlacing, decoding, blah blah blah that I can't imagine someone who isn't a [H]ardOCP reader being happy with it.

But when you make it work, man, is it sweet.
 
HTPC is what?

What is there to learn about setting up an HTPC? Knowing your wires and plugs? Those of us that aren't lazy and aren't uneducated can build them for the not so SMRTs. We don't mind doing it, either. Once set up, if you don't know how to double click things, you shouldn't reproduce.

Why would I buy several components to do what a single HTPC can?
 
HTPC's need only 4 things to become half-assed mainstream.

1. Native Blu-Ray support
2. Solid supply of CableCard tuners at competitive prices
3. Highly compatible remote control compatibility
4. Solid supply of aesthetically pleasing small form factors

If these things are met... 45% of the population that already has a normal household PC would have an HTPC in addition in 2-3 years.
 
Also I want to add, when someone knows how to use an HTPC and it's used right, nothing else even gets close to offering so many features. Every media feature one could want in a living room can be handled on one all-encompassing box. Killer app.
 
IMHO I think most households just want something that's plug and play, thats why the cable companies make a fortune. While having a HTPC might be nice it's just not ideal for most people, remember for most the easier solution is best for them.

We all know that most want the simple solution and it still seems like there are a lot of people that still can't use a damn PC just to surf the web without having problems so how the hell are they gonna set-up an HTPC, lol.
 
Hey guys, I just logged on to HardOCP as soon as I could when I heard that Steve was...

Touche Steve... touche...
 
i wouldnt call them HTPCs, but there are tons of home theater boxes that allow you to surf the web, play movies, view youtube, netflix, etc.

PS3, XBox, Wii, Apple TV, Google TV, TiVo, they all have functionality of an HTPC.
 
I like to think the idiocy that brought about CableCard is the reason it never even became mainstream.
 
Maybe there just talking about specific HTPC boxes, I'd just go with a normal case if I did build one for the TV, I couldn't care less about the branded pre-built crap.
 
No point in having a HTPC if there is no ability to save local media - i.e. DVD Rips / Blu-ray Rips. There is no built-in way to do this using front ends like XBMC (because of legal nonsense). External programs can rip, sure, but then theres the hassle of updating them for new DVD/BR releases and absolutely no integration. Any tiny box can stream netflix.
 
03grandam said:
IMHO I think most households just want something that's plug and play, thats why the cable companies make a fortune. While having a HTPC might be nice it's just not ideal for most people, remember for most the easier solution is best for them.

We all know that most want the simple solution and it still seems like there are a lot of people that still can't use a damn PC just to surf the web without having problems so how the hell are they gonna set-up an HTPC, lol.
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Yep, but are they able to even take their dick out of their pants to take a piss, or do they use adult diapers? Stupidity and laziness shouldn't be rewarded.
 
I've had an HTPC since 2007 because set top boxes, blu-ray players, game consoles ( this is a bad joke calling it an HTPC I hope ) never seem to get it just right. You can't update codec support on them, USB device support is hit or miss or requires constant firmware updates.

IT's microsofts half assed Media Center support that kills the mainstream HTPC. The only real option for the perfect HTPC is a linux based HTPC OS but it's linux and so far Linux drivers are still too far behind modern hardware to keep the linux based OS's feasible to be able to launch a dedicated HTPC annually.
 
I have a Win 7 based HTPC running XBMC and Eventghost with everything controlled by my dish network remote via USB-UIRT. The pc is an old AMD X2 3800+. Runs all movies flawlessly, even blu-ray rips.

My only two gripes:

Integrating BR/DVD ripping. I've made an XBMC script that will auto-rip and load to the library movies using DVD Decrypter, but when new movies come out, manually updating is a PITA.

Second problem: XBMC's deinterlacing is horrendous.

Other than that, my HTPC has been great.
 
Well duh it's dead, a HTPC is basically just a PC, and as we've been told many times already, PCs are dead.
 
Where do I bury mine and where exactly is the replacement for playing all my Steam games on a big TV?
 
images


Cool I get to use this again!
 
LeninGHOLA said:
Yep, but are they able to even take their dick out of their pants to take a piss, or do they use adult diapers? Stupidity and laziness shouldn't be rewarded.
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"taking their dick out of their pants to take a piss" has nothing to do with being able to build and setup an HTPC. Remember those of us that can build and work on computers are the minority not the majority. Hell even BB workers don't know jack shit and yet your average user still takes their computers there to be worked on so whats that tell you? The average user is just tech illiterate, sadly.
 
The article was obviously written by a mac-tard.

The problem is that while a computer geek can make an HTPC do just about anything, a typical user has a hard enough time using a PC to surf the web. There are just too many things that can go wrong, and with the exception of some very high-end models, commercial HTPCs are non-existent. HP stopped making 'em four years ago. Dell never even bothered. Nope, no matter how hard PC manufactures and Microsoft try, HTPCs simply will never go mainstream.
Click to expand...

A typical mac using idiot might not be able to use the internet, but most people use the internet just fine. Most people can do nothing but use the internet on a PC. Now that most PCs have HDMI out and almost all HDTVs are HDMI in, I can't see how HTPC adoption will do anything but increase. It's never been simpler or smarter to use your PC as your media center for your TV.
 
Dark Prodigy said:
HTPC's need only 4 things to become half-assed mainstream.

1. Native Blu-Ray support
2. Solid supply of CableCard tuners at competitive prices
3. Highly compatible remote control compatibility
4. Solid supply of aesthetically pleasing small form factors
Click to expand...

#2 is one of the hindrances, CableCard was a failure in the US and does not even exist outside the US. I would say instead:

2. Increased presence of mini-ITX boards with embedded video

Today, the only modern board on newegg is the ZOTAC 880GITX-A-E for the Phenom II, but it still features the 3yo DirectX 10.1. Their only LGA 1155 model does not include video.
Many mini-ITX boards can use passive cooling or a single CPU cooler, and at a square 6.5" / 17 cm, they can be available in many attractive and silent SFF cases.
 
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