{"id":180,"date":"2009-12-29T13:38:55","date_gmt":"2009-12-29T19:38:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/?p=180"},"modified":"2012-06-10T10:33:33","modified_gmt":"2012-06-10T15:33:33","slug":"htpc-home-theater-with-media-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/krisbunda.com\/blog\/2009\/12\/29\/htpc-home-theater-with-media-center\/","title":{"rendered":"HTPC: Home Theater with Media Center"},"content":{"rendered":"

I use my Home Theater Personal Computer on a near daily basis. \u00a0Here’s a copy\/paste of a brochure I made for a custom HTPC I was building last summer. \u00a0Of course, computer components change so rapidly, that this brochure is dated, but I hope this is interesting for someone.<\/p>\n

If you’ve never heard of “HTPC,” and you somehow stumbled upon this post because you like Home Theater stuff, then comment on what you’d like to know more about, and I can answer with another post or email.<\/p>\n

\n

\"home-theater-mce-D-Vine-case\"<\/a><\/h3>\n

An ultra-quiet, powerful PC for your home entertainment center.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I\u2019ve built many Home Theater Personal Computers over the last several years, and I know what works and what doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

This HTPC comes with RF (radio frequency) remote and keyboard made specifically for \u201cMedia Center\u201d PCs.\u00a0 These are great for when you would rather lay on the couch and enjoy your leisure than sit at a desk.\u00a0 The keyboard has a mouse trackball and other buttons on the front of it so you can easily navigate the internet from the comfort of a recliner, or just use the remote, which also has a track ball and mouse buttons if you don\u2019t need to type.<\/p>\n

\"media-center-RF-wireless-keyboard-remote\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"HTPC-case-front-view\"<\/a><\/p>\n

At this <\/strong>pricepoint, I offer 2 styles of cases.\u00a0 They are of high quality steel and aluminum construction, and come in either silver (pictured) or black.\u00a0 An oil dampened action lets the front cover open when pushed on, which hides the DVD tray and front audio\/USB\/Firewire jacks (great for copying movies from your digital camcorder to your HTPC, and then burning to DVD).<\/p>\n

The front display is a 16×2 digit Vacuum Flourescent Display, pictured below.\u00a0 The display can be customized depending on what software is installed to drive it.\u00a0 The display also has an invisible infrared eye in case you want to use an IR remote control.<\/p>\n

\"VFD-Vacuum-Fluorescent-Display\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"home_mce302-HTPC-Case\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This unit has enough graphics power to push HD televisions, including 1080p resolution, at least up to 65\u201d (which is the largest I\u2019ve used it with).\u00a0 If you would like your HTPC to double as a game console to play graphics intensive games like \u201cCrysis\u201d or \u201cWorld of Warcraft\u201d on highest settings, I would suggest you purchase an add-on low profile video card ($125) and wireless controllers ($45 each).<\/p>\n

\"gamer-controller\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"zotac-low-profile-graphics-card\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This video card has a 256MB bus, 512MB of DDR3 memory, and is Low Profile Ready.\u00a0 I find cards with a lot of power, bus width, G-DDR3 (or faster) memory, and most importantly: the card must be cool and quiet.\u00a0 Video cards must be quiet and cool, so they don\u2019t heat up the rest of the case which causes other fans to work harder and become noisier.<\/p>\n

Consider adding a video card only if you watch a lot of BluRay videos on a large HDTV; record HD home videos, process\/transcode and burn to DVD; play graphics intensive video games; or design by CAD\/ use Graphic Design programs like Adobe CS4.\u00a0 Otherwise, the \u201cOn Board\u201d Radeon 3300 graphics processor coupled with the 2.7GHz dual core CPU should fulfill all other visual needs.<\/p>\n

\"Mobo-ASROCK-Motherboard\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve used ASRock or MSI motherboards in my HTPC builds for 2 years now.\u00a0 They offer reliability and more features per dollar than other manufacturers, in my experience.<\/p>\n

