[Rgrevy]

Hi

Im going to build my first HTPC soon.

Im thinking i will go with the new AMD A6-3500.
I will use it for music, dvds and blu rays.
For the blu ray i figured i will go with the makemkv, i have read some thread about in here.
I guess the quality in video and sound is lossless this way ?

1.
I read in some builder guide that there was some things that wasnt supported for the new FM1 cpu's. What things is it ? and will it be supported in the near future ?

2.
I havnt got any experience with linux, but im a quick learner, and know a bit of programming, just not for computers but for microprocessors.
So what is the pros and cons of using XBMC linux VS windows or even windows media center ?

3.
If i buy a Logitech harmony 650 remote, is it fully supported in XBMC, if i just buy a regular USB IR reciever.
and is it possible for me to use that same remote for my TV and surround reciever ?
I know the power On from full shut down is not easy to set up. But im an electronic engineer, so i guess i will try to make the hardware by myself

4.
Im planning too buy some harddrives to install in the HTPC, when they get the water out of their factories and the prices get back to normal.
Is it possible for me to easily move the movies, tv series and music i download to my other computer onto the HTPC harddrives with LAN?
In a way similar to how its done with 2 Windows PC's or with a NAS server.

I hope you can help me out
Happy New Year
RGrevy

[r4nd0m]

if you want a plain media player why dont you look into the options supported by openelec.tv. basically openelec.tv is a stripped down linux version with xbmc on top and perform very well, boots quickly and stuff and the configuration is quite simple but also limited

in regards of hard drive, you can use both internal ones as well as mount over network for example a NAS, how I use it, you could use a small internally or sd card/usb stick to boot and the rest via a NAS

windows xbmc does support external routing to applications that dont exist, for example you could use powerdvd player to playback blurays which doesnt exist on linux same for other applications, depending on your needs you should be able to identify the best option, personally I use linux due to performance and my personal requirements

[Rgrevy]

well i dont want to spend money on a NAS server atm, so i want to know if i can transfer all my media stuff from one computer to the HTPC via the LAN connection?

Well i would like to learn to use the XBMC so i wont get the limits thats in other software like that Openelec

[bluray]

If you want to playback BD file in full 1080P video with DTS-HD/TrueHD audio, there is nothing easier to setup than Windows 7. AMD A6-3500 is excellent choice for XBMC with Windows 7.

[r4nd0m]

well i dont want to spend movie on a NAS server atm, so i want to know if i can transfer all my media stuff from one computer to the HTPC via the LAN connection?

Well i would like to learn to use the XBMC so i wont get the limits thats in other software like that Openelec

its not really limited, just by functionality of the underlying linux ... less configuration, less hassle ... I run more services on my htpc including virtualbox to run virtual oeprating systems and stuff some people however dont need it just a mediaplayer that works including shared drives etc where openelec just works ... if you got a spare pc or even on your current pc why dont you grab a openelec install to see if that works for you before looking into a linux install where you lack the experience .. as mentioned you can run it off a usb stick without any further requirements

If you want to playback BD file in full 1080P video with DTS-HD/TrueHD audio, there is nothing easier to setup than Windows 7. AMD A6-3500 is excellent choice for XBMC with Windows 7.

really?? see the Egreat R200s which runs an android os and sells for roughly 200EUR

[bluray]

really?? see the Egreat R200s which runs an android os and sells for roughly 200EUR

But, can it playback BD file in full 1080P video with DTS-HD/TrueHD audio?

[robo989]

You're in for a world of hurt if you think the answer to any of those questions is going to be answered to your satisfaction except for 4. The answer to that is yes, as long as you install a Samba server when installing the base operating system from the minimal ubuntu CD.

People use Linux because it doesn't interfere with how XBMC is running like windows does, minimal wasted resources in background, minimal problems with setting frame rate. Thus you won't need as powerful a setup to run it eliminating noise from high end fans etc.

XBMC currently (and isn't likely for the short term forseeable future 6 months at least even in unsupported nightly form) to support DTS-MA\TrueHD which is generally used on all recent bluray releases. It does support lossless FLAC though, which would be the preferred method, but even that isn't truely lossless as XBMC doesn't (again read the brackets for time frame) support 24bit audio and down mixes to 16bit. Nearly all blurays now have 24bit audio. The difference is noticeable on decent hardware.

When DTS-MA\TrueHD does get supported you will need a graphics card that can bitstream this audio, your choice is quite limited, the nVidia GT430 is the best bet for that at the moment, although this card isn't available in a low form factor single slow fanless model which is a pain in the arse, they are also *relatively* noisy. In that in a low power system, the thing you will hear over everthing else is slightly higher pitched noise from the fan on one of these cards. They are very good though and you shouldn't experience any dropped frames etc. They are also good for de-interlacing, wheras the GT520 is next to useless.

It's still not a good idea to go with ANYTHING ATI for the graphics card\GPU side of things, regardless of progress made, it's still not ready for prime time due to issues at the hardware level in terms of outputting a proper matched frame rate to your source material, resulting in a regular stutter that will drive you bananas once you've "noticed" it.

The powering on from complete off is the least of your worries to be honest.

In terms of an ir receiver, any *genuine* "Microsoft Windows Media Center" receiver will serve you well, you can pick up cheap ones on ebay made by HP for less than £8\$10. There's still a fair amount of messing around to get it to work correctly and be able to map all buttons that the remote coupled with that receiver would offer but it's doable

Your best bet is to take it one step at a time, so something like getting the remote working should be last on your list once you've got everything else working as setting up the remote to work correctly with XBMC is a "project" in itself.

Any harmony remote will work with XBMC, they all work the same way by emulating another remote, and they all emulate the same database of remotes so that's not a problem.

...Have just checked out the AMD A6-3500, it's completely overpowered in the CPU and therefore noise department as it has a 65w tdp if you are only using this for XBMC.

...Just my views, I'm not a developer by any means and could be wrong outdated on the ATI issue with regardes to the onboard GPU on that processor, maybe that has been fixed, don't think so though.

[bluray]

When DTS-MA\TrueHD does get supported you will need a graphics card that can bitstream this audio, your choice is quite limited, the nVidia GT430 is the best bet for that at the moment, although this card isn't available in a low form factor single slow fanless model which is a pain in the arse,

AMD A6-3500 with HD6530D iGPU is equipped to playback BD file in full 1080P video and bitstreaming DTS-HD/TrueHD audio. This is the easiest way to achieve it- Another External Player Code, but Very Simple to Setup. MPC-HC is excellent choice for a freeware to achieve bitstreaming with XBMC. You still can enjoy XBMC front-end with smooth/fluent playback of MPC-HC.

[bluray]

the nVidia GT430 is the best bet for that at the moment, although this card isn't available in a low form factor single slow fanless model which is a pain in the arse, they are also *relatively* noisy.

Nvidia GT430 is not recommended for XBMC with Windows 7, because it has issue with macroblocking. I'm getting rid of it, and I'll replace it with AMD HD6450 or HD6570.