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 subiedude
SUBIE!!!
Registered: 02/06/09
Posts: 1,547
Loc: Colorado
Last seen: 5 years, 5 months
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 What do you think of tihs HTPC? 
#12581112 - 05/17/10 06:50 PM (13 years, 10 months ago) |
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I want to build my own PC, and since i have a 63 inch plasma i want to hook it up to my tv, it'd be stupid not to right? I was originaly gonna buy a tower and all the parts. but i came across the HTPC case instead and decided that makes a lot more sense. Anyway, they have a combo deal and was wondering what you savy computer geeks think?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.391813
Are Home Theater PC's just as good as traditional towers, especially in terms of funtionality? Is there a pro-con list or are they basicaly the same? thanx
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 frith
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Registered: 10/27/09
Posts: 7,512
Loc: Philadelphia, PA 
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Re: What do you think of tihs HTPC? [Re: subiedude]
#12581190 - 05/17/10 07:04 PM (13 years, 10 months ago) |
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thats a lot more power than you need for a simple HTPC.
i bought the (very small and efficient) Zotac MAG HD last week for $300 and it works perfectly for HD video.
you should have a tv with standard vesa type mounting system on the back. you could just mount it behind the set:
the most important thing about a HTPC is that you cant think of it like a normal PC. this is not something you are going to be surfing the web with, playing games, downloading music, etc.. this is ONLY for playing your media.
think of the HTPC more as an APPLIANCE like a dvd player or a tivo. design your system around that idea and youll have a much nicer experience.
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subiedude
SUBIE!!!
Registered: 02/06/09
Posts: 1,547
Loc: Colorado
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Re: What do you think of tihs HTPC? [Re: frith]
#12581262 - 05/17/10 07:17 PM (13 years, 10 months ago) |
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Ya, thanks for your input.
im looking for more of a PC system than a media center. Hooking it up to the tv would just be a bonus. Does the same thing go for hooking a tower up to the tv or is just best to avoid hooking anything up to the tv?
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frith
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Registered: 10/27/09
Posts: 7,512
Loc: Philadelphia, PA
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Re: What do you think of tihs HTPC? [Re: subiedude]
#12581288 - 05/17/10 07:21 PM (13 years, 10 months ago) |
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personally, if i want a pc then ill get a pc. if i want the home theater experience then ill design my system around that idea.
if someone comes over and you hand them a keyboard and a mouse they are going to look at you like youre crazy. everyone knows how to use a remote.
i think having a keyboard and mouse is such a clunky, inefficient way to control a tv but whatever.. its your machine..
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DieCommie
Registered: 12/11/03
Posts: 29,258
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Re: What do you think of tihs HTPC? [Re: frith]
#12581301 - 05/17/10 07:23 PM (13 years, 10 months ago) |
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I use a keybord to control my HTPC. A remote just cant do enough.
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frith
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Registered: 10/27/09
Posts: 7,512
Loc: Philadelphia, PA
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Re: What do you think of tihs HTPC? [Re: DieCommie]
#12581348 - 05/17/10 07:30 PM (13 years, 10 months ago) |
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Quote:
DieCommie said:
I use a keybord to control my HTPC. A remote just cant do enough.
what are you using for your frontend?
XBMC, Boxee, WMC, MythTV, SageTV, BeyondTV, Tivo... ive never seen a need for a keyboard.
if youre using software that was never designed to be used as a HTPC frontend then i could probably see it but that just takes away from the experience IMO.
digging through folders and using VLC or whatever is so inefficient..
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meatsuit
its whats for dinner
Registered: 08/15/09
Posts: 155
Last seen: 6 years, 3 months
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Re: What do you think of tihs HTPC? [Re: subiedude]
#12581373 - 05/17/10 07:33 PM (13 years, 10 months ago) |
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that system is great, if you have that much money willing to spend. I built a good system, lesser hardware but in the same box, and spent about 600-700 with the Hauppage 2250 DUAL TV Tuner card. My specks are just slightly less, but I do have 2 1TB HDs in it as well as a pretty good ATI 4550 card, and 4 gigs of RAM. Its only a dual core PCU though. I surf a little bit of web, and play media of course, record TV, and do a little gaming and it is perfect. I would just steer clear of other stuff like downloading, P2P, porn, etc. I don't install any antivirus on my HTPC, and mostly just surf maps and youtube. Trusted sites, and no DL. Install minimal software, just what you need. I like media center in windows 7 for recording and media.
