[Pau11y]

Right so you guys, especially H8R and BV, know there's been pretty long and detailed discussions on HTPCs chassis, motherboards, vid cards, sound, and other whatever have you... Here's a question on one of the last piece of the equation, HDTV turner cards. I've been seeing the ATI HDTV Wonder w/ remote on and off on bensbargains.net for around $80 - $100. Is this thing worthy or a pile? I thought I read a review on how it works...something about it has the capability to be a "TiVo" w/ a good size HDD...

Here's a linky to a Dell deal w/ $20 coupon on Bens:
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=A0384632

 

[binary visions]

The "TiVo" capabilities are strictly software based and any good TV Tuner program has the capability to record TV based on your settings. I haven't delved into the programs extensively since I don't have a tuner card yet, but you don't have to buy the ATI card just because it's got TiVo capabilities.

Either AnandTech or Tom's Hardware did a lineup of a few TV tuner cards and their testing indicated that a good HDTV card and a good analog card were almost mutually exclusive. They said most systems would be better off buying an analog card seperately if you need it, and a dedicated HDTV card.

I'm not sure what your needs are, so if you only need HDTV that might not apply to you. Do a search for the review, though, it had some good information.

Frankly, after all the lousy experiences I've had with ATI video cards, I'm not really sure I want to have anything to do with ATI's crappy drivers.

 

[binary visions]

I've decided that instead of an HTPC, I'm going to make my next laptop purchase with the capabilities of an HTPC in mind - that is, I'm going to make sure it has a good video card, TV-out, and I'll pick up a nice PCMCIA add-on sound card.

I'll have a TV tuner card for my desktop, so recorded TV from that can just be played over the network. I'm not really that interested in TiVo capabilities.

Any further news on your project?

 

[jimmydean]

I saw a cool case mod where someone gutted a Millennium Falcon for a Mac mini as a media center.

http://www.macmod.com/content/view/371/2/

The group that used the lab I took over at Intel was the "Digital Home" group. All they did was livingroom based PC setups using a pc as the basis for a home theater. They did some cool stuff.

Also, back in the day (1996), I worked on Intercast at Intel that never caught on. It was TV programming that had interlaced web content into the cable signal. There was a card that Intel developed and a software application built on IE that had a web browser and a TV screen tied together running on your PC. Web content would be downloaded to the browser for certain shows. QVC used it so you could view crap they showcased and buy it online while you watched. The NBA would stream animated gifs of 30 second replay clips that were sweet. They were small enough to download over dial-up but looked like real video.

 

[Pau11y]

The TV is next, but I'll have to wait till next fall to step up. I think I'll document everything and use it as my Design II class...hell, might as well get credit for doing some of this right...hehe. Meanwhile, I can play w/ the PC end of things. I think eventually, I'll turn my A64 +3700 into the HTPC - not the fastest, but stable. Then I can do what the other guy was doing...silent PC w/a very nice case...(ahhh... you should see the A-Tec w/ the touch screen option!) That 4U Antec is starting to look better and better especially since eventually I'd like to change my stereo components over to rack mounts. The HTPC will be infinitely upgradeable so it's not like it'll just be obsolete some day in the future.

 

[binary visions]

Bump.

This looks like a SWEET case for a HTPC. I was checking them out on NewEgg the other day and saw them on sale today at Ben's Bargains:

http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=202473224&adid=17662

Really nice price, really nice design. Review:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article591-page1.html

 

[Pau11y]

Bump.

This looks like a SWEET case for a HTPC. I was checking them out on NewEgg the other day and saw them on sale today at Ben's Bargains:

http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=202473224&adid=17662

Really nice price, really nice design. Review:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article591-page1.html

Yeah, I saw it on Ben's too. If it was only black...
I was also looking at the new Zalman's HD160B HTPC case... Kinda spendy tho, but very audiophile approved in the looks dept. It's meant to play w/ XP Media Center (which I can't seem to justify buying when I can play w/ XP Pro just fine).
Zalman enclosure

Edit: I just ordered up a Westinghouse 42" 1080P LCD. I'm going to hook my Athlon64 3700+ into that as a starting point. Been reading about HD tuner cards -> MyHD 130 (no need for the daughter card) and a Terk outdoor antenna: Antenna for local OTA HD broadcasts. I also found/got this to drive with: Keyboard
You should be seeing more and more integrated systems coming out soon. I was at CompUSA and I saw an HP attempt/effort. Clean! But the choice of monitor was lacking. The Westi would have been a much better choice than their Pavillion plazma pile they used. Linky

 

[binary visions]

They make a black one, Pau11y, at NewEgg. Let me know how that Westy turns out

 

[binary visions]

Oh, and RE: that case, it's too big, and there's NO F'ING WAY I'm going to spend $350+ for a freakin' case.

