Some Questions on a HTPC

Royal Fleet

Royal Fleet

Royal Fleet

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Fleet, Hampshire
I am considering building a HTPC. I have built many a desktop before, but this will be a first. I would like it to do the following

  • Watch/Record/Pause Freeview
  • Watch DVD's
  • Listen to Music
  • Listen to Radio
  • Watch DivX files
  • Internet

I have the following Questions.

  1. If I get a ComproPVR card, do I need to use their remote to control the recording etc of the programs. Does Vista include an EPG that I can record from?
  2. Can anyone recommend a good remote/keyboard set up. I would ideally like simple tasks done from a remote, and then a keyboard with a mouse integrated for more complex tasks?
  3. I have ignored Vista up till now for desktops, but can't seem to find XP MCE anywhere - is Vista OK?
  4. Do I need a standalone GFX card. I am considering the Abit Fatality Mobo, which has onboard GFX - would that be enough for now considering I will not be using HD for a while?
  5. I would like to leave it on 24/7 and it not be very noisy - anything I need to consider here?

Any other general pointers, things to consider appreciated.
 
1. Vista MCE has it's own guide
2. Remote wise, any MCE remote works well, I'd go for a Logitech Harmony 525 to control all your gear, including the PC (You need an IR MCE receiver on the PC)
3. Vista 32 Home premium with the Vista Codec Pack will play back everything.
4. No, on-board is perfectly fine, and you can always add on an external card later on
5. Get a decent case/cooling setup, and low power consuming CPU..

Motherboard wise, If you can get on-board HDMI/DVI then that's a bonus when you want to connect to a HDTV, make sure it's HDCP compliant if you want to play BR/HD-DVD's without having to mess around with using anyDVD type software..

My personal choice, if you are going intel is the G35 chipset, the Asus P5E-VM HDMI has very good onboard HDMI with HDCP and can even pass a full 7.1 sound track over it as well, this is a first for HDMI motherboards.. it's more expensive then the Fatility but it is a better featured board, this now resides in my HTPC, with the LG BR/HD-DVD combo drive..

If going AMD, I've just built some PC's using the Asus M2A-VM HDMI that uses the AMD690G/Ati RX1250 that works well, combined with a X2-5000 EE provides a good/cheap/low power solution
 
Demon, thanks for your help.

Just one further question (excuse my ignorance, but I am new to the whole Freeview thing as I have sky at the mo), with the Vista MCE prog guide does it allow you to navigate the freeview channels, record progs from that, series link, and pause live TV. If so I presume I just need the basic TV card with digital decoder?

I am hoping that I can use this PC to get all of my young kids stuff of my Sky box. My parents still laugh about the fact that when at their house, my 3 year old, would not believe them that TV was actually on at a certain time. He is so used to Sky+ he was also very dubious that they couldn't pause it!.

Hardware recommendations sound good.
 
Yup, with an MCE compatible TV tuner card (some even have 2 tuners on them!) you can do all that, just like you do with your Sky+. You can even add multiple tuners, and you can record as many channels as you have tuners :)
 
Royal Fleet said:
I am hoping that I can use this PC to get all of my young kids stuff of my Sky box. My parents still laugh about the fact that when at their house, my 3 year old, would not believe them that TV was actually on at a certain time. He is so used to Sky+ he was also very dubious that they couldn't pause it!.

Hardware recommendations sound good.
Click to expand...

Thats scary :)
 
Just thought I'd post and say I've ordered a htpc in parts, but I've ordered the keysonic keyboard with integrated mouse (it looks just like the bottom half of a laptop) I'll post in here with results afterwards if your interested Royal. As a thought think about xp with media portal thats what I'm going to try for a bit and see how it goes. :)

Aero
 
Aero said:
Just thought I'd post and say I've ordered a htpc in parts, but I've ordered the keysonic keyboard with integrated mouse (it looks just like the bottom half of a laptop) I'll post in here with results afterwards if your interested Royal. As a thought think about xp with media portal thats what I'm going to try for a bit and see how it goes. :)

Aero
Click to expand...

Thanks - I would be interested to hear how you get on.

On the XP thing, I have read several reviews of Vista MC since yesterday, and they have been pretty much all positive. The interface seems to be regularly lauded, so I think I will go with that.
 
Well I've been building my htpc today royal and its gone ok. (bought the wrong hsf lol) I'm using the keyboard and mouse now its alright, it does the job quite well you get batteries with it. It feels fairly robust although I woud say it does have feel of cheapness about it. Excuse the typing asmyhtc current isjust onnoratvso thedispay isquite fuzzy and hard to read ) hope this hes

Aero
 
Ive used MCE and MediaPortal and MP is better IMO

Use ANY codec, music is MUCH better, videos flawless, fastforward everything, customisable (can configure a LOT) and remove what you dont use (pictures etc, tv, videos, games, whatever).

Only downside is initial config takes an hour or two to get your head round.

http://forum.team-mediaportal.com/monochrome_those_like_dark_skins_updated-t29566.html
That is the best skin IMO, gets better with each update too. - Check out the screenshots for an idea of how it plays.

http://www.team-mediaportal.com/files/Download/Plugins/VideoorMovies/MP-TVSeriesplugin/
Essential plugin if you have a lot of TV series

Oh, and i havent managed to get radio to work convincingly in MCE, its just a tv channel etc. In mediaportal, you tune the tuner in, and it seperates radio from TV and allows you to add net radio etc in too, so you can have it as you wish.

Give it a whirl, even if using vista MCE, install this as well and try it :)
 
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