HTPC Market

[Rondog]

Just wanting to get the vibe from some people out there.

Are HTPC's becoming common place? I know many people who are into IT who have home theatre pc's in there lounge room, but are there many people out there who just want to buy one that works, without buying there own parts, and making it work themselves?

Just an off-the-shelf option that is essentially plug and play.

[bonesaw]

i always wanted to make a movie server that every tv and computer in the house could stream or download movies from.

[Aedan]

Like these people?
http://cosmoseng.com/cgi-bin/cosmos/...ml?id=pmbaZSHD
Monolith Media Center - Overview
Dragon v2.0
OpenMedia myPVR
SolarPC Small Form Factor Computers and Laptops
Ubuntu Linux Mythtv: EfficientPC.co.uk
LinSentio
Benvenuti nel sito di Chimera Media Center!

[bonesaw]

i just want the software to do stuff like that,

not a 400 dollar computer sold at 1000.

[Aedan]

I've been doing something like that from MythTV for a few years now. Yes, it's Linux, and yes, it does offer TiVo functionality.

If you're just after a machine to just serve media content, it doesn't generally need a lot of processing power, just bit disks. That's usually required for the machine that's doing the decoding. There's a fair bit of software out there.

Don't forget that you will need a fairly good network to stream across, and that any TV is going to need something to interface to it.

[bonesaw]

can you stream across your lan? software needed? or create a streaming group.

[Rondog]

Provided its a hard wired network and not wireless. Wireless isnt really fast enough for AV streaming I've found.

[Aedan]

With MythWeb, I've been able to use a web browser to select what I want to stream, if the system doesn't have any special software.

Network performance is important for streaming, as even DVD quality requires 8-9 Mbit/sec of network performance, including overheads. For ethernet, that means at least 100Mbit network, for WiFi, that means at least 802.11G. Move into the world of HD, and the bitrate goes up again. Broadcast HD video (not audio) is more in the region of 20Mbit/sec. Move into Blu-ray, and it's MPEG4 or VC-1 at 40Mbit/sec just for the video. Throw in both audio and video, and 100Meg ethernet is only just capable of running Blu-ray bitrates (58Mbit/sec)to a single machine as long as nothing else is happening on the network. Wireless simply isn't fast enough.

[jacksonwalters]

I just sold my AMD 3800+ X2 HTPC and ordered the parts for my new Core i7 HTPC. Should arrive Friday and I'll post some pics and OC abilities. My only concern is heat, so we'll see how that plays out. In response to your question, the ability to fit a full size ATX mobo and a full size graphics card into a little HTPC case definitely makes HTPC's more commonplace. Why would I buy a full size desktop case when I can put all the same stuff in a case that's less than half the size?

Here's what I'm getting:


1 APEVIA Black SECC Steel / Aluminum X-MASTER-BK/500 ATX Media Center / HTPC Case

APEVIA Black SECC Steel / Aluminum X-MASTER-BK/500 ATX Media Center / HTPC Case - Retail
Model #:X-MASTER-BK/500
Item #:N82E16811144231
Return Policy:Standard Return Policy
In Stock
Mail in Rebate11-144-231

$74.99 -$5.00 Instant $69.99
1 ASUS P6T SE LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard

ASUS P6T SE LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Model #:P6T SE
Item #:N82E16813131386
Return Policy:Standard Return Policy
In Stock
Mail in Rebate13-131-386

$219.99 -$10.00 Instant $209.99
1 ASUS ENGTS250 DK/HTDI/512MD3 GeForce GTS 250 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

ASUS ENGTS250 DK/HTDI/512MD3 GeForce GTS 250 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
Model #:ENGTS250DKHTDI512MD3
Item #:N82E16814121303
Return Policy:VGA Standard Return Policy
In Stock
Mail in Rebate14-121-303

$134.99 -$5.00 Instant $129.99
1 Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920

Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - Retail
Model #:BX80601920
Item #:N82E16819115202
Return Policy:CPU Replacement Only Return Policy
In Stock

$288.99 -$9.00 Instant $279.99
1 BYTECC BT-146 All-in-one USB2.0 for card reader and UPS ports Card Reader w/ Floppy Drive

BYTECC BT-146 All-in-one USB2.0 for card reader and UPS ports Card Reader w/ Floppy Drive - Retail
Model #:BT-146
Item #:N82E16820192022
Return Policy:Standard Return Policy
In Stock

$22.99 $22.99
1 G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9T-6GBNQ

G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9T-6GBNQ - Retail
Model #:F3-10666CL9T-6GBNQ
Item #:N82E16820231223
Return Policy:Memory Standard Return Policy
In Stock

$99.99 -$10.00 Instant $89.99
1 Seagate Barracuda LP ST31000520AS 1TB 5900 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive

Seagate Barracuda LP ST31000520AS 1TB 5900 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive - OEM
Model #:ST31000520AS
Item #:N82E16822148411
Return Policy:Standard Return Policy
In Stock

$84.99 $84.99
1 LG DVD Burner Black SATA Model GH22NS50

LG DVD Burner Black SATA Model GH22NS50 - OEM
Model #:GH22NS50
Item #:N82E16827136167
Return Policy:Standard Return Policy
In Stock

$24.99 $24.99
Subtotal: $912.92

mm, tasty.

[Daniel ~]

Please do keep us posted on your progress jacksonwalters and Welcome to AOA! ":O}

[jacksonwalters]

Ordered a TV tuner the other day. It'll be here tomorrow, thus completing the HTPC build. Woo hoo!

[techjunkie45]

I already have the wide screen TV and the 1 TB external hard drive to store all my media. The only thing missing now is a good enough DVD that wouldn't lag when my movies reach 2 hours or more. As of now, the movie freezes and goes back to the home screen once it reaches 2 hours of video play