The I Wish I Knew Then What I Know Now Thread

maro

maro

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I have been mulling over the idea of building a nice little HTPC. Right now I'm liking the i3 +H55 motherboard because... well mostly 'cause it's new & exciting :D but also 'cause it sounds like a very low power option that will play Blu-Ray very well (as well as offering more or better sound options through HDMI?) - the fact my local Fry's has had killer combo deals the last few weeks also may have played into this :p

The goal is to have a small, power efficient box I can leave running 24/7. I mostly want something that'll playback DVD's and smoothly play online content like Hulu, etc (one TV maybe two at most if that), maybe later adding storage for a movie library full of my DVD's
Eventually I want one of the new cablecard devices that are coming out this summer (HD Homerun CableCard has my attention, so does the Ceton but $400 is a bit much for what I need). If it works well enough I would love to return my cable company's HDDVR boxes.

This is mostly a side project and if I find that some of this just doesnt work out too well I'm not gonna be too upset. This leads (finally) to a couple of questions I thought would be really helpful not just to me but for anyone who wanted to jump into the world of HTPC's...

Is there anything you regret about your HTPC? Is there something you would do differently? Are there things that just plain dont work well (like online program guides, or On-Demand type services, or Pay-Per-View)? Maybe a great HTPC info/guide you read?

I can research and read up on things as I go, and I have read a guide or two. The main goal of this thread was hopefully to get a little collection of knowledge and tips from you experts out there ;)

Thanks in advance for anything you'd like to add
 
#1. Get the best TV you can afford, and make sure it has tons of HDMI inputs

That is all.
 
#1 Realize that in order to have best solution possible it will take your entire savings account to accomplish

#2 Realize that all the features you think you need, you really won't use that often but will pay through these nose for

#3 Realize that non-PC extenders will never have all the features you want them to have
 
tinkering is going to be necessary on a regular basis

PCs are more flexible than media streaming devices

it is difficult/impossible to PC game on a couch

anyDVD is a great product and worth the $$
 
Hop-Scotch said:
Correction: Get the Biggest TV you can afford.

You'll always want a size larger... :(
Click to expand...
When my wife and I were TV shopping, we quickly realized that the cheapest way to go big was front projection. Especially with 1080p DLP projectors starting at $1k. If you have good light control and don't mind DIY-ing a screen, there's nothing like 100+ inches of screen for immersion.
 
#1 putting together a clean htpc with a watercooling kit, an extended size 850w power supply and all the hardware IS A BITCH!

#2 Taking apart said HTPC for whatever reason IS A BITCH TOO!

worth it though :D
 
Blue tooth mice dont seem to have the same range as blue tooth keyboards..... makes it a bitch to game in my living room when my computer box is several rooms away.
 
SSD on an HTPC maybe a little overkill but well worth it, especially if you have a media server so all you need to install is the OS and some apps. Boot times are a third as long and movies start up instantly.

Don't recommend the HTPC as a gaming PC, maybe light gaming with emulators, but definitely not as main. Also helps to have another computer to test software so windows 7 pro for remote connection recommended vs home premium if you have server/gaming pc.

Silence is golden, and that means low wattage, low heat components.

If you live close to a microcenter. free 785G microatx with a phenom 555 is low cost and perfect. Stick in 2 gb, a 30 gb ssd, blue ray drive and some patience and you'll have a kick ass media player for $300 if you already have a case and PS.
 
mashakos said:
#1 putting together a clean htpc with a watercooling kit, an extended size 850w power supply and all the hardware IS A BITCH!

#2 Taking apart said HTPC for whatever reason IS A BITCH TOO!

worth it though :D
Click to expand...

I agree! But I managed with a 400 watt PS, swiftech 320, and a microatx mobo. Though 2 120 mm fans is a lot louder than I thought only running at 600 rpms. 4 ghz C2D on an htpc... complete overkill but why not?!
 
My HTPC needs are simple. It will never see any gaming duty - I have other pc's for that. Over the weekend I got an i3 530/H55 S2H combo and finished building it last night. Currently running stock clock speeds/voltage on the cpu/gpu and 4gb DDR3 running @ 1333 7-7-7-20 at 1.5v.


