Power Conditioners, Touch Screens, and the software needed for a decent media center.

T

TeeJay88

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 20, 2009
Messages
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Over the last year ive been slowly building up a modest budget Home Theater.
Now I have to bother you folks for some help on some more hardware and software editions.
Ive gotten a Yamaha 365 receiver.(Great entry level receiver for $160)

MITX Dual Core Atom server to store all of my media.

My i7 gaming rig running Win 7, Blu Ray equiped serves as my media center, but its housed in my TJ09.

Ive added the Antec Veris Premium display for remote support(piece of shit is what it really is, wont install flush. Only good for turning on and off my pc from the couch.)

My 5.1 speakers consist of JBLE20 for the mains, BIC AMERICA DV-52CLRB for the center, i think JBL XL80s for the rear and a Polk PSW10 for the sub. All but the sub will be replaced within the next year for a matching set(not yet chosen).

Now im considering replacing my existing surge protector with a power conditioner.
http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-AP4130...2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1279610655&sr=8-2
Although i think this model may be overkill and may step down to the PF30, but i dont know if this will handle 2 computers, a receiver, monitor and a TV(TV is not yet purchased, looking for a 32" 1080p)
So any help from anyone experienced with power conditioners would be greatly help.

To replace the remote Im thinking of Logitech Harmony 300.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&cm_re=logitech_remote-_-80-111-033-_-Product
I dont need to lcd screen in the remote even though it would be cool, because I want the main control to be handled by a USB 7" touch screen.
http://www.amazon.com/UM-720S-Scree...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1279611413&sr=8-1
Now this is going to be my next purchase, my main concern. Ive read of minor calibration flaws, but i wanted to know if anyone has had experience with this unit.

Now for my main question. I need to get some good audio and video codecs and other needed software to make HTPC really shine. I already have Power DVD Ultra 9. But I know that is not enough, but theres so much out there, that I dont know were to start.And should i dual boot, one for gaming, one for the HTPC side of things. If someone could link me the necessary basic additions that would be great.

I even managed to find this at the GoodWill I work at for $30. New, still in the box, actually there is still another one there(East side of Madison,WI if your in the area).
http://www.federalstereo.com/terhaustrose.html
 
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lol, a power conditioner...



Been hanging out at bestbuy or something?
 
TeeJay88 said:
Now im considering replacing my existing surge protector with a power conditioner.
http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-AP4130...2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1279610655&sr=8-2
Although i think this model may be overkill and may step down to the PF30, but i dont know if this will handle 2 computers, a receiver, monitor and a TV(TV is not yet purchased, looking for a 32" 1080p)
So any help from anyone experienced with power conditioners would be greatly help.
Click to expand...

Power conditioners really only come into play if you have horrible wiring in your house that causes your line voltages to go out of spec or you are using equipment that is very sensitive to voltages.

You shouldn't need one.
 
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I agree with everyone heer you should not need a power conditioner. If you are going to change something sooner than later the rest of your speakers are ok except for the polk sub. Polk makes decent speakers subs are just not among them. You could go with deftech or svs or ed for great subs they have a variety of subs to choose from depending on your budget.

Deftech http://www.definitivetech.com/Products/Subwoofers/default.aspx

SVS http://www.svsound.com/products-sub.cfm

ED http://www.edesignaudio.com/index.php?cPath=2_41&osCsid=542cdb973e567737865849f891a93539

If you upgrade your subwoofer you will see a night and day difference. I haven't heard a good polk sub in the last 10 yrs..HTH
 
visionviper said:
Power conditioners really only come into play if you have horrible wiring in your house that causes your line voltages to go out of spec or you are using equipment that is very sensitive to voltages.

You shouldn't need one.
Click to expand...

Or at the very worst, buy an AVR from newegg.



Change the name to "power conditioner" and claim it is for home theater use... suddenly you can charge 8x the price for the same thing.
 
Im checking in the AVR, but i'll wait till i move and get a chance to check the power system, The Sub is brand new and the room size is tiny, so im not to concerned with with upgrading the sub, especially considering i got it for a $100 with free shipping.
But the software is my main concern, I ran throught the list from AVSForum, if there missing something, or anyone has suggestions let me know,
 
I try to install the fewest codecs possible... it's the way to go IMO.


Although if you have a i7... just use FFDshow for everything.
 
Roger FFDShow. Sounds good to me.
Now does anyone have experience with touch screens for media center control.
 
okay guys power conditioners are real and are different than a UPS.

in the US you are only going to really need a power conditioner if you live in a older home or have a lot of outages.

when the power goes off and then comes back on it can cause undervoltage and overvoltage.... neither of which will a UPS handle.
the UPS will get fried just like anything else if it has too high or too low of power...

now a power conditioner is designed to recieve power that is over/under standard... either 220 or 110

so in the event of overvoltage or undervotage the caps in the PC will still output 110 or 220 for a short period of time and the PSU in the PC is designed to take a little more abuse from crappy power.


I spend almost a month in northern india and the power clicks off about 20-30 time a day.
and when it is on it is running at anywhere from 200-250v not the 220v that PSUs like.

Here in the US my Projector is on a power conditioner and so is my AVR. My PJ is also on a dedicated UPS for bulb protection.

I have a a buddy who owns a 1930's home that had bare copper wiring in the basement... his power is not a clean 110 but rather it varies from 100-115 and his nice Pioneer Plasma does not like bad power
 
AVR = Automatic Voltage Regulator.


It's a power conditioner. Not all UPSs have AVR though.
 
It is an ugly subject though since it is not easy to compartmentalize and it is very hard to back up manufacturer claims. I run a simple line conditioner for my AV equipment since the power in my area is good, but I know my PJ will not like a line transient if power glitches. The best solutions though cost quite a bit of money since they are doing double conversion (AC-DC-AC) with a series lightning protection up front. Just have to judge the value of the equipment and the amount of paranoia you want to apply. My rule of thumb is ~5% of the initial purchase price of the equipment.
 
Since im poor, I value the little equipment that i have so, id like take any means of protection that i can.
 
I'm gonna second the power conditioner, as I live in Dallas and in the neighborhood I live in we get frequent brownouts.... if you plug a voltage meter in the outlets... well it looks really nasty and not clean at all. But that is a personal preference.

As for the codecs, maybe klm codec pack?

For the remote I would strongly suggest waiting for a refurbed harmony 880 or similar deal for 60$ that float around from time to time. I would say that they are great for setting up virtually everything through the activities. That or a dinova mini :)

With the harmony and the veris (basically the ir adapter) you should get full media center remote control functionality. So if you use a program like media browser in media center, you could virtually have full media control with just the remote :)


Good luck on you quest :)
 
Thanks for the feed back rhansen, now i just need to get some info on touch screens.
 
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