Small footprint HTPC question (Pinnacle USB TV)

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freitasm

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# 18658 18-Jan-2008 12:45

I just got a Mac mini for the lounge. Looking at full HTPC cases they are still too big. So the idea is to have Windows Vista Ultimate (Media Center) running on Bootcamp and connecting to my Windows Home Server to get content.

I thought I could use the Pinnacle TV USB adapter. Does anyone have experiences to report on this device? Will it work with TCL analogue TV?

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sbiddle

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# 105521 18-Jan-2008 14:07

Assuming you're just planning on using the aux input then it should work fine. You obviously have two ways to wire it up - use the AUX input and grab the composite video and audio from the STB or run a cable from the STB to the aerial input and use the built in tuner. You will obviously want to get a MCE Remote as well which has the IR blasters and can change channels on the TCL STB.

The advantage of getting a stick that does DVB-T is that when the Vista H.264 update does become available (hopefully later this year) you'll be able to use it for Freeview.

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# 105552 18-Jan-2008 16:20

I doubt h.264 would play to well on an intel 950 GPU?

I would love to use one of these (mac mini) due to the footprint but I'm not sure about using a 950 gpu to drive a 40" LCD playing HD (x,264 and H.264).

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richms

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# 105598 18-Jan-2008 20:57

It should be ok with coreAVC for 720p and 1080p@24 stuff, but I doubt that 1080i or 1080p@60Hz will play on it. I have done 1080p24 on a 3.something P4 hyperthread without an accelerated video card and it was ok once some of the renderer options were changed but it was at about 45% on both "CPU's" so may be a bit worse on higher bitrate stuff.

Its worth a shot anyway, its not like DVB-T sticks cost a hell of a lot. I will be getting a few on my next deal extreme order to play with, should have them in a month if anyone wants to borrow to have a play.

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freitasm

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# 105602 18-Jan-2008 21:52

Thank you guys for the thoughts. I am posting this from my Mac mini and Sony Bravia combination under Windows Vista Ultimate.

The Windows Vista Index is 3.3 and it plays DVDs really well even at full screen - and no problems connecting through the wireless networks even for streaming.

Tomorrow I might follow sbiddle's suggestion on the MSN and get a DVI-to-HDMI adapter - I am currently using the DVI-to-RGB adapter bundled with the Mac mini.

Also th sound is not working - yet. That's because the Sony Bravia can't get inputs from different sources, so I have to get a 3.5 to 3.5 stereo cable instead of the 3.5 to stereo RCA cable I have here. In the future I will be using the output into my Denon so it won't be a problem, but for now I will need something.

All installed, Windows Media Center running by default, connected to my Windows Home Server and running a backup soon. All good so far!

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