Got a build, want to watch TV/SKY on it

Primarney · 9 Dec 2009 at 22:50

Hi all,

I have settled on a build roughly which is this,

Hanns.G HG281D 28" Widescreen LCD Monitor
ATI Radeon HD 5850
Asus P7P55D Evo Intel P55
Intel Core i5 750 2.66Ghz (Lynnfield)
Corsair HX 750W ATX Modular SLI
Geil Ultra Series 4GB
Antec 300 Three Hundred
Zalman CNPS10X-Quiet CPU Cooler
Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB
Sony Optiarc AD-7241S 24x DVD±RW SATA

Now my plan was to use this as the hub of all my entertainment, including watching TV, is it possibly for me to hook TV and maybe sky upto this somehow?
What additional kit would I need?
Would it be simpler to get a TV and use that as a monitor instead?

asoxedri · 9 Dec 2009 at 23:07

avoid that hanns monitor, i was going to buy it myself but then i read up on it, and quite a few people were disapointed.

you'll need a tv tuner card for watching tv etc

DIABLO · 10 Dec 2009 at 00:03

If you're using it as a HTPC then a t.v would be a better choice and you'll get a bigger screen for your money too.

Audigex · 10 Dec 2009 at 01:45

You get a bigger screen for your money, but if you actually want a HTPC than a monitor is teh way to go.

Computer monitors give better scren size/£ than TVs do (since they save the money on the tuner and various controls).

Granted a stand-alone TV is cheaper than a cheap pc + monitor + tv card, but if the idea is to make a HTPC, that doesn't really work.

Personally I love media centre, it gives a sky-like interface for the guide and channels, with comparable speed. The one thing I hate about freeview is that all but the most expensive boxes feel really sluggish. I press the button to change the channel, nothing happens so I assume it didn't read the signal and do it again... then it changes twice. It's infuriating.

Primarney · 10 Dec 2009 at 09:09

Well its main job would be a gaming PC, its more I dont have the biggest room in the world and would rather have TV and my PC run through the same monitor/TV and thought monitor was the best way to go.

BTW what's HTPC?

SMAndy · 10 Dec 2009 at 09:35

HTPC = Home Theatre Personal Computer.

It doesn't seem that this is what he wants... To be honest, you could just have a TV card with composite inputs, and connect all your boxes (freeview/sky etc) with that. I currently have a TV card in mine, dual 22" monitors. I have a freeview box, DVD player, PSOne and a PS2 plugged into it.

Yes, I know my DVD drive would play DVDs... but my player is multi region, and I don't want to keep switching my drive between regions, and end up stuck on some random foreign region.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-021-CP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=169

Thats the one I have. Works on Win7 if you download drivers and software from the Compro site. Ones on the disk don't stand a chance.

Watch out, the aerial inputs do work, but not for freeview, as compro is an american company. It only does satellite/cable. Doesn't matter though, as it has a composite input.