The Gigabit LAN port allows you to stream HD video, music, and other large files faster than 100Mb\/s LAN ports commonly provided with today\u2019s computer hardware.\u00a0 This enables you to connect your HTPC to a Gigabit Router and network with other computers in your home, if desired, and helps to ensure that your internet and router\/network connections aren\u2019t the tightest \u201cbottleneck\u201d in your home computer system(s).<\/p>\n

Alternatively, you can set up 1 efficient and low powered \u201cserver\u201d computer in your home to back up all other computer\u2019s files, and store all of your videos, movies, music, documents, pictures, etc\u2026 in one place that all the other computers can access quickly through Ethernet connections (or even wirelessly, if desired).\u00a0 I can answer questions on setting up small home \u201cservers\u201d to have one centralized location to back up and store files from your other home computers, or even stream info back and forth over the internet from your work computer to your home computer.<\/p>\n

\"Chip-AMD-processor-dual-core\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This HTPC has a dual core 2.7GHz CPU chip, with a \u201cwhisper quiet\u201d cooling fan (rated 17 decibels, which is nearly inaudible to most people).\u00a0 This advanced and powerful CPU has the power to assist the graphics processor with playing back seamless HD video, but is efficient enough to run at only 65 watts, which helps keep temperatures down and fans quiet… and it\u2019s a little friendlier on your electricity bill.<\/p>\n

\"Bluray\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In this unit includes a Blu-ray\/HD-DVD player and Blu-ray burner<\/span>.\u00a0 It also will play and burn standard DVDs and CDs.\u00a0 If you would like a Blu-ray player only (doesn\u2019t burn<\/span> Blu-ray DVDs), or a standard DVD burner\/player, the price of the unit would be reduced.<\/p>\n

If you have a High Definition TV, I suggest you at least get a Blu-ray player, as Netflix and Blockbuster have joined the movement toward by offering a large assortment of Blu-ray titles, and eventually Blu-ray will become the standard DVD format.<\/p>\n

\"Geil-RAM-memory-4-GB\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Other Components:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Memory:<\/strong> This HTPC has 4 gigabytes of high quality RAM (2 x 2Gb modules), with 800MHz speed.\u00a0 The RAM modules I choose sometimes differ from build to build, but are always one of the parts specifically suggested by the motherboard manufacturer.<\/p>\n

Hard Disks:<\/strong> This HTPC has two (2) 500 Gigabyte Western Digital Caviar Black hard disk drives.\u00a0 It\u2019s important to have high quality drives in a Media Center HTPC because using it as a DVR to constantly record television, and playing a lot of large files (music, home videos, etc\u2026)\u00a0 will put hard drives through their paces.\u00a0 WD Caviar Black disks have 2 processors for increased speed, 32 Mbs of cache, and they have one of the most robust spindles in the hard disk world, securing the platters at both the top and bottom of the drive.\u00a0 Most PCs do not have disks of this quality in them, and I\u2019ve noticed the difference in speed and reliability since I started building with Caviar Black drives.<\/p>\n

The reason for having 2 disks in the computer is for an automatic backup.\u00a0 After you\u2019ve gone to the trouble to move all your music, video, movie, and photo files to the HTPC, it\u2019s important to back them up.\u00a0 Windows can be set up to automatically back up on a weekly basis.\u00a0 If you already back up your computers through a network to another central location, then you would not need 2 drives.<\/p>\n

If you would like to increase disk drive space to two 1 terabyte disks (doubling the space), it is $160 extra.\u00a0 Adding any more disk space (up to 4 terabytes) would depend on current market price the disks.<\/p>\n

Power Supply: <\/strong>The power supply for this HTPC is a Corsair 400watt single rail, 80%+ efficiency unit.\u00a0 These are known for their exceptional quality, durability, and quiet performance.\u00a0 Single rail units are preferred as they don\u2019t split the wattage across multiple rails, possibly yielding less power per device than needed.\u00a0 80%+ efficiency helps to keep temperatures down, important when an HTPC is placed into a cramped shelving unit.<\/p>\n

