Budget HTPC - where to start?

james.miller said:
building it isnt the problem. i have both a standalone (well, ps3) and a htpc thats capable of bluray playback...and a laptop, and none of them are as simple as a standalone. i'm not denying its easy to build one, and relatively easy to set one up (if time consuming) but a lot of people dont want that, they want something that will play a disc and compared to putting a disc in my ps3, having it turn on automatically and play the disc automatically, there's nothing as quick or as simple that matches it imo.
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well thats fine, its your opinion. but the OP is asking about HTPC that arent PS3..
 
james.miller said:
There's no easy does it all solution and although playback as improved vastly on the pc, i cant kid myself and say its as easy as a standalone.
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your a little out of date, took me 5 mintues to install blu ray rom and software that came with the drive, 1 update offered by cyberlink then off it went on auto playback, hd audio would need a good amp for standalone blu ray or PC
 
entireweb said:
I am on my 4th HTPC. Here are a number of useful points from my experience:

1) Dont bother with blu ray in a HTPC. Get a standalone player. They are cheap now <100 quid. There is no software that integrates well into the HTPC environment to play blu ray. Power DVD IMO, is a bag of sh&t. Also standalone players are as cheap now as blu ray readers!

2) Get the Zotac Ion N330 Ionitx A. 125 quid.

3) Stick in 2GB of ddr2, eg

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-060-KS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=813 .40 quid.

4) Use a 2.5 inch harddrive, eg

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-198-SE&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=896. 40 quid

Or for extreme performance an SSD like:

Kingston SSDNow V 64gb. Which I got for mine. 100 quid.

4) Put in all in the a M350 Universal Mini-ITX enclosure (google it), which you hang behind your TV. 35 quid.

5) Download the live CD for Linux XBMC. Free.

http://xbmc.org/download/

6) Read the XBMC forums. Update the graphics driver for the Nvidia chipset on the Zotac.

Enjoy boot up times of < 5 seconds with ssd. Play mp3, flac, 1080p/720p mkv and avi.

Total cost with no SSD=240 quid. With SSD, 300 quid.
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What drive do you store your music and videos on then? The 64GB drive is quite low on space for a good library isn't it?
 
Guardsmon said:
Do you have something against neil_g or do you just like moaning and trying to annoy people cause this is the 2nd thread that you've come along and published your ideas while insulting others.
I believe this is the behavour that gives forums a bad name, not someone publishing their opinions that fit what an OP was asking for.

No one has a problem with you sharing your opinions about media centres, but why insult people at the same time?
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Because this forum is full of tech noobs (GCSE IT) like yourself.
 
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griffter said:
What drive do you store your music and videos on then? The 64GB drive is quite low on space for a good library isn't it?
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I run a couple of servers. The first is a 24/7, 8 disc array using Windows Home Server, (16Tb). The second is a boot up linux server in raid 1, 4TB.

The point of the SSD for the HTPC is instant boot up. It is an expensive addition, but well worth it IMO, because using Linux XBMC, its like having bespoke hardware; turn on, 5 seconds and bang XBMC is there. Hit Videos and your streaming 1080p rips. The server can be a low spec PC. The point is TB's of space with a gigabit ethernet pump for the HD stuff.
 
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errata said:
Since when has a standalone blu ray cost less than the £46 i paid for my blu ray reader and software for the PC?

Why would I not want a keyboard to use a HTPC pc fully.

Why are you a troll?
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Only a "GCSE in IT", defends the shameful use of a keyboard with a HTPC!

Rip em->mkv.

1080p is 8gb. Thats x100 on a 70 euro 1TB.

Stick them on your server and be done with the Fully star out swear words of menus and fluff.
 
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entireweb said:
Only a "GCSE in IT", defends the shameful use of a keyboard with a HTPC!

Rip em->mkv.

1080p is 8gb. Thats x100 on a 70 euro 1TB.

Stick them on your server and be done with the Fully star out swear words of menus and fluff.
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Every word you write suggests you have no idea what's appropriate or proportionate for other people and you offer zero help to the OP, why not start your own 'look at me thread' thread on a forum system that excludes "gcse" level people.
 
htpcs are more trouble than theyre worth.
TV cards should be your first concern. Also reception quality.
I left them till last and have had the most trouble with them
 
Well they are a lot of work to set up perfectly. It depends on whether you enjoy the tinkering or not.

I think TV cards have got better in recent years. The advent of Windows Media Center as the has forced manufacturers to stick to a common API for controlling the card from thrid-party software. Unless you're using Linux, but then you get what you pay for.
 
IMO get a cheap ASUS mobo, a cheap AMD athlon dual core, then a PSU, small HDD, 2GB RAM, OcUK's CoolerMaster Micro-ATX case and MediaPortal, full setup costs less than £220!
 
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