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video entertainment PC?

LordOpie

LordOpie

MOTHER HEN
Oct 17, 2002
21,022
3
Denver
in hooking up my laptop -- simple s-video and 1/8"-to-RCA connections -- I discovered there's a whole world of video love for the PC.

Is Windows Media Center OS any good? What about WinXP + 3rd party video software?

I have a bunch of media on my computer already, would like to copy all my DVDs to my PC, create a library, record TV shows as you would with TiVo/DVR, capture home videos, share stuff on DVD-R, etc.

This sounds like all I'd need in one setup. Is that correct? If it sells for more than I'd like, what about converting my current PC* to a media center? What hardware and software would be the best (value, function, reasonable price)?

* WinXP, AMD 1.8ghz, 512MbRAM.

TIA!
 
LordOpie

LordOpie

MOTHER HEN
Oct 17, 2002
21,022
3
Denver
Thanks!

I went to the store and it appears that a quality Windows Media Center machine goes for close to $1000.

I figure for that amount, I could put in a quality video card (~$100) with TV-out and a capture box (~$100) that'll record and provide a remote control for my current PC (WinXP) -and- get a laptop to replace my now dedicated HTPC.

Good idea?

outside concern... my TV is near one electrical outlet. Can one outlet power a PC, TV and all the other stuffs? I've got a battery backup (UPS) system, but still?
 
ALEXIS_DH

ALEXIS_DH

Tirelessly Awesome
Jan 30, 2003
6,148
796
Lima, Peru, Peru
Pau11y said:
Once you get your background caught up, fire away w/ any specific questions. I'm running a XP Pro HTPC to a 42" LCD and 5.1 HT sound system. I think H8R also has something going, tho not sure on details.
Click to expand...

me too. i have a htpc at home.
a 54" on windows xp pro thru a 6600gt component hook up, and 5.1 speakers... i can make four 12´x10´ windows shake when playing street fighter, my neighbors love it.

as a media player, i used media player classic, a standalone version i downloaded from the internet.. where you cant mess up anything, no matter what you do.

its pretty awesome i have to say.
 
ALEXIS_DH

ALEXIS_DH

Tirelessly Awesome
Jan 30, 2003
6,148
796
Lima, Peru, Peru
LordOpie said:
Thanks!

I went to the store and it appears that a quality Windows Media Center machine goes for close to $1000.

I figure for that amount, I could put in a quality video card (~$100) with TV-out and a capture box (~$100) that'll record and provide a remote control for my current PC (WinXP) -and- get a laptop to replace my now dedicated HTPC.

Good idea?

outside concern... my TV is near one electrical outlet. Can one outlet power a PC, TV and all the other stuffs? I've got a battery backup (UPS) system, but still?
Click to expand...

the only tv-outs worth for full time use, are component, vga, dvi and beyond, depending on what your tv has.

a hdtv is also a must for web browsing.
s-video quality lacks a little when browsing the web or doing stuff like that...
for the $100 range, i found out the nvidia 6600gt is the best bang for the buck if your tv has a component input. but only a couple brands, chaintech one of them, not all the 6600gt´s.

what tv you have? will you keep it? if so, building a htpc around its ports and capabilities would be the best idea.
 
Pau11y

Pau11y

Turbo Monkey
Oct 20, 2004
1,968
0
In a web in the corner of your room
LO, on one of the other threads I think H8R pointed out you can get a MoBo for under $90 w/ onboard video (nVidia 61xx) and audio (w/ Tosslink - digital optical out) that will do quite nicely for the purpose of HDPC (it has a DVI out). That leaves you a case, HDD, DVD-Rom, CPU and ram to buy. You can build one for less than $800 (HDD size and CPU speed dependent). At Dell, you can get a wireless keyboard/trackball combo for around $50.00.
IF you want to go a bit overboard, you can get a tuner card like I got (MyHD 130 w/ DVI daughter card) and it has the ability to function as a DVR. It can also pull Sat or digital cable signal in directly into one of its two inputs w/o a need for additional external boxes.

One plug will do just fine for all the devices. Most homes are wired w/ several plugs in series anyhoo (and tied into a 15amp breaker) so it doesn't matter if they all sit at one plug (so long as you don't have something that draws high amps anywhere else in the chain). Just put a good surge strip on the plug and you should be OK.

Here's a heads up on HDTVs. If you're using a HTPC, get a "monitor" instead of a TV. My Westinghouse 42" LCD is classified as a monitor because it doesn't have a built in tuner. I got it at a SCREAMIN' deal of $1500.00 to my door. It also has one of the highest resolutions for a screen this size 1920 x 1080 (in HDTV terms, it's a 1080P display). It's only capable of accepting 1 HDMI input, but it has 2 DVIs and two sets of components and one VGA. Basically, it's future-proofed to a degree w/ the one HDMI for when Bel-Ray and HD-DVD internal DVD-Roms and video cards w/ HDMI become available for PCs. Westinghouse also makes a 47" LCD in 1080P resolution w/ a street price of $2200.00 currently.
 
