HTPC Better Then High-Quality Stand-Alone Seperate Units?!

A

afropuff

Limp Gawd
Joined
Oct 1, 2002
Messages
448
Hello all,

Over the years I have been fascinated by HTPC's. I was just wondering how an HTPC compares to stand-alone equipment? Is an HTPC better then a very good DVD player, reciever, equalizer, ect ect..???

Also, how would you connect high-quality speakers to an HTPC running speaker wire - how would you terminate it?! would you need a stand-alone reciever for this??

thanks!

-fro
 
Yes, if you want to through the setup (FFDSHOW, etc.), it'll be better than standalone equipment (though some of the newer DVD players that upsample to HD are pretty neat) at least insofar as DVD players go.

As for audio, I have a seperate receiver and use the optical out on my sound card to feed it for Dolby Digital, DTS, etc.
 
ECM said:
Yes, if you want to through the setup (FFDSHOW, etc.), it'll be better than standalone equipment (though some of the newer DVD players that upsample to HD are pretty neat) at least insofar as DVD players go.

As for audio, I have a seperate receiver and use the optical out on my sound card to feed it for Dolby Digital, DTS, etc.
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hmm ic

interesting....well, I may consider building one in the future possibly.
 
could you go over the steps to setup your optical output to a receiver, and passing the dolby digital stuff to it?

I have the chaintech av710, and use the envy ht-s drivers off viaarena.com

thanks for the info :)
 
afropuff said:
Also, how would you connect high-quality speakers to an HTPC running speaker wire - how would you terminate it?! would you need a stand-alone reciever for this??
Click to expand...
You'll need a separate receiver or amplifier, unless the speakers are independently powered. You would know if you had one, because they have AC power cables coming out of them.

Any PC meant for home theater use would have line-level analog outputs, which outputs basically a scaled-down signal of what you want. The amplifier brings the signal up to the level in which speakers can be driven by the signal without any problems.
 
xonik said:
You'll need a separate receiver or amplifier, unless the speakers are independently powered. You would know if you had one, because they have AC power cables coming out of them.

Any PC meant for home theater use would have line-level analog outputs, which outputs basically a scaled-down signal of what you want. The amplifier brings the signal up to the level in which speakers can be driven by the signal without any problems.
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hmmmm

well, an HTPC system sounds pretty cool because when I have people over they can play some games on the RPTV and I can watch movies on it as well. It just sounds like a cool idea, I just need to know if it is comparable to other equipment.

I mean, what is the advantage of an HTPC other then being able to run windows on your RPTV?? Because if I can buy comparable stand-alone equipment for the same amount of money then why have the HTPC at all (other then windows of course). If I built one, it would have to be the core of my home theatre system - I just don't know if HTPC's are that high-quality yet.
 
DVD playback when setup correctly will easily outshine a stand alone dvd player and even give some very expensive dvd + scalers a run for thier money. While they can be used as Pre/Pro's it really is a little early on the software side to do that I believe. It is simply too easy and more reliable to go with a stand alone reciever for now.

With the chaintech just make sure the optical is hooked up then set your dvd player to output DD/DTS via spdif output. Should be all you need to do.
 
advantages of an HTPC over stand alone equipment:

1) movies played off hard drive
2) ability to watch streaming web content
3) MP3 jukebox
4) play PC games
5) Easily burn recorded TV onto discs
6) compatible with any file format. just load the codecs.
7) Home automation. I don't do this, but with the PC it is possible.
8) all-in-one solution. The one HTPC will do the job of a tivo, dvd player, stereo, MP3 player, game box.
9) easily upgradeable storage (for TiVo mainly)
10) geek factor. The HTPC mystifies most of the people I show it too. "That is a computer? On your TV? COOL!"

I am sure there is more, but these are ther easons I went with an HTPC.
 
IDversusEGO said:
advantages of an HTPC over stand alone equipment:

1) movies played off hard drive
2) ability to watch streaming web content
3) MP3 jukebox
4) play PC games
5) Easily burn recorded TV onto discs
6) compatible with any file format. just load the codecs.
7) Home automation. I don't do this, but with the PC it is possible.
8) all-in-one solution. The one HTPC will do the job of a tivo, dvd player, stereo, MP3 player, game box.
9) easily upgradeable storage (for TiVo mainly)
10) geek factor. The HTPC mystifies most of the people I show it too. "That is a computer? On your TV? COOL!"

