Anyone using a Home Theatre PC?

[Chris Whitman]

Hey guys,

Anyone using have Home Theatre PC setup at home?

If you do are you using it to record TV or just watch Video and Listen to music?



I am hoping to try and create something that will allow me to record some HD content and also watch HD Movies from my PC.



Cheers

Whit

 

[Jacob Dryer]

I do, I use XP Media Center Edition 2005. I don't do any HD yet though. It does a great job for recording TV, and playing all my music.

 

[Don Pertz]

I remember reading somewhere, that to record HD on a PC , you need to have an HD Compliant Video Capture Card. That is the PCI card in the computer, that the cable plugs into.

I think there are a couple of manufacturers making them, but I have been waiting to get some reviews , before buying one.

 

[Jacob Dryer]

Oh yea you can not hook an HD cable box/Direct-TV box to the computer. So the only easy option is over the air HD, I know there is a way around this and I think Jeff C has done it, but I might be mistaken, I know I've talked with someone in chat about it here though

 

[Chris Kulbaba]

I am using a home theatre pc... on my nice sexy 52" Sharp Aquos LCD... Im in love since day 1!! MUST HAVE!

 

[Chris Whitman]

XST.... Nice... I am actually waiting for my 42" Aquos to be delivered next week... Hence why I am looking at doing a Home Theatre PC. Hopefully I am able to still buy MCE 2005 and won't get stuck with VISTA... I have a great PC here for the setup right now... Duo Core 3+ghz with 4gig RAM and 750gig HD

The Video card is a NVIDIA with DVI Out and does HD.. I think its 512mg.



Are you using the PC to record TV? I understand it will be alittle hard for me to record HD content... But maybe I can us it to record SD content which would still serve a purpose for a bit till the HD PVR comes down in Price...



Cheers

Whit

 

[Chris Whitman]

Wow i thought we would have had more things to say about this... Thanks for the help guys..

I will let you know how it goes..



Whit

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Chris do you have a PVR (Personal Video Recorder) card, or even a TV capture card? I know you said you have an Nvidia card with DVI out, just wondering if you have an RF or S-Video (or better, component) video input of any type? If not, and if you want to record TV then you will obviously need that.



TJR

 

[Chris Whitman]

Don't have one... Can you suggest one???



Let me know..



Cheers

Whit

 

[Keith Lewis]

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Chris,



The link Daeron gave above has a "PVR review".



I suggest a latest or later card from Hauppauge. I don't suggest anything from ATI, especially not their All-In-Wonder cards. Whatever you get, don't go USB...if you have the PCI slot available get a PCI card, not a USB periph. Oh, and one last thing, see if you can get a card that does Divx/Mpeg4 encoding in hardware (not software).



TJR

 

[TGI Friday]

Just get a Netgear EVA8000. It's hitting the market this month.. HDMI Output, HD 720p/1080i Video, Wired or Wireless Streamer. You can use your standard PC with Media Center to get your TV Content. The Streamer can do directly to the internet for Internet Radio, Bit-Torrent Movie downloads (you pay), Stream MP3's and Video from your network and even has a direct link to Youtube.com. You can even use the USB port for direct Ipod to listen to music from your iPod or even Videos if you have a Video iPod (I do). Or, use the USB port for external HD and record your content to that.



I was this player at CES and it also got some awards. Their site is states it will be available this month..



I have an old Buffalo one now and looking to make the move to HDMI for the complete streaming of all my videos, pics, songs, etc..



-Tgif

 

[Chris Kulbaba]

Chris



Vista is awesome. Not sure why you want Media Center Edition XP. I swapped to Vista on my laptop, my HTPC, and our 2 personal PC's. I could never go back to XP, im in love with Vista. Never had any issues whatsoever. Its excellent for the HTPC.



I have not installed a TV tuner yet. I do have the HD cable box from the service provider. I watch TV through that. I am having a tough tine finding a HD Tuner card that gets good reviews.

 

[Chris Whitman]

The Netgear EVA8000 looks similiar to the Windows Media Extender they had acouple years ago... The only issue was that it would not play certaqin formats.

If you downloaded XVID files they would not play.

This is my main concern that if I put out money for this unit and it won't play certain formats... If it has no limitations than its great.... if it has some... Than its useless!



Cheers

Whit

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Chris,



Here is an HDTV PCI card for $53, after rebate, with BeyondTV software which is very good. The rebate ends tomorrow. The KWorld brand leaves me a little cold though...not one of the leaders.





P.S. The BeyondTV EPG schedule feed is a subscription service...you get 30 days free with this package.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

And another card review, this card with HDMI and DVI outputs (NICE):

 

[Thomas Rogers]

And here is another nice report that reviews and compares MythTV (homebuild HD DVR) and Tivo Series 3 HD DVR, the cornerstone components to any HD home theater system:

 

[Thomas Rogers]

And it seems Dell wants to get into the CableCard game: