Hello All, long time, no speak.
I'm gonna drag myself into the new century and build an under the TV media centre.
Where do I start?
Can you recommend sources for pretty boxes to go under the telly?
What hardware should I go for?
What OS?
All it is for is watching movies, TV and needs to feed my Sony home theatre surround sound system.
All advice greatly appreciated.
Media Centre
Moderator: Claw
Mine is just for movies so meybe a bit simpler than your needs.
XP
mediaplayerclassic
cccp codec pack
Thats about it.
I play dvd's and my hd downloads on it.
Some hd stutters a bit with my XP barton 2500 1.8ghz with 2gb ram but methinks its a codec thing not processor too slow.
XP
mediaplayerclassic
cccp codec pack
Thats about it.
I play dvd's and my hd downloads on it.
Some hd stutters a bit with my XP barton 2500 1.8ghz with 2gb ram but methinks its a codec thing not processor too slow.
Last edited by Nellyboy on Sun Nov 11, 2007 9:17 am, edited 1 time in total.
no it's your processor
slatz you might want to include the media connections needed, hdmi, 5.1 out in normal jacks or is it fibre audio connection to a receiver???
slatz you might want to include the media connections needed, hdmi, 5.1 out in normal jacks or is it fibre audio connection to a receiver???
Last edited by Thane on Sun Nov 11, 2007 9:50 am, edited 1 time in total.
I've got a bog standard Sn41G2 shuttle next to my TV, 1gb ram Xp2500 CPU and a fanless NV7300 card that does the DVI-HDMI thing, sound is just the onboard stuff.
Plays my avi's etc from the network and that about it.
Rent's also have the same thing but there using the shuttles onboard vga to output to a normal TV, altho they will be going HDMI at some point.
Plays my avi's etc from the network and that about it.
Rent's also have the same thing but there using the shuttles onboard vga to output to a normal TV, altho they will be going HDMI at some point.
I've finally got my setup working the way i want it, it's used for everything, music, tv, movies and i'm posting from it now.
I run it in a Silverstone lascala case which tbh is too small, it only has space for one pci slot, but it looks the business and matches the amp which is a yamaha a/v 6.1 surround sound amp.
I have an nvidia 7300gs video card which has HD out (component), this is really the best output method, it's raw RGB data, hdmi requires more processing, is subject to some copyright stuff and not all tv's have hdmi connections.
I connect the component connection on the video card to the component in on the a/v amp along with the same for my wii and ps2, this all then goes from component out to the DVI port on the phillips 37" LCD, only one cable for 3 things, all switcheable with audio and video with one button on the av amp.
You don't really get HDMI a/v amps, so you'd be switching channels on the tv and on the amp if you wanted to change to your ps2 or something.
I don't even use the tv remote, the windows remote has 2 power buttons on it, one is programmable, so i have it set to turn my tv on.
The bones of the pc is that cpu you sold me slatz, was it an xp3500? 1 gig pc 3200 ram all running windows vista ultimate which i find is totally great for media center, pain in the arse for normal apps.
I've then got a pinnacle dual dvb-t tuner which has a few driver issues, the best tv card at the moment is the terratec cynergy which is pci-e, the pinnacle would be great if the drivers weren't rubbish, once a program has recorded, one tuner stops working sometimes, meaning you then have to watch what ever you want to record. Will be sorted soon though.
I just use a wireless usb donge to connect to my network.
Overall it's definitely worth doing, but you have to be ready to tinker with it lots to get it the way you want it, it's not very girlfriend friendly either, she loves it when it crashes, gives her a chance to moan and say 'why don't you just get a digibox?'
I run it in a Silverstone lascala case which tbh is too small, it only has space for one pci slot, but it looks the business and matches the amp which is a yamaha a/v 6.1 surround sound amp.
I have an nvidia 7300gs video card which has HD out (component), this is really the best output method, it's raw RGB data, hdmi requires more processing, is subject to some copyright stuff and not all tv's have hdmi connections.
I connect the component connection on the video card to the component in on the a/v amp along with the same for my wii and ps2, this all then goes from component out to the DVI port on the phillips 37" LCD, only one cable for 3 things, all switcheable with audio and video with one button on the av amp.
You don't really get HDMI a/v amps, so you'd be switching channels on the tv and on the amp if you wanted to change to your ps2 or something.
