Joe Perez - Learn me HTPC, Boxee, etc.
Joe et. others,
I am tired of paying $100 for crappy cable. Unfortunately, my wife and I are addicted to DVR, and my wife loves some really crappy cable shows. Anyway, I'm thinking of building a HTPC so that I can cancel the cable and torrent / hulu / netflix everything we need. What I want: To be able to watch her crappy shows, my F1 and Top Gear, other random TV, etc. on our HDTV in the living room. What I am not: I'm not that big of an AV or Computer buff. I just recently built my first computer, it's a i3 2100, HD5850, 1TB HDD, 4GB, Windows 7 rig that I use for iRacing and other awesomeness. So I'm not scared to build an HTPC I just don't really know how to set it all up to work with my TV and network with our other W7 computers. Current situation: We have digital cable and a DVR through TWC (suck my ass TWC), a PS3 we use mostly as a blu-ray player, a netflix subscription, a poorly set up 7.1 surround sound system and a 40" samsung lcd tv. Now a series of questions: Q. Is a HTPC the best for me or will a Boxee be enough? Q. Can someone recommend a good HTPC build for about $500. I'm thinking i3 2100, 2TB HDD, 4GB RAM, small case, efficient PSU... Q. If I build a HTPC should I get a TV Tuner card? Which one is the best bang for the buck? Q. How do I get the sound from my HTPC to work with the receiver and the TV? Q. Anyone use HULU Plus, is it worth it? We currently have a netflix account and will be keeping it for now. Q. Do I even need a HTPC or can I use the PS3 for most of this stuff? Q. If I build a HTPC what software should I be using to make best use of it? How do I set up my home network so all of my W7 computers and ps3 can network together? I suppose that's enough questions for now. Thanks in advance for any and all spoon feeding. I've been trying to research this stuff but I start to get overwhelmed with the amount of options/info when searching on AV forums or computer build forums. |
I know you can install Boxee on any PC. Might be useful to evaluate before choosing.
Probably can do same with XBMC. |
Originally Posted by Efini~FC3S
(Post 754196)
Q. Is a HTPC the best for me or will a Boxee be enough?
Or is there some other Boxee that I should be familiar with? Personally, I use an Xbox360 as my media playback device. The PC just sits there being a fileserver and running uTorrent. I don't even have a video output from it connected to anything- I use VNC to access it from elsewhere. Q. Can someone recommend a good HTPC build for about $500. I'm thinking i3 2100, 2TB HDD, 4GB RAM, small case, efficient PSU... Except the case. Seriously, don't get a small case. Small cases = high RPM fans = noise. Mine is a shortish mini-tower, and I made sure that every fan in it is the biggest, lowest-RPM style I could possible find. Something like this, only with an almost totally open front and larger fan mounts. Also, see how the case is perforated in the areas where the fans go? http://images.geeksimages.com/images.../943PK-box.jpg Fuck that shit. Get a dremel or some other metal cutting tool (I use a cheap nibbler like this one) and just make all of the metal go away completely around the fans. It makes them a hell of a lot quieter. I did this front and rear, and have two 120mm fans going behind them. My CPU fan is nothing fancy (no heat-pipes), it's just a big chuck of metal with a huge fan on it. Ditto the power-supply. Some (like the one pictured above) have a small upright fan at the back, and maybe another in the front. Others have a single large fan (usually 120mm) in the bottom, and a vented back. That's the one you want. http://images.geeksimages.com/images...80E12-unit.jpg My machine is quieter than a dead prostitute in Hustler's trunk. Actually, this one would be good if you have space for it. (Don't forget to cut out all the perforated BS): http://images.geeksimages.com/images...DRED-R-box.jpg http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?inv...DRED-R&cat=CAS Q. If I build a HTPC should I get a TV Tuner card? Which one is the best bang for the buck? Q. How do I get the sound from my HTPC to work with the receiver and the TV? Q. Do I even need a HTPC or can I use the PS3 for most of this stuff? Plusses of using a game console:
Q. If I build a HTPC what software should I be using to make best use of it? How do I set up my home network so all of my W7 computers and ps3 can network together? With the Xbox, you just turn on Library Sharing in Windows Media Player, it detects the machine, and you're done. (You can also use Windows Media Center, however I find it to be slow and cumbersome, at least under XP.) |
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Originally Posted by Efini~FC3S
(Post 754215)
Besides, when you do it my way, some random 14 year old out there in SceneLand has already edited out the commercials, cropped the video to the correct aspect ratio, trimmed the head and tail properly, and basically done everything except make your sandwich for you. "Live" TV is inconvenient, even if you have a DVR. |
Lol, sorry. I understand now
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Boxxy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! <3 |
Hmmm....this has had me thinking all day. Do I even need a HTPC? I know my PS3 "sees" my w7 computers already, maybe I just need to enable sharing through WMC (which is supposed to be much improved in W7).
