Control of the Htpc

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Craz_3

Weaksauce
Joined
Feb 6, 2004
Messages
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I'm gonna build my htpc this month, but Im stuck on question.

What is the best front end to use? I mean which is the best alternative to Media Center?

I want something to make it very easy and but keep it simple even on a low res tv.

Can anyone make any suggestions on a software/remote setup.

I was also considering using an all in wonder radeon with the remote. But Im now thinking that might not be the best choice.
 
USB-UIRT in combination with GIRDER will allow you to use any remote you want to control the htpc. As far as frontend software Sage Tv is great and has an excellent community of support.
 
AIWs are great to add to a desktop system where the main focus isn't on watching tv. There are a few remotes you could use from the ATI remote wonder 1 & 2 to any off the shelf remote, what exactly do you want out of a remote (ie: I'm using a sort of "universal remote" that combines both RF & IR).

As for frontends you have a few choices, myHTPC, SageTV, BTV, and a newer one GotTV PVR. Personally I would try out both SageTV and BTV and maybe GotTV PVR but I wouldn't waste my time with myHTPC right now. It's a great program but they are going to release a new version and charging for it (not a problem since it's an awesome program) but the problem is that once the new one is release offical development stops on the old version but the Pablo (the guy who wrote myHTPC) has said that the old version will always stay free though. GotTV PVR is kind of new (atleast to me) and comes from a standalone program that use to be a plugin to myHTPC and is definitely worth a look. Both BTV and SageTV offer free complete trail versions for DL, I have a couple of copies of Sage on the way (I got them free :D) but that would have been the program of choice for we anyways.
As for Linux, Myth TV is the only solution (I think) but I hear it's pretty damn good anyways.

For more suggestions (the programs covered are the most prevalent) look under the sticky.
 
Do not get an AIW card. Firstly the video quality isn't as good as other cards, also if you plan to attempt to set up a mythTV box the ati drivers do not work (or aren't supported, but basically it's not possible). Grab a PVR-250 (comes with the remote i believe) and an nvidia card for tv-out (GF4MX or 5200FX, unless you intend to not use it solely for an HTPC setup in which case you might want a more powerful card).

As far as programs are concerned, mythTV is probably the best free choice right now, but if you dont have an linux experience and dont want to spend time working on it then it's probably not the best choice for you. CrimandEvil is pretty much spot on with regards to his windows-based assessments, but if you're interested in fiddling with linux definitely give mythTV a whirl.
 
Thanks Antheus. I've been playing with Linux for a while but I don't use it for an HTPC, no particular reasons except I got my software and two 250MCEs free. At some point when I can get some new (read 250/350s) I'd like to give MythTV a shot but that all depends on whats coming down the pipeline regarding HTPCs.
 
I reccommend using myhtpc as a front end. I've found it very useful and easily customizable. Also, definitely use girder to control it, it's a very powerful tool. I also recommend using the MCE remote control you can buy on newegg for $34 shipped with girder.
 
I was thinking about using the Msi Mega 180 with the MSI TV@nywhere Master PCI for a tv capture card.

I was going to use a radeon 9600 or so as the video card under your suggestion.

As for the remote, This goes along with another question. Should I just use Win Mce?post a link towards installing it if you could ;) or do these other software solutions do just as good a job? I looked on Newegg for a bundled pack and I didn't see any remotes with girder for MCE?

If you could tell me why use another front end over MCE, and If my setup is any good.
 
well if you want to save a bit of money, if you dont intend to do any gaming on the computer you could probably save about 100 bucks on the video card and get a cheaper card that uses the same architecture and has video out. Once again i''ve heard nothing but great things about the s-video out on the 5200FX cards (nvidia), and cant really comment on the quality of ATI's. Also i believe the nvidia linux drivers are far superior.
 
If you could tell me why use another front end over MCE, and If my setup is any good
Click to expand...
Well simply put you can't buy MCE so I'd say thats a reason not to use it.
 
I'm aware you can't purchase MCE, but I won't go into that subject.

As for the video card, is there some video cards that do better with video playback then others? I thought radeons did better with divx and such.

and was the MSI tuner card a good capture card?
 
i was wondering the same thing, what advantage does mce have over the freeware yall mentioned? just curious

thanks
 
If you call not supporting more then one tuner card, and using onboard sound advantages. :D
Actually I hear that alot of problems MCE has is being fixed with MCE2004 so thats good to know. Personally I feel that the other solutions mentioned feel "more polished" and are more flexible letting you add plugins and such. I'm assuming that your looking for a Windows solution more then something for Linux right?

No the MSI card is not that good- getting a hardware based encoder will free up system resources for other things.

Grider is a program used for mapping keyboard functions to something like a remote (or game pad), Heres the remote BTW.

For SDTV anything above a 7500 series and GF4 MX is good, I'd look for either a 9600 series (NOT SE!), 9800Pro (256bit memory bus), 5700 series (128 bit memory bus) or a 5900XT. A 9800Pro seems to be the best based on price/ performance (yes, video card performance can matter if you want it too; ie: VMR9 video rendering) with a VGA silencer on it.
 
Thanks for the reply, that remote is awesome. I was wondering if it also put out ir's so that I can control the tv and receiver?

As for MCE 2004, is that going to be retail/public or another msdn only?

I haven't gotten big into linux, maybe you could make a reference on where to go to get the basics?

lastly, Any of you people used the mega pc 180?
 
Craz_3 said:
Thanks for the reply, that remote is awesome. I was wondering if it also put out ir's so that I can control the tv and receiver?

As for MCE 2004, is that going to be retail/public or another msdn only?

I haven't gotten big into linux, maybe you could make a reference on where to go to get the basics?

lastly, Any of you people used the mega pc 180?
Click to expand...
They'll never make MCE for retail, MSDN only from what I've been hearing. That remote is only IR but for PCs, so your needing a sort of univeral one, Niveus PC Remote Control is the only one that is made now (I think or atleast before going into the $100 mark) that is both RF and IR.
http://store.niveusmedia.com/s.nl/c...xahmLb30Ma3qSawb48QvJpkixn6jAmljGr5XDqQLvpAe_

As for Linux/ Myth stuff look under the sticky
 
If you are looking for a more full featured solution, that provides both front end and full home and home theater automation and the kind of control of apps that Girder provides, in one package, then you might consider our CQC product. It's a full control and automation system in software form. If we don't have drivers for a particular piece of hardware, we'll be happy to work with you to get it done.
 
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