The HP z540 series HTPC is beautiful

N

nomar

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jan 30, 2002
Messages
1,404
I know most of us build our own HTPCs, but I was just in CompUSA today and saw the HP Z545 Digital Entertainment Center. This thing is beautiful and basically exactly what I would build if I had the funds. Right now my HTPC is an XP1600, 512, Snapstream and a hauppauge 250 card.

This thing has:
P4 530 HT
Radeon X300
Double layer DVD burner
Dual TV tuners
Front LCD display
9-in-1 flash card reader
Gigabit ethernet
Digital and component out
Digital audio out
Remote control and wireless keyboard/mouse
XP MCE 2005

All in a black brushed aluminum 2u enclosure that looks sweet.

Check out the pics here

If you click on the PDF on that page, you can see the rear connectors.

Of course I wouldn't want to spend $1900 on this thing but dayum is it nice. I'd love to pop it open and see how they have everything connected. There are no PCI slot-sized connectors on the back. Everything must be one some kind of daughterboard.
 
looks nice, but you pay for those looks, the hardware is pretty damn weak. And not much hd space compared to a home made htpc.
 
HalfCracked said:
sweet looking but one problem..

no HD the tuners are NTSC - GIGO
Click to expand...

Yeah but if you're spending money on a rig like this, you're not going to use over-the-air HD. It does have 2 built in IR repeater ports for cable/HDTV tuners.

PoW - 200GB main drive and 160GB removable drive aren't enough? That's 200GB more than I have on my HTPC right now and I haven't had a storage problem.
 
It is sexy but:
1.) Uses Prescott chips
2.) Video card is severally underpowered.

I like the idea for the removable HD for the average joe (those who are more willing to get an MCE box) but for my use it would take up too much internal space especially when I could just crack it open and install a new HD easily.

But what I'm really glad about is that they finally have a good case for their MCE boxes, they use to use a regular desktop case with the HD thing right in the front, it was really ugly. This new case is pretty cool, I was building something similair for my HTPC case so I'm glad the look turns out okay. :)

Is it just me or are most of these MCE boxes oddly configured? Enough memory for gaming (I usually see either 1 or 2 gigs on these) but crappy video cards, highend CPU but no FFDShow support to take advantage of it, PC speakers and high prices compared to what you get vs. what you can build.
 
yeah, I have not seen an HTPC that seems to be entirely geared towards what an HTPC is suppsoed to do. I have seen some that were ont he right track, but severly overpriced, over built.
 
Wow, that was a BIG step in the right direction. It may not be my style, or my choice in execution, but it seems clear to me that this isn't just another desktop case painted black.
 
nomar said:
Yeah but if you're spending money on a rig like this, you're not going to use over-the-air HD. It does have 2 built in IR repeater ports for cable/HDTV tuners.
Click to expand...

If your spending that kind of money you ought to be able to time shift HD signal which you can't do with no HD tuner. :D
 
HalfCracked said:
If your spending that kind of money you ought to be able to time shift HD signal which you can't do with no HD tuner. :D
Click to expand...
I was going HD I'd rather have real coming from my cable box instead of a few channels which are freely broadcasted. Can I watch Discovery HD yet with current HD tuners? No, no you can't and until you can I don't really see the big deal with HD tuners.
 
Actually there are a couple of cards that can read unscrambled QAM. but your's right it would hurt with cable. but if you're gonna buy a propiratary (SP?) box like that some HD recording is better than none.


then there's this from the linked review:
"Once I connected in via DVI I was getting horrible interlacing problems on screen. I had to experiment around with the advanced settings on the graphics card quite a bit to find a setting that corrected this problem. Unfortunately I could not get 1080i working with the ATI graphics card included in the z545 and my TV, but I was able to make it look fairly decent using the "force 720p display" option and setting my display to a 1280x720 resolution. Using these settings a good 50 pixels are cropped from the edges of my desktop on the TV due to an overscan error."

nice looking bok for sure i just don't think it's there yet ;)
For the trouble & money I still think roling your own is a beter idea. That or really puting out some money & getting a Mitsubishi Diamond series DLP w/ built in HD pvr hehe.
only $5k :eek:
 
Don't waste your money. Build your own HTPC. We sell those at our store and the demo unit is falling apart because of the heat it produces. The front face plate is basically off now.

I believe you can cook an egg on top of case.
 
I'm not talking QAM, I'm talking real fucking HD like you kind you have to subscript too. QAM is the same as OTA just that you can tune the channels over your cable line as well. What I'm talking about is Cable Card support and being able you record digital TV on your HTPC instead of having to go from your cable box.

The only use I'd have for a current HD tuner is the ability to watch JAG in HD, even then why would I spend more then $200 for that? Nothing else interests me when it comes to HD, the technology is way too young for practical use.
HalfCracked said:
Actually there are a couple of cards that can read unscrambled QAM. but your's right it would hurt with cable. but if you're gonna buy a propiratary (SP?) box like that some HD recording is better than none.
Click to expand...
 
Not pissed off, just clarifying what I meant. :) IMO HD just isn't ready for HTPC use but thats IMO. :) You can also just call me Crim.
 
HDTV tuners for PCs really are worthless in my opinion. The cable company DVRs (scientific atlanta 8xxx series) are pretty good now. They keep pushing new firmware/software updates that add functionality and speed. Since there are very few-over-the-air HDTV broadcasts in most areas, anyone who is going to spend thousands on a HDTV and an HTPC would probably spend the $13 a month for an HDTV tuner/PVR.

The main reason why I started this thread is like xonik said, it is a step in the right direction.
 
Then again there is always the arguement that the best quality HD is only available OTA due to the ability to not need to compress the signal. I recieve over 20 OTA channels of HD and I would not give that up in a second even if cable were available with all the same stations.

While I agree there does need to be support for cable card calling current HD solutions pointless is deffinately an opinion and not a fact.
 
Nomar - you'd think that another 13 a mo is easy but some of us won't bite for the cable thing in the first place.

Yeah that's where I'm coming from :p I refuse to get cable there are some good shows but not enough to justify the cost to me. I've had cable a couple of times & never was totally wowed. seemed like I was watching a few shows regularly & the rest was repeat/regurgitated stuff from the past.

However when it comes to upgrading my system I will be moving to HD & will want to timeshift OTA signal both SD & HD. I'm currently trying to decide between the Mitsubishi Diamond or getting a HD "Monitor" & building a HTPC that can handle HD & SD.

Kindof a cost vs. Headache thing at this point. ;)
 
I'm going only by my personal experience - where I get ABC, CBS, NBC - no FOX OTA HD. I also get about 4 religious channels and PBS HD - which is a great channel.

So yeah, going only on my personal experience.
 
Houston has at least: ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, UPN, WB, & PBS

Unfortunately they don't all broadcast HD 24/7 :(
 
hmm, am I the only one who think that looks like ass?
the specifications aren't that great either.

I thought HP used Athlons at one time... an A64 would be dutibly perfect in that system.
On a second thought, what crack addict decided to put a prescott in a case that small?!
 
Like ass? I'm not saying I agree or disagree, but what cases do you think look good?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top