Especially not when I can buy that other case I posted and nearly silence it for $100-120.

Plus, who needs a volume knob on their computer case? Do they really expect many people to be using powered speakers for their home theaters? You've got a receiver, use that.

It's pretty, but I really don't see anything else about it that's particularly fantastic to justify that exorbitant price.

 

[Pau11y]

They make a black one, Pau11y, at NewEgg. Let me know how that Westy turns out

AVS Forum has a HUGE thread on the eye.
I took a more detailed look at the case...it's a micro ATX case. I need a full size one to stuff my Neo2 board in... bummer! It does look good tho.

 

[binary visions]

AVS Forum has a HUGE thread on the eye.
I took a more detailed look at the case...it's a micro ATX case. I need a full size one to stuff my Neo2 board in... bummer! It does look good tho.

You won't spend another $80 on a new motherboard but you'll spend $350 on a case with no value added features?

Suck it up and buy a new mobo, dude!

 

[Pau11y]

Suck it up and buy a new mobo, dude!

...or I can just leave it in my LAN Boy... It glows blue, but is a bit loud...

 

[binary visions]

Ugh. My girlfriend would kill me if I put a glowing blue case in the living room. Actually, I'd kill me - a glowing blue case near your TV?

I like everything to look clean and uncluttered. That Antec case is slick looking - stick a black DVD drive in there and it'd be good to go. That'll be what gets put in the new house - I'll have everything wired with gigabit ethernet and I'll put together a HTPC using my spare parts.

 

[Pau11y]

Ugh. My girlfriend would kill me if I put a glowing blue case in the living room. Actually, I'd kill me - a glowing blue case near your TV?

I like everything to look clean and uncluttered. That Antec case is slick looking - stick a black DVD drive in there and it'd be good to go. That'll be what gets put in the new house - I'll have everything wired with gigabit ethernet and I'll put together a HTPC using my spare parts.

I didn't say I was going to get the Zalmans, just look pretty The LAN Boy will do till I figure out a better solution, but I think a tower form factor will do better for me. The blue might get annoying and it can be disabled. I may do another Lian Li tower on rollers; they're SOOOOOO nice!
I'll shoot a pic of things when I get it all together. The only thing is I have no place to put my big-ish BIC center channel.

 

[ALEXIS_DH]

Ugh. My girlfriend would kill me if I put a glowing blue case in the living room. Actually, I'd kill me - a glowing blue case near your TV?

I like everything to look clean and uncluttered. That Antec case is slick looking - stick a black DVD drive in there and it'd be good to go. That'll be what gets put in the new house - I'll have everything wired with gigabit ethernet and I'll put together a HTPC using my spare parts.

i like that case you posted. but ($79+$5/lbs shipping*20)+40% tax is still too much for no performance improvement. no way i can rationalize/justify that.

i´ve got my standard black on pewter case, which fortunately has the same color combo as my stereo and my tv and speakers. it doesnt look so out place.
ghetto rigged right next to the stereo, on the flloor. take that queer eye for the straight guy!.

if anything, i´ll tuck it behind the tv and use my usb burner for input.
i dont care about noise much. anyways i always have some music on. i saw the other day an artible about passive cooling a cpu with oil. it was filled with domestic cooking oil. funny experiment, it worked.

 

[binary visions]

i like that case you posted. but ($79+$5/lbs shipping*20)+40% tax is still too much for no performance improvement. no way i can rationalize/justify that.

Wow, you guys get f**ked on importing goods, eh?

That's ridiculous.

 

[ALEXIS_DH]

Wow, you guys get f**ked on importing goods, eh?

That's ridiculous.

yup, on personal imports and gasoline specially.

thats why gray/black market rocks!!!!!!!! the quintana roo/litespeed dealer in town sells at american msrp. take that peruvian IRS!!!.

for small imports, most of the time you are better off buying locally something else or not buying at all.

 

[Pau11y]

Derailling my own thread...FRIGGIN' gmail is down!

 

[binary visions]

Derailling my own thread...FRIGGIN' gmail is down!

Gmail has been up all day for me.

 

[Pau11y]

Gmail has been up all day for me.

I'll bet they have different servers for different regions.

 

[Pau11y]

Right, so the Westi is in.

I have it hooked up to my A64 3700+, ATI 9800 Pro, and onboard sound. I also stuck a MyHD130 w DVI daughter card to pull OTA HD and other signal. It's on the network via a DLink Extreme WiFi NIC to a DLink 4300 AP/router.