I am sure there is more, but these are ther easons I went with an HTPC.
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agreed++

Also, HTPCs allow for a tremendous amount of customizability. If what you see is not what you like, you can change it. Whether it be the graphics of your front end or the output of your DVD player or music player.

One caution that I've been learning in my past month or so of HTPC life, it takes a fair amount of work to get things all working the way you want them, unless you're happy with something less configurable like MS MCE2005. So it isn't as easy to set up as stand alone, dedicated devices, but if you like to tinker the results can definitely be superior.
 
fogot about appearances and plugins. some cool stuff like news feeds, movie showtimes, weather etc... all add to the HTPC experience. and I love to tinker
 
The only "REAL" issue with a HTPC is that you will now need to SUPPORT it. Stand alone boxes never change and don't get upgrades. They do what they do and that is it. An HTPC is like child. When they are newborns you need to work your ass off and lose lots of sleep. When they are children they alot of fun and you are amazed at the things that they can do. When they become teenagers they don't need alot of hand holding but when they go AWOL you got a freaking nightmare on your hands :D

An HTPC is really like a child. If you can handle a full blown HTPC for 3 or 4 years then that should be a good indication you can handle children ;)

-tReP
 
nice comparison there. As an HTPC owner and a father, I would have to agree with most of that. One difference, I can just turnt he HTPC off or return the parts. Kid is 24/7.
 
IDversusEGO said:
advantages of an HTPC over stand alone equipment:

1) movies played off hard drive
2) ability to watch streaming web content
3) MP3 jukebox
4) play PC games
5) Easily burn recorded TV onto discs
6) compatible with any file format. just load the codecs.
7) Home automation. I don't do this, but with the PC it is possible.
8) all-in-one solution. The one HTPC will do the job of a tivo, dvd player, stereo, MP3 player, game box.
9) easily upgradeable storage (for TiVo mainly)
10) geek factor. The HTPC mystifies most of the people I show it too. "That is a computer? On your TV? COOL!"

I am sure there is more, but these are ther easons I went with an HTPC.
Click to expand...

I agree.....Love mine..
 
its nice to be able to watch a movie or tv and then not have to get up and go another room to play HL2 or COD. its nice for my wife because she can play bejewelled, surf the net, and "do her email"(lol) on a 51' HD screen while i'm kicking ass on COD multiplayer in the computer room. i also love being able to watch directtv on it simultaneously record another tv show off of cable. If you have a HD monitor, you dont know what your missing.
i think everybody needs one. thats where the living room multimedia experience is moving anyways.

sam.
 
as far as price, you won't have much money, if any. some people go way farther than me. comparison...

HTPC capable of HD resoltuions with 160gb HDD cost me around $1000

individual components to do the same functions...
Momitsu V880N Network capable upscaling DVD player $379
DVD recorder $200
140 our TiVo $300
xbox for gaming $150
xbox HD pack $20

That is $1050 and doesn't include all of the cable you will need to hook up the seperate component, a digital card reader, or any of the internet features. It would be easier though. well, unless hooking up the proper signal sources is too difficult.
 
In terms of quality:

You really only get better visual quality

Audio is still dependent on the stand-alone reciever..correct?
 
yes. the reciever and the source. but that is the same with any video source. the video and audio are typically seperate. there are no video sources I know of that are capable of doing what even a $200 onkyo can do for sound. And digital output is digital output. whether it is coming from a PC sound card or a highend DVD player, the reciever does the processing.
 
IDversusEGO said:
nice comparison there. As an HTPC owner and a father, I would have to agree with most of that. One difference, I can just turnt he HTPC off or return the parts. Kid is 24/7.
Click to expand...

ROFL!!!
 
another thing to remember, at CES it was apparent that media center PC's (HTPCs) were all the rage; whether it was a device using one of MS's media extenders built in or software/hardware companies showing what a HTPC can do for you

so with that said, it's nice to be involved in the early phase of what's shaping up to be the next big thing in home entertainment; granted, being an early adopter means you may have more struggle but it also means you'll appreciate the ride to maturity more
 
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