Adidas4275 said:
anyDVD is a great product and worth the $$
Click to expand...


I may give it a look. I've mostly used WMP for DVD playback. I have a couple different Arcsoft (Totalmedia) players but I didnt like the pic quality and playback was not smooth (though it may have been a settings problem). When I uninstalled it, I noticed my WMP DVD playback was showing vertical lines and other artifacts when before it was fine - maybe codecs?
 
CrazyCuz2k said:
SSD on an HTPC maybe a little overkill but well worth it, especially if you have a media server so all you need to install is the OS and some apps. Boot times are a third as long and movies start up instantly.
Click to expand...

Thumbs up on the SSD tip, do yourself a favor and get an ssd for all your computers, I can't stand conventional harddrives for running OS on anymore... you can pick up a 30gb vertex to run your OS for 70 bucks after rebates a lot of times, it is well worth it. This is all provided that you have a networked server with some conventional hdd for storing all your stuff.
 
The only thing I wish I knew then that I know now is.... that planning a htpc, building it, and hooking it up are about 3% of the work needed before you actually have a htpc. I built mine during the school year (law school), and I have yet to have the time to set it up to do anything htpc like. Right now, it's a pc in a case with a wireless mouse and that's it. The bitch of a htpc is getting all the software setup so you can do everything on it without a mouse and keyboard. Getting that done is really 97% of the job.
 
Trepidati0n said:
#3 Realize that non-PC extenders will never have all the features you want them to have
Click to expand...

WDTV Live + PlayOn Media Server. Integrated HULU and Netflix plus access to my stored movie collection.

Pretty much summed up all the features in my list. It really is a nice combo!
 
Tuners - Currently I'm looking for a good digital tuner - mostly for clearQAM since I can get my local broadcast through my TV's tuner. Don't care about analog. I've narrowed it down to a few choices:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815327005 HD Homerun (may go single tuner instead)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...5116036&cm_re=hvr_2250-_-15-116-036-_-Product Hauppauge HVR2250
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815100044 Avermedia Duet (lower cost but seems to be a good 'bang for the buck' option)


These are kinda pricey but my complete and utter piece of crap Leadtek Winfast HDTVCinema tuner has got me wary of cheaper tuners. I'd rather not spend too much now because I'm more interested in one of the Cablecard tuners coming out from various companies this year and I know those are gonna be expensive(!!) - so if anyone has a cheaper suggestion that they know works well with WMC I'd love to hear it.
 
ryken said:
The only thing I wish I knew then that I know now is.... that planning a htpc, building it, and hooking it up are about 3% of the work needed before you actually have a htpc. I built mine during the school year (law school), and I have yet to have the time to set it up to do anything htpc like. Right now, it's a pc in a case with a wireless mouse and that's it. The bitch of a htpc is getting all the software setup so you can do everything on it without a mouse and keyboard. Getting that done is really 97% of the job.
Click to expand...

Logitech Harmony and auto load windows media center at start up. One button to turn everything on and watch and record. Haali Media Splitter and ffdshow and that's all you need. I use media browser to make everything pretty and usable and remote in from a laptop or desktop to make any config changes once everything works.

As for TV Tuners... get the HD homerun... if I had to do it again I would.
 
maro said:
These are kinda pricey but my complete and utter piece of crap Leadtek Winfast HDTVCinema tuner has got me wary of cheaper tuners. I'd rather not spend too much now because I'm more interested in one of the Cablecard tuners coming out from various companies this year and I know those are gonna be expensive(!!) - so if anyone has a cheaper suggestion that they know works well with WMC I'd love to hear it.
Click to expand...

The 2250 and HDhomerun are both fine products, but there is no way I would ever spend over $100 for any QAM tuner now. The cable market is just too unpredictable. Even if you are getting over 80 QAM channels in the clear today(as I am), they could all be gone tomorrow if your cable company turns on encryption.