Tuner Card: <\/strong>A Hauppauge 2250 low profile dual tuner card is included with the HTPC.\u00a0 Hauppauge is a leader in Tuner Card manufacturing, and after having tried several brands and makes of these cards, Hauppauge is the one that has provided the highest quality signal and reliability.<\/p>\n

This card can be used to tune in High Def (Clear QAM) antenna signals, analog cable signals, and digital cable boxes and\/or Dish Network\/DirecTV boxes can be plugged into it (including the HighDef versions), providing the ability to use your HTPC as a Digital Video Recorder (DVR), so you can set up schedules to record your favorite shows, just like any other DVR (TiVo, DirecTV, Dish, etc\u2026)\u00a0 You can also record 2 shows on 2 different channels at the same time, and even watch a previously recorded show while those 2 shows are recording.<\/p>\n

\"Hauppage-tuner-card\"<\/a>\"Hauppage2\"<\/a>Hauppauge 2250 with additional A\/V in ports shown above<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Vista-Media-Center-Edition\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

This HTPC is pre-loaded with Windows Vista Home Premium, which includes the Windows Media Center functionality. <\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

This copy (for a limited time) also includes a manufacturer provided coupon for a FREE upgrade to Windows 7 when it is released in the fall of 2009.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Windows Media Center:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Windows Media Center ties it all together.\u00a0 This is the \u201cHub\u201d of the Home Theater Personal Computer.\u00a0 It allows the user to easily flip through intuitive menus with a remote control.<\/p>\n

For an interactive demo of Media Center, click or copy + paste this link into your browser:<\/strong><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/windows\/products\/winfamily\/mediacenter\/demos\/windowsmediacenterdemo\/default.html<\/a><\/p>\n

For the WMC Homepage, go to the following link:
\n<\/strong>
\nhttp:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/windows\/windows-media-center\/tv-windows-vista.aspx<\/a><\/p>\n

\"MediaCenter\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"netflix-streaming\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Shop Around:<\/strong> If you like the idea of buying a Home Theater PC, but you\u2019re wondering if my custom builds are a good value, please feel free to shop around.\u00a0 I\u2019ll even provide some links to other HTPC builders\u2019 websites (see below).<\/p>\n

\n

\"Cannon2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Cannon PC – $2,083.00
\nhttp:\/\/www.cannonpc.com\/productcart\/pc\/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=74<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Go to \u201cCustomize\u201d to upgrade the components to a more appropriate \u201capples to apples\u201d comparison.<\/p>\n

\"Okoro2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Okoro Media – $2,205.00
\n<\/strong>http:\/\/www.okoromedia.com\/model.asp?model=LX100<\/a><\/p>\n

Go to \u201cCustomize\u201d to upgrade the components to a more appropriate \u201capples to apples\u201d comparison.<\/p>\n

\n

Installation:<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you\u2019re in Central Iowa (if you\u2019re close, some exceptions made) I can come to your home and install the HTPC, including connection to your TV & other devices (like digital cable\/dish box), connection to your internet\/router, set up of Media Center (including channel scans), and some education to make sure you\u2019re comfortable with the remote control and other functions.\u00a0 I charge between $150 and $250 for this service, depending on your proximity and complexity of set up.\u00a0 I have not seen any online HTPC sellers that offer in-home setup.<\/p>\n

Otherwise, I can just ship the HTPC to you, which is $40, and I can answer questions you may have via phone or email.\u00a0 This option is recommended for those who consider themselves relatively \u201ctech savvy\u201d.<\/p>\n

In both cases, I require payment before shipping or delivery through PayPal.\u00a0 Custom HTPCs usually take me between 1 and 2 weeks to assemble and test before delivering or shipping.\u00a0 I will need to communicate with you throughout the assembling of your HTPC about your current television and subscription details (dish\/cable + what sort of connections used, i.e.: HDMI, DVI, Component, etc…)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I use my Home Theater Personal Computer on a near daily basis. 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