I don't even use the tv remote, the windows remote has 2 power buttons on it, one is programmable, so i have it set to turn my tv on.
The bones of the pc is that cpu you sold me slatz, was it an xp3500? 1 gig pc 3200 ram all running windows vista ultimate which i find is totally great for media center, pain in the arse for normal apps.
I've then got a pinnacle dual dvb-t tuner which has a few driver issues, the best tv card at the moment is the terratec cynergy which is pci-e, the pinnacle would be great if the drivers weren't rubbish, once a program has recorded, one tuner stops working sometimes, meaning you then have to watch what ever you want to record. Will be sorted soon though.
I just use a wireless usb donge to connect to my network.
Overall it's definitely worth doing, but you have to be ready to tinker with it lots to get it the way you want it, it's not very girlfriend friendly either, she loves it when it crashes, gives her a chance to moan and say 'why don't you just get a digibox?'
Some usefull sites
<a href="http://thegreenbutton.com/forums/default.aspx" target="_blank">The green button</a> - Great forum for all vista and xp media center questions and tips
<a href="http://www.mediapc.tv/" target="_blank">Media PC</a> - Not really the cheapest of shops, but they do have all the kit, have a browse for what they recommend, then do your shopping elsewhere.
<a href="http://thegreenbutton.com/forums/default.aspx" target="_blank">The green button</a> - Great forum for all vista and xp media center questions and tips
<a href="http://www.mediapc.tv/" target="_blank">Media PC</a> - Not really the cheapest of shops, but they do have all the kit, have a browse for what they recommend, then do your shopping elsewhere.
Last edited by Hippy on Sun Nov 11, 2007 12:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: HD slowdown. Thane, I used to have stuttering issues with all hd movies. I have updated my codecs earlier this year and now most play smoothly. Its only the odd one that stutters.
So, most of my hd stuttering was cured with a codec. I think the probs I have are due to playing a file with the wrong kind of player/codec installed. Honestly, most of my hd stuff was unwatchable.
So, most of my hd stuttering was cured with a codec. I think the probs I have are due to playing a file with the wrong kind of player/codec installed. Honestly, most of my hd stuff was unwatchable.
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Dangerous Bob
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The nicest box i have seen is a hiper one at xcase..
<a href="http://www.xcase.co.uk/p/301585/hiper-m ... t-psu.html" target="_blank">http://www.xcase.co.uk/p/301585/hiper-m ... su.html</a>
it comes with an agp riser, but there is a pci one too. it is mATX in format and you will need a tuner, hd and notebook dvd writer.
depending on your skills you could elect to use a flavour of linux but xp media center edition might be simpler.
<a href="http://www.xcase.co.uk/p/301585/hiper-m ... t-psu.html" target="_blank">http://www.xcase.co.uk/p/301585/hiper-m ... su.html</a>
it comes with an agp riser, but there is a pci one too. it is mATX in format and you will need a tuner, hd and notebook dvd writer.
depending on your skills you could elect to use a flavour of linux but xp media center edition might be simpler.
I guessing i'm thinking a bit of HD-DVD/Blueray's which arn't exactly the most optimized, tho give them enough time it'll get fixed.Nellyboy wrote: Re: HD slowdown. Thane, I used to have stuttering issues with all hd movies. I have updated my codecs earlier this year and now most play smoothly. Its only the odd one that stutters.
So, most of my hd stuttering was cured with a codec. I think the probs I have are due to playing a file with the wrong kind of player/codec installed. Honestly, most of my hd stuff was unwatchable.
I tried a media center PC with a AMD X2 4000 and it didn't cut it. Might do now though but I took a different route already.
It's a silverstone lascala LC02
<a href="http://www.silverstonetek.com/products/ ... lc02&area=" target="_blank">http://www.silverstonetek.com/products/ ... 2&area=</a>
It fits a full sized ATX mobo, but there isnt' much spare room, it's about the size of a VCR, fits in really well with my amp.
<a href="http://www.silverstonetek.com/products/ ... lc02&area=" target="_blank">http://www.silverstonetek.com/products/ ... 2&area=</a>
It fits a full sized ATX mobo, but there isnt' much spare room, it's about the size of a VCR, fits in really well with my amp.