HTPC ? your expertise and assessment are well appreciated

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › HTPC ? your expertise and assessment are well appreciated

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#161403 1-Sep-2008 22:08

Are you worried about the thing being silent? I can hear my raptor seeking from across the room in my main rig.

Its a nice drive but a (noisy) luxury in an htpc

Tarek

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#161411 1-Sep-2008 22:33

Thanks for the feedback and please excuse my ignorance :)
I didn’t see the HVR-4000 on Hauppauge website because I was viewing the US site, I flipped the country to UK and I can see a larger range (thanks I’ll use the HVR-4000)
No particular reason for picking the 10000RPM HD other than now that I am planning to get build my box from scratch why not have a semi high level box as I don’t plan to do any upgrades for years. The noise part totally slipped my mind.
Moreover, I would like to have the flexibility to use the machine as desktop if needed (as a secondary function).

TH

gehenna

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#161479 2-Sep-2008 10:16

Tarek: Thanks for the feedback and please excuse my ignorance :)
I didn’t see the HVR-4000 on Hauppauge website because I was viewing the US site, I flipped the country to UK and I can see a larger range (thanks I’ll use the HVR-4000)
No particular reason for picking the 10000RPM HD other than now that I am planning to get build my box from scratch why not have a semi high level box as I don’t plan to do any upgrades for years. The noise part totally slipped my mind.
Moreover, I would like to have the flexibility to use the machine as desktop if needed (as a secondary function).

TH

It's generally accepted that a HTPC is better served as being a standalone, that is it is only used as a HTPC. This is how I and most of the people I know use theirs, although I do a little bit of web browsing on my TV on occasion. Once you start introducing things like games, productivity software, etc, you lose control of your configuration. Configuring a HTPC can be tricky at best, especially when it comes to which codecs are doing the right job for you. That is why most people want the bare minimum on their HTPC so they can maintain that control over the softwrae. When something breaks it makes it that much quicker to resolve the problem. And you will run into problems, don't underestimate that!

MY advice would be to go for a low-mid range spec on your HTPC, taking things into account like noise, speed, and heat. Look for passive components like the graphics card, get specialist cooling like silent fans and power supplies. Get some quiet 7200rpm hard drives, bigger being better as storage is key on a HTPC. work out your budget, plan your build and go for it. Spend time getting it working, setting up TV, Video, DVD, HD and all that. Just go for the best specs to do the job on a budget, you don't need to go overboard.

If you want a PC to do actual PC oriented tasks you're better to get a separate machine and use that. Keep the HTPC for HTPC and the PC for PC.

Tarek

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#161725 3-Sep-2008 01:47

Thank you, point well taken. One last concern! I might end up getteing a case with no IR and i already own a logitech Harmony 670 remote control can't i just get some sort of external IR USB component and place it on top of my case? if so what is it and will i be able to wake up the pc with it ... etc?

or should i just buy something like: Anyware GP-IR01BK Windows Vista Infrared MCE Black Remote Control

Thanks,
TH

Nety

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#161732 3-Sep-2008 06:37

The Microsoft MCE remote has an exteral receiver which is capable of waking your PC and will work with the logitech. However I understand there is supply issues at the moment.

Media centre PC - Case Silverstone LC16M with 2 X 80mm AcoustiFan DustPROOF, MOBO Gigabyte MA785GT-UD3H, CPU AMD X2 240 under volted, RAM 4 Gig DDR3 1033, HDD 120Gig System/512Gig data, Tuners 2 X Hauppauge HVR-3000, 1 X HVR-2200, Video Palit GT 220, Sound Realtek 886A HD (onboard), Optical LiteOn DH-401S Blue-ray using TotalMedia Theatre Power Corsair VX Series, 450W ATX PSU OS Windows 7 x64

gehenna

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#161734 3-Sep-2008 07:18

The other issue with remotes is if you have an analogue set top box for sky or saturn that you want to feed through the htpc, you need what's called an IR Blaster. This plugs into your remote receiver at one side and sticks on to the STB over the IR sensor on that side. It transfers your channel +/- etc to the STB via the HTPC so you can control the changing of channels. It's an essential piece of equipment so you may need to look into that if using a STB is in your plan.