LordOpie

LordOpie

MOTHER HEN
Oct 17, 2002
21,022
3
Denver
ALEXIS_DH said:
the only tv-outs worth for full time use, are component, vga, dvi and beyond, depending on what your tv has.
Click to expand...
component? dvi? beyond?

ALEXIS_DH said:
for the $100 range, i found out the nvidia 6600gt...
Click to expand...
Is there such a thing as 6600gs? If so, that's what I was looking at today. Looked good?

ALEXIS_DH said:
what tv you have? will you keep it? if so, building a htpc around its ports and capabilities would be the best idea.
Click to expand...
Good idea. I think we're going to get a new TV. Currently have a 36" behemoth of a Toshiba.

Pau11y said:
LO, on one of the other threads...
Click to expand...
Just got back home, haven't yet, but going to read those HTPC threads.

Pau11y said:
One plug will do just fine for all the devices. Most homes are wired w/ several plugs in series...
Click to expand...
Thanks! Good to know.

Pau11y said:
Here's a heads up on HDTVs. If you're using a HTPC, get a "monitor" instead of a TV. My Westinghouse 42" LCD is classified as a monitor because it doesn't have a built in tuner. I got it at a SCREAMIN' deal of $1500.00 to my door.
Click to expand...
Holy crap, 42" LCD for $1500 is PERFECT for our livingroom and budget. Where did you get it?


All this might be slightly moot as I'm thinking of getting a whole new PC... see my new thread :) yes, another thread :P
 
ALEXIS_DH

ALEXIS_DH

Tirelessly Awesome
Jan 30, 2003
6,148
796
Lima, Peru, Peru
Pau11y said:
Here's a heads up on HDTVs. If you're using a HTPC, get a "monitor" instead of a TV. My Westinghouse 42" LCD is classified as a monitor because it doesn't have a built in tuner. I got it at a SCREAMIN' deal of $1500.00 to my door. It also has one of the highest resolutions for a screen this size 1920 x 1080 (in HDTV terms, it's a 1080P display). It's only capable of accepting 1 HDMI input, but it has 2 DVIs and two sets of components and one VGA. Basically, it's future-proofed to a degree w/ the one HDMI for when Bel-Ray and HD-DVD internal DVD-Roms and video cards w/ HDMI become available for PCs. Westinghouse also makes a 47" LCD in 1080P resolution w/ a street price of $2200.00 currently.
Click to expand...
whats the difference between an lcd monitor, and an lcd tv, besides the tuner?

i was checking newegg, and saw that for the same size, some lcd monitors had the same resolution, similar response time in brands of similar value as some lcd tvs... yet a 30in lcd monitor was more expensive than a 30" tv. why is that?

i saw a neat devide the other day, the matrox triplehead2go. it allows you to natively split your video card output (of any brand) into 3 screens, while it appears to your video cards as a one big ass widescreen monitor.... :drool:
made me think of the difference you refer to...
 
ALEXIS_DH

ALEXIS_DH

Tirelessly Awesome
Jan 30, 2003
6,148
796
Lima, Peru, Peru
LordOpie said:
component? dvi? beyond?
Click to expand...
the kind of interface between your pc and the tv.
but seeing you are going to buy a new rig.. well doesnt matter much, virtually every new big tv will have all those inputs.

component<vga<dvi.
component being the least you´d need for a decent full time setup.

Is there such a thing as 6600gs? If so, that's what I was looking at today. Looked good?
Click to expand...
dont remember seeing anything like that.
just a few months ago i was in the market for a video card for my htpc... and the best price/performance/features i found was the chaintech 6600gt at around $120-130. (for agp at least, and 3 months ago). if you dont play games, then basically any card over 50 bucks will suffice.
when buying a video card, dont buy ATI, i hate them. their drivers sucked absolute testicles at least up to 10 months ago. you might find yourself having to use one version of a driver for a certain application and another driver for another app. seriously.
 
LordOpie

LordOpie

MOTHER HEN
Oct 17, 2002
21,022
3
Denver
For now, I'm going to buy something like Hauppage's (sp?) TV tuner, capture box. It's the best one I've found so far allowing you to capture one channel while watching another. I think you can combine it with Titan TV guide to schedule stuff and if I buy something like Sage TV's software, it'll edit out commercials on the fly. Whole thing should be <$200.

I'll re-visit the video editing system after the wedding in Feb.2007 when I'll actually need it. But much thanks to all, especially BV for the system specs breakdown in the other thread.

One reason I like Hauppage+Titan+Sage is the non-proprietary-ness of it all. Apparently, Windows Media Center doesn't allow sharing and has other restrictions or something.
 
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