Budget HTPC?

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TameIti

97 posts

Master Geek

#21459 27-Apr-2008 20:50

The topic of an HTPC has been circling my mind the last few months. My father, lately, has been thinking about recording programs etc. We currently have Sky Tv and he was thinking of getting Mysky. I don't want him to get Mysky for the fact that you pay $600 or something like that and don't even own it.

This is the a paint drawing of the current setup we have:

http://iforce.co.nz/i/a9d2853817d98882079e5046572a408c.JPG

Basically, I'm thinking of building a cheap HTPC that will allow me to watch/record programs throught SkyTv.

Any ideas?

eXDee

4032 posts

Uber Geek

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#126665 27-Apr-2008 23:40

To record/watch sky on a HTPC you either have to do this (new idea, not tested much) or get a capture card + IR remote blaster to change channels on the sky decoder.
They don't make it easy for you.

Also welcome from gpod.

sbiddle

30853 posts

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Biddle Corp

Lifetime subscriber

#126679 28-Apr-2008 06:39

I have just one piece of advice - you will end up spending a lot more money and time on a project like this than you ever planned on spending! :-) A MySky is a far simpler solution!

I would say that most people who plan on building a cheap HTPC end up spending more than they bargained for, simply because they're unhappy with aspects of their initial system. Even basic things such as a nice HTPC case can set you back ~$300 and on top of that you'll need to experiment with things such as fans and cooling because the worst thing is having a noisy PC sitting next to your TV and heat is the worst enemy for any PC components.

TameIti

97 posts

Master Geek

#126681 28-Apr-2008 07:21

Sure Mysky (or even MyskyHD) would be easier and have a lot hassle but what's the size of the hdd they have in that thing? Not more than 160gb I'd assume and you cannot upgrade that.

Also RE: eXDee. Don't the retail versions of the Hauppauge cards come with IR Blasters?

I'd don't really need some fancy Mozart case and was just thinking of possibly buying a cheap slim pc case of trademe.

andrewdixon1000

76 posts

Master Geek

#126716 28-Apr-2008 10:01

One other thing to keep in mind is that with MySky you get two tuners, so you can watch one channel and record another. With a HTPC and a regular sky box you'll only have one sky tuner.

Andy

davidcole

6029 posts

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#127937 2-May-2008 15:31

but the arguments for an HTPC over sky are: music, access to your recorded content from other rooms and if you want, lend a recording to someone else, either on disk or usb key.

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