Over/Underkill HTPC?

[thegrinch]

I just quickly looked on Amazon and they had those bad boys listed at $220, lol. I almost forgot Ebay existed. To me it sounds like the whole extender route is going to be a big pain in the ass and isn't really going to fit the bill.




I brought up the DRM concern on another thread about CableCARD's and someone gave me a smart ass answer about Googling it. I figured DRM would be a factor somehow, glad to know not with extenders, but sucks about other PC's on the network. A coordinated DVR schedule isn't a big deal to me, but not being able to watch recordings would suck.

Thanks for the incite.

iRpilot - with all the info provided, now would be a good time to evaluate what you're truly looking to get out of your HTPC. I'd probably start with - is LiveTV with the Ceton going to take precedence over everything else?

I disagree with what others have said about Extenders being a hassle - in fact, I'd say they're quite the opposite since you don't need to worry about multiple guides, recording schedules or DRM. Also, you'll run into less issues with HDMI handshakes between PC's/display drivers regarding waking from sleep, audio cut outs, etc; not saying you WILL run into them or can't resolve them, but I've never had to worry about that stuff on extenders. My WAF is very high

If you're using an Xbox360 extender, you'll be able to playback 1080p movies just fine - I do it weekly. With a combination of a good switch (HP Procurve 1810G-24port) and Shark007 codec pack, I can play back 10-20Mb MKV bluray rips without issue or stutter (if so, very rarely). Granted, these are NOT "full" bit-rate rips, but I don't see much difference vs. the original disc. Subtitles can possibly be an issue, but I rarely watch movies with them.

Also consider where you watch most of your movies - place the main HTPC box there so you mitigate the potential bitrate/container issues immediately (as you'll be playing directly at that point).

 

[iRpilot]

iRpilot - with all the info provided, now would be a good time to evaluate what you're truly looking to get out of your HTPC. I'd probably start with - is LiveTV with the Ceton going to take precedence over everything else?

I disagree with what others have said about Extenders being a hassle - in fact, I'd say they're quite the opposite since you don't need to worry about multiple guides, recording schedules or DRM. Also, you'll run into less issues with HDMI handshakes between PC's/display drivers regarding waking from sleep, audio cut outs, etc; not saying you WILL run into them or can't resolve them, but I've never had to worry about that stuff on extenders. My WAF is very high

If you're using an Xbox360 extender, you'll be able to playback 1080p movies just fine - I do it weekly. With a combination of a good switch (HP Procurve 1810G-24port) and Shark007 codec pack, I can play back 10-20Mb MKV bluray rips without issue or stutter (if so, very rarely). Granted, these are NOT "full" bit-rate rips, but I don't see much difference vs. the original disc. Subtitles can possibly be an issue, but I rarely watch movies with them.

Also consider where you watch most of your movies - place the main HTPC box there so you mitigate the potential bitrate/container issues immediately (as you'll be playing directly at that point).

You've actually brought up a good point. I've decided that live TV and the Ceton card are going to be the main factor in this build. Extenders are the lowest priority at this point now, although I'm going to take into consideration leaving the build open for added improvements later on when I decide to take that extra step. But good info to know about the extenders, that part of this thread when off on a major tangent and lots of issues I didn't take into account popped up. But at least now I know!

I pulled the trigger and bought a Canon T2i with an extra lens off someone on here, he had a sweet deal and I couldn't turn it down, but it cut into my budget. I plan on selling my current camera, but I won't get near as much for it so it won't completely mitigate the cost of the T2i.

My main focus has now turned more towards a lowest budget possible build with these main considerations:

1. On-board video
2. Ceton card with WMC
3. Efficiency