Audio is handled by a Yamhi RX-V596 thru optical from the MoBo.

DVD playback thru WMP using nVidias DVD decoder was excellent. Upconverting from standard DVD output is Niiiiiice, full 42" playback and very detailed! For comparison, I had a stand alone p-scan DVD player play thru s-video...didn't even fill but 1/4 of the center of the Westi. When switched to the "fill" mode, the aspect ratio gets all jacked. Also, the definition was off; it looked scaled up.

I'll shoot some pics this weekend. The screen was tuned using Avia's DVD, as was he sound

Oh, BV, as for the blue glow, it's not really that bad until I go completely dark for a movie. And even then, it's ok.

 

[Pau11y]

Pics: (my camera sucks...)

 

[Pau11y]

Ok, for those of you w/ have an itch for HD-DVD playback capabilities in PCs:
Xbox 360 HD-DVD external drive was just released. It connects using a USB 2.0 to the Xbox base unit. But it also connects to a PC just fine and appears in device manager as a Toshiba drive (I'm guessing Toshiba is the company fab-ing the drive for Microsoft). Along w/ the nVidia PureVideo HD driver for their HDCP enabled video card (mine is a 7950 GT KO by EVGA), and a display capable of 1080P and HDCP standard (Westinghouse HDCP thru DVI), 1080P playback is now do-able using the WinDVD v8 Platinum. I've read an article that someone w/ the combo of hardware not so different from mine has pulled this off Bourne Supremacy. So this is my X-mas present to me-self, the Xbox drive (and a harmony 880)

For those of you thinking about this setup, the drive comes w/ a copy of King Kong in HD & a remote in the retail kit for about $200.00 (and the harmony 880 can be had at Dell for $130.00 + tax to your door right now). I can give you the link for the PureVideo HD (in beta right now), and the WinDVD 8 is all over torrents right now.

Min requirement for HD-DVD and Blue-Ray playback is a pretty beefy processor. In my case of the Athlon 64s, a 4200+ 2x is needed. Also, a gig of ram was also listed. With this setup, you won't need Vista or Windows Media 11 as the evil rumors have been floating about this requirement. There are currently no drivers for this drive for XP so browsing the file system of a HD-DVD is not possible.

Playback quality compares to the internal NEC HR1100A ppl are stripping out of the Toshiba HD-A1 stand alone players (prob the same transport).

This drive is a ROM so the buggy burning of Blue-Ray and HD-DVD won't even be an issue for this setup. Plus, media is out of control at the moment...

Edit: oh, if you want to do the same w/ Blue-Ray and don't mind popping the large coin for an internal Blue-Ray drive, the same video driver and soft-player can be used for Blue-Ray hi-def playback. But $200 vs $650... you figure this out...

 

[LordOpie]

ya know how HD Digital cable shows stuff in HD? Like we have HBO-HD... how does that compare to HD-DVD or BluRay?

Cuz if HD-cable is almost as good, I'll just wait for the movie to show up on cable. To really win the war, one of those formats needs to re-release movies that you won't likely see on cable.

 

[binary visions]

Well... It depends on what the broadcasts and the movies are recorded and played back in.

480p is different from 1080i is different from 720p is different from 1080p. HD-DVD and Blu-Ray are capable of playback in 1080p, which is simply impossible to broadcast and is about 50% higher resolution than 720p, and double the resolution of 1080i.

So... to answer your question, HD-DVD or BluRay isn't necessarily higher resolution than what you're getting over the cable box, but it has the potential to be. I don't have HD anything so I don't know what resolution most broadcasts and discs are being recorded in. I thought 720p was pretty standard for the high def discs and 1080i was common for broadcasts.

edit: Wikipedia seems to confirm that 1080i is a common broadcasting format, but 720p is used by some networks, too.

 

[Pau11y]

In a comparison, 1080i isn't a crisp as 720P. If there's a choice using an upconverting DVD player, go 720P instead of 1080i. Most cable HD is in 1080i. LO, when I have mine up and running, you can come by and compare for yourself. My system can do upconvert to 1080P from 480P (standard DVD), and w/ the new setup, should be able to do 1080P native off of HD-DVDs. From what I remember of your screen you bought, your set can do 720P w/ an upconverting DVD player.
From my electronic store scouting trips, 1080P from Blue-Ray and HD-DVD is stoopid clear and almost gives the focused portion of the picture a 3D effect. They had the new Ice Age trailer on a nice 1080P setup and you can pretty much see every strand of the little squirls fur!

 

[Pau11y]

I've found a XP driver for the Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive, making the file system accessible to Windows.