The Duet is perfect for your situation now. If my 2250 dies tonight, I'd be ordering a Duet in the morning...
 
Plan for upgrading components in your case decision. If you can, get a bigger case rather than a super mini one.

Oh, and buy Noctua fans, don't look at the price just buy them.
 
One thing I learned. No matter how great the picture quality or sound quality, if it is even moderately complicated to use . . . the wife will plot to kill you.

We now have separates.
 
1. As was said, SSD if you are building something without tuners and or stream your content. It's a world of difference, a much more enjoyable experience.

3. Keep it simple and don't break it. For movies, I tried different file formats to save space and found the best thing for me is to rip the DVD's to video_ts, and direct rip Blu-ray's. Yes it takes up a lot of storage space, but the trade off is that I have no problems whatsoever. I could improve the picture quality a bit with some tinkering but my setup "just works." This is incredibly important when you have someone who isn't into messing with PC's living with you, and also when trying to entertain guests.
 
I love my HDhomerun and they just opened up their beta for their cablecard networked based tuner
 
The main thing I learned is this:
As cool and versatile as Linux is, learning how to setup a HTPC/Server is hard and time consuming, and frustrating. I knew very little when I started.

Granted it can be relatively simple if the hardware plays nice, but I'm probably making the jump to Windows 7 now. I learned a lot, but I just don't have time to learn and research how to tweak every little thing.

Also, IMHO XBMC is Awesome!
 
tmclaugh said:
The main thing I learned is this:
As cool and versatile as Linux is, learning how to setup a HTPC/Server is hard and time consuming, and frustrating. I knew very little when I started.

Granted it can be relatively simple if the hardware plays nice, but I'm probably making the jump to Windows 7 now. I learned a lot, but I just don't have time to learn and research how to tweak every little thing.
Click to expand...
Honestly, just going with WHS is the best solution period. It's such a dead simple solution, it's really an HTPC's best friend. :)
 
I'm still watching this post!

I've put things on the back burner for now but I'm still toying around.

... Some great answers here - I have read and appreciate any and all advice :D

Last week I went ahead and spent the extra cash on the Hauppauge HVR-2250 so I have been playing around with it on and off. I was going to follow advice and go with the AverMedia Duet but I read a few too many threads complaining of it 'quitting' on them so I balked. HD Homerun was my next choice but I decided I wanted to be able to record analog A/V or SVideo input.... ended up seeing the HVR2250 at the local Best Buy for $130 (the MCE kit 1213 with cheap but functional mediacenter remote) and said what the hell.

Next free cash I have to burn I think I'm going to go SSD route - maybe the 80gig X25-M for O/S + a large capacity HDD for storage.

Keep flip-flopping on O/S but it'll probably end up being Win7.

.. So that's the latest update.. Please keep the great info coming! I may not respond very often but I assure you I am reading...
 
Should have gotten this mouse from the start! Really improved my HTPC experrience!

http://www.logitech.com/en-us/mice_pointers/mice/devices/3443

logitech-air-mouse.jpg
 
Sound is as important as video -- invest in a real sound system.

Buy the biggest tv you can afford.

The beer fridge is awesome, and it would be cool in theory to keep in the theatre room, but it's too loud to go there.
 
CrazyCuz2k said:
Logitech Harmony and auto load windows media center at start up. One button to turn everything on and watch and record. Haali Media Splitter and ffdshow and that's all you need. I use media browser to make everything pretty and usable and remote in from a laptop or desktop to make any config changes once everything works.

As for TV Tuners... get the HD homerun... if I had to do it again I would.
Click to expand...

Sounds like my old setup, only I never liked Windows Media Center, SageTV is more my cup of tea. esp with HDHR. I have the logitech 880 + Windows Media Center Remote (Bought the remote just for the USB sensor)
 
1. I wish I remembered to disable to many startup items Adobe puts in my system whenever I install ANY of its product (free or paid).
2. I wish I remembered an iPhone camera is not a camera. A blackberry camera is not a camera, no matter what megapixels it has. To take decent photos, get a dSLR, and then get good glass (lenses)
 
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