All in all, that is a good system. I have the same antec case and it is cool. My LCD screen doesn't seem to work right all the time though, and I just ended up disabling it - that is my only downside.
As for the remote issue. There are plenty of great Microsoft Media Center Remotes (from $20 to several hundred bucks) that control MEDIA CENTER perfectly. That is all you really need. Keep a wireless mouse and keyboard off to the side for when you occasionally want to youtube something.... OR get this bad ass device
http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:item.detail?GroupID=38&Code=57Y6336¤t-category-id=E9ADAEB6787146E29B78400A33E7FE8A&&hide_menu_area=yes
Mouse and keyboard in one remote sized device. Then no need for keyboard and mouse at all! But again, I use my $20 media center remote 99% of the time anyways.
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DieCommie
Registered: 12/11/03
Posts: 29,258
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Re: What do you think of tihs HTPC? [Re: frith]
#12581389 - 05/17/10 07:36 PM (13 years, 10 months ago) |
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You have to dig through folders in XBMC and Boxee too though. 
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frith
God
Registered: 10/27/09
Posts: 7,512
Loc: Philadelphia, PA
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Re: What do you think of tihs HTPC? [Re: DieCommie]
#12581428 - 05/17/10 07:46 PM (13 years, 10 months ago) |
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Quote:
DieCommie said:
You have to dig through folders in XBMC and Boxee too though.
no you dont. you define where your movies, tv, and music are and it adds them to the library automatically. once its in the library everything is listed in its respective place in one big list.
even if i did need to go hunting through subdirectories in XBMC/Boxee i can do it with the directional keys on the remote. i dont have to open up 2 or 3 windows to do what i want.
also, VLC has not been compiled with support for HD video offloading to the GPU by default. you either run VLC and max out the CPU while trying to process a video or use something that will push all video playback to the GPU, essentially putting your machine under no extra load while decoding a bluray disc.. and the interface is more convenient for what you want..
and one more point about small systems. they are completely silent. nothing is worse than trying to watch a movie and hearing the constant hum of spinning fans..
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Edited by frith (05/17/10 07:46 PM)
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subiedude
SUBIE!!!
Registered: 02/06/09
Posts: 1,547
Loc: Colorado
Last seen: 5 years, 5 months
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Re: What do you think of tihs HTPC? [Re: subiedude]
#12581433 - 05/17/10 07:46 PM (13 years, 10 months ago) |
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well, i may just keep things seperate and just buy a PS3 for my HTPC
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DieCommie
Registered: 12/11/03
Posts: 29,258
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Re: What do you think of tihs HTPC? [Re: frith]
#12581449 - 05/17/10 07:48 PM (13 years, 10 months ago) |
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Shit, I have thousands of video files and tens of thousands of music files. The last thing I want is a list.  When I use XBMC I go to my folders on the server. Its too bad there is no search function. I find XBMC, Boxee and the like to be terribly limiting. I use them less than half the time.
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frith
God
Registered: 10/27/09
Posts: 7,512
Loc: Philadelphia, PA
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Re: What do you think of tihs HTPC? [Re: DieCommie]
#12581579 - 05/17/10 08:13 PM (13 years, 10 months ago) |
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heh.. as long as everything is labeled correctly then you shouldnt have a problem. i have about 1000 movies, a few (full) tv shows, about 12,000 music files. they are really easily sorted alphabetically, by genre, etc..
not quite sure what you mean by limiting. ive never been wanting for anything when using them.. there is no tuner functionality but i dont have cable anyway.. no need for a tuner.
and with the available plugins and scripts you can customize it however you want. the plugin i use most often is to automatically fetch subtitles for whatever movie im watching. it searches a few different sites, finds the best match for the video file im watching (no idea how it does that), downloads and applies it to the movie. i need 3 buttons to do that.
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