Nety

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#161832 3-Sep-2008 13:07

gehenna: The other issue with remotes is if you have an analogue set top box for sky or saturn that you want to feed through the htpc, you need what's called an IR Blaster. This plugs into your remote receiver at one side and sticks on to the STB over the IR sensor on that side. It transfers your channel +/- etc to the STB via the HTPC so you can control the changing of channels. It's an essential piece of equipment so you may need to look into that if using a STB is in your plan.

The MS remote has two IR blasters included which plug into the receiver.

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Tarek

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#161963 3-Sep-2008 21:01

I just noticed Hauppauge HVR4000 don't support PAL/SECAM, i found a company that create card supporting NTSC/PAL....etc. call LeadTek (www.leadtek.com) the problem now is I am confused and don't know which of their products equivalent to the HVR4000! Please help.
Digital and analog cards are found here:
http://www.leadtek.com/eng/tv_tuner/default.asp?lineid=6&seriesid=26&chipseriesid=18

TH

eXDee

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#161980 3-Sep-2008 21:52

The HVR-4000 does support PAL im sure, however its analogue is software encoded meaning that its a pain to get working with mediaportal and other software, and it puts a fair bit of load on the computer too.
Cards like the HVR-2200 use a hardware mpeg encoder.

Tarek

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#161993 3-Sep-2008 22:44

eXDee: The HVR-4000 does support PAL im sure, however its analogue is software encoded meaning that its a pain to get working with mediaportal and other software, and it puts a fair bit of load on the computer too.
Cards like the HVR-2200 use a hardware mpeg encoder.

Thanks eXDee, I also found WinTV-NOVA-S-Plus on Hauppauge website, is it similar to the HVR-4000? sorry for all those questions, i am just trying to find which product will give the least amount of headache once intalled.

Rg,
TH

djaggar

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#161994 3-Sep-2008 22:52

Tarek:
eXDee: The HVR-4000 does support PAL im sure, however its analogue is software encoded meaning that its a pain to get working with mediaportal and other software, and it puts a fair bit of load on the computer too.
Cards like the HVR-2200 use a hardware mpeg encoder.

Thanks eXDee, I also found WinTV-NOVA-S-Plus on Hauppauge website, is it similar to the HVR-4000? sorry for all those questions, i am just trying to find which product will give the least amount of headache once intalled.

Rg,
TH

HVR4000 is definitely PAL ... and GBPVR supports software encoding on the analogue port out of the box ... it'll give all that CPU you're putting in something to do ... in would be bored otherwise

Nova-S won't do DVB-T (freeview)

Tarek

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#161996 3-Sep-2008 23:07

Excellent news thanks for the feedback!

Its shopping time :) any recommendation for an online store where I can pick up my HTPC stuff (other than newegg.com) ?

djaggar

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#161998 3-Sep-2008 23:18

Tarek:
Excellent news thanks for the feedback!

Its shopping time :) any recommendation for an online store where I can pick up my HTPC stuff (other than newegg.com) ?

Are you in New Zealand? Which city? For online stuff, I've had a faultless run out of Ascent in Wellington over the past several years - probably built over 20 PCs from them in that time. For local stuff in Christchurch, DragonPC are like a tardis - more stock than seems to fit in a store that size ...

eXDee

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#162000 3-Sep-2008 23:25

Just to clarify, im not actually sure (might have missed it), are you wanting to receive Freeview Satellite which is standard definition, or receive Freeview HD which is terrestrial and high definition? And you are wanting to receive analogue too?

Tarek

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#162006 4-Sep-2008 00:01

Thanks guys for your prompt reply and follow-up. TV tuner card is to do the following:
- Recorded one channel while watching another
- Free-view channels on different satellites (such hotbirt, NileSat.. etc.)
- Some of the free channels transmit their signal in HD so I would like to enjoy that too

Unfortunately I don’t live in New Zeeland... currently I reside in Kuwait and (i also have an address in the US)

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