Rate my HTPC

Mith

Weaksauce
Joined
Nov 3, 2004
Messages
68
Hey guys a few days ago I told my mom about HTPC's and she got all excited and told me to build one. I have been doing research on them and this is what I have come up with so far.

https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.asp?ID=5892746

Parts that I am not too sure about:
DVD drive: I know that this drive is good but I am afraid it will be too loud. Anyone have a suggestion on a good quiet DVD drive?
TV Tuner: I don't know what to look for in a good tv tuner. We are going to have direct tv with a hi def television in the next few months so I want to be able to do HD, as well as record television shows.
Sound Card:I like the specs and reviews of the one I have on the list, but I'm not sure if I'm over paying.
Remote: A lot of people have said just the MCE remote will work just fine, but I dunno

Any advice you guys could give would be great.
Thanks
 
TV Tuner: I don't know what to look for in a good tv tuner. We are going to have direct tv with a hi def television in the next few months so I want to be able to do HD

You can't. Not with Satellite anyways.

edit: And I can't view your wishlist.
 
RE: quiet DVD drives.

I built a new HTPC with a samsung, and it's much quieter than my old NEC DVD burners, even at full speed. I would recommend a sammie.

Also, Use a program like Nero DriveSpeed to limit the drive to a 1x read rate. That's all you need to play a standard DVD movie. That will make any drive quiet enough (including my old and loud NEC drives)

RE: remote choice.

I run MediaPortal on my HTPC. I first tried a generic remote that is supposedly MCE compatible, but it didn't work at all with MediaPortal. I ended up returning that POS and getting the standard Microsoft branded MCE remote -- it works perfectly.

From what I gather, it's hit and miss wether the generic MCE-compatbile remotes will work as expected. I would recommend just going with the Microsoft MCE remote, even tho it costs a little more. It'll give you more options if you ever choose to try a different application instead of MCE on your HTPC
 
You gave out the private link to your wishlist. The public link is http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/wishlist/PublicWishDetail.asp?WishListNumber=5892746. Looks pretty solid all the way around. I'd drop the soundcard and use the 8 channel onboard (or the SPDIF if you already have a home theater.) You also need to think about getting a remote control. The MCE remote is cheap, and comes with its own USB-UIRT, so it's a pretty popular choice.
 
Doesn't look too bad.

I have the 8500gt card listed. very happy with it.
I have a Sondigo Inferno for the sound card. Same chip as the Claro. If you are going to use the digital out to a receiver, there isn't any real reason to spend the extra money on the Claro. I'm connected to my receiver using the analog outs and I'm pretty happy with it.
Right now, you can't do anything with direct tv. I have dish and have to use the dish tuner. hopefully we'll see support for sat tv, but I'm not holding my breath on that.
I use a harmony remote for everything. handles the receiver, dish tuner, tv, and computer pretty seamlessly. they cost a bit more, but are well worth it.
 
do you have to have a TV tuner card to record television or can I do that straight through the video card? I really want to be able to record Hi def television as well as everything else, so if we end up getting direct TV is that going to be impossible?
 
I would suggest a wireless keyboard, makes things easier for when you want to do something with the OS and are in front of the couch. Same with a mouse, or a good remote (like ATI's Remote Wonder) that you can use in place of a mouse.
 
do you have to have a TV tuner card to record television or can I do that straight through the video card? I really want to be able to record Hi def television as well as everything else, so if we end up getting direct TV is that going to be impossible?

You will not be able to record Hidef content from direct tv on your computer in hi def. You could use an analog capture card and record it from there, but the best you'll get is s-video. There is currently no way available to do what you are wanting to do.

You can get something like the hdhomerun and record OTA hd stuff, assuming it's available in your area.
 
Yeah, unfortunately HD + Sat + HTPC = no
at least for now....there have been rumors that both Dish Network and DirectTV have plans in the works to work with HTPCs, but nobody really knows anything for sure. If those plans are implemented, it might be so DRM constricted that you'll wish you just stuck with an HD-DVR to begin with. (That's what I did).

If you really want TV on your HTPC, your best bet is to get an HD OTA (Over the Air) tuner card, and another card that can handle S-Video input. Then, for your local channels, the OTA card pulls the HD feeds in using an antenna. Your other card will receive S-Video inputs from your sat box. Your "premium" HD channels though won't be able to go through the HTPC without significant down-rezzing through the S-Video connection. So no ESPN, Discovery, TNT, HBO, etc. At least, not on your HTPC.

There are small glimpses of hope for HD cable on HTPCs though, so if you haven't committed to a provider yet, you might consider those.

My only question about your parts list is, I wouldn't go with that USB wifi stick if I were you. I have not had terribly good luck with the "stick" style USB adaptors. Why not go with a PCI or PCI-e adaptor? If you're worried about using up your PCI slots, get something like the Linksys USB adaptor. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833124126

It's more expensive, but I found mine on sale at Best Buy or something for like $15-$20 after MIR. It gave me much better reception than a Netgar "stick" style adaptor did.
 
while we are talking about wireless, if you are wanting stream hd files from a server, you'll run into some trouble. I have a wireless g adapter on my htpc and get significant stuttering when trying to play files that are on my server. wireless just doesn't have the bandwidth to keep up with HD.
 
I dont have a server at this point and don't think I will for a while. This should have enough storage to last for a while and by the time it starts to run out of space I believe the 1tb drives should come down to a reasonable price. I would totally build a file server, but at this point the budget couldnt handle it :(
 
Again about the wireless: My $10 wireless PCI adapter gets a better signal in my room, which is about 30 ft away from the router, than the $30 wireless USB adapter I bought. So try to find a cheap wireless PCI adapter. If you have a Fry's nearby, they often sell an Airlink 101 wireless PCI adapter for $10.
 
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