If I can use my PS3 like you're using your XBOX, then maybe I can stream everything from the new computer that's in the basement and use that as the torrent machine and file server. It would be a lot cheaper to add another 2TB HDD to that computer than to build another computer. I could get live over-the-air HD channels straight into the TV. I wonder if HULU plus is available on the PS3, I think it is? Apparently, I need to do some more research and I need to start using more of the capabilty of my PS3. |
Originally Posted by Efini~FC3S
(Post 754247)
Do I even need a HTPC?
If I can use my PS3 like you're using your XBOX, then maybe I can stream everything from the new computer that's in the basement and use that as the torrent machine and file server. It would be a lot cheaper to add another 2TB HDD to that computer than to build another computer. I could get live over-the-air HD channels straight into the TV. |
Also, fuck boxxxxxxxy. And no, not in the pedophile rapist sense of the word. Fucking egomaniac 12 year olds who think that the entire world gives a shit about the lint they found in their pocket this morning...
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Boxxy boxxy boxxy!!!! <3 <3 <3
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1 Attachment(s)
Originally Posted by Faeflora
(Post 754272)
Boxxy boxxy boxxy!!!! <3 <3 <3
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Originally Posted by Efini~FC3S
(Post 754196)
Q. Can someone recommend a good HTPC build for about $500. I'm thinking i3 2100, 2TB HDD, 4GB RAM, small case, efficient PSU... Q. If I build a HTPC should I get a TV Tuner card? Which one is the best bang for the buck? Q. How do I get the sound from my HTPC to work with the receiver and the TV? Q. Anyone use HULU Plus, is it worth it? We currently have a netflix account and will be keeping it for now. Q. Do I even need a HTPC or can I use the PS3 for most of this stuff? Q. If I build a HTPC what software should I be using to make best use of it? How do I set up my home network so all of my W7 computers and ps3 can network together? I suppose that's enough questions for now. Thanks in advance for any and all spoon feeding. I've been trying to research this stuff but I start to get overwhelmed with the amount of options/info when searching on AV forums or computer build forums. F1: http://thepiratebay.org/user/jorrell0733/ TV: eztv or http://showrss.karmorra.info I use show rss with utorrent, they even have topgear I also use a BT proxy (btgaurd). for 7 bucks a month its cheap insurance. PS3 + ps3 media server +computer connected to network is really all yuou need. PS3 might be using this cinvia crap to start filtering content... i dont have this but the ps3 poeple say its cool, so i may upgrade soon... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136593 it does netflix, youtubes, and i bet soon it will do hulu and the like. Audio can be handed through HDMI. You either need to go serverdevice>reciver>tv OR get a splitter and go from the media player to both the tv and the reviver. the WD thing has optical, so for that you could go with the opictal to the reciver and HDMI to the tv. These schemes should allow you to have 5.1 when you want and TV audio when you dont. |
So I got the PS3 and the PC to play nice together last night. I had to unblock the PS3s MAC address in W7, and voila I can play stuff through my ps3. The only problem is I don't know what video files the PS3 can and cannot play and I'm not exactly sure which folders the ps3 has access to. If I had more than 5 minutes to play around with it last night I probably could have figured it out, but how well, one step closer to cutting the cable.
If I wasn't married, or if my wife were more technically savvy, I would probably skip the OTA stuff but I suppose it will make her happier if she's able to just turn on the tv and have at least a few channels available. Anyone else use a BT proxy? I've been using torrents for years but only at very small volumes, so I never looked into them. Anyway, time to start shopping for another HDD... |
Files ps3 can play is hit/miss.
Lots of failstration with this. |
ps3 media server will get you to a play where it will play 99% of files. It does live trans-coding and re-packaging
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Originally Posted by golftdibrad
(Post 754760)
ps3 media server will get you to a play where it will play 99% of files. It does live trans-coding and re-packaging
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Originally Posted by Faeflora
(Post 754761)
In the real world of downloading torrents, it will not.
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