[Tilted]

Hi guys,

I'm putting together an HTPC for my mom this summer, and it needs to be able to play 1080p video well. No gaming needed really.

How are these components?
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/Public...r=12901566

The Motherboard has onboard graphics, but I'm not sure if it's sufficient for HD video. Also, I know nothing about HDMI cables and the like. I build PCs all the time , but know nothing about HDTV outside of the mkv's I download. Shouldn't the HTPC work by plugging the PC into the monitor port in the back of the TV, or do I need that HDMI stuff? I think there are some mobos that come with the HDMI stuff ready, but I don't really know good from bad.


Also, can someone recommend a good keyboard/mouse for a living room? I checked out a few Logitech reviews on Newegg, and the response seems to be terrible after 6 feet. I need something that can work on the couch, about 8 feet away from the TV.

Thanks in advance.

[gabbott]

What inputs does your mom's TV have? That would dictate how you are going to interface the HTPC with the TV. If her TV has HDMI, then that would be a good route as HDMI can carry both video and audio (and I'm assuming you are just going to use the TV for sound)

If you do go HDMI and are in the states, get your HDMI cable from a place like monoprice.com as it'll be much cheaper and same quality as the heavily marked up prices at local retail.

My recommendation is look for an ION platform board, you'll be able to play HD without issue then using VPDAU and the boards are small and use low power.

You could also look into an Acer Revo which could potentially do what you need and isnt too pricey.

[Tilted]

Thanks for the quick response. She may want additional speakers with a nice subwoofer. I'll ask her.

Newegg has this ION platform
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6813500028

Seems to come with it's own CPU, video card, and PSU. Are they any good? 90w seems a bit low for a modern PC.

[gabbott]

Thanks for the quick response. She may want additional speakers with a nice subwoofer. I'll ask her.

Newegg has this ION platform
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6813500028

Seems to come with it's own CPU, video card, and PSU. Are they any good? 90w seems a bit low for a modern PC.

That could work, the ION platform doesn't need alot of power, another reason they are perfect for this kind of task, and they have CPU and video integrated. My boxes use about 45-50W at full bore.

Edit:
Also the revo I was talking about, if you want something prebuilt and do 1080p fine, just install xbmc live onto it:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...-_-Product

oh, with the Revo, there is no optical drive, so if you go that route and need to play optical media on it, it would have to be an external drive

[Tilted]

That revo looks pretty cool, especially for the price. I would get that for a kid or something.

My mom deserves 4GB ram and two SATA drives though, she gave birth to me.

Plus, if something breaks, I can fix the part and not replace the whole thing. It's another thing that has me weary of an all-in-one motherboard, but that ION does look really good.

[gabbott]

That revo looks pretty cool, especially for the price. I would get that for a kid or something.

My mom deserves 4GB ram and two SATA drives though, she gave birth to me.

Plus, if something breaks, I can fix the part and not replace the whole thing. It's another thing that has me weary of an all-in-one motherboard, but that ION does look really good.

I only recommend it as something I have personally used.
I have 2 of them feeding a 50" 1080p DLP set and a 42" 1080p lcd set. They stream from a 6TB RAID server in the basement. You can add an additional 1 gig of ram to them though not completely necessary. They are pretty popular on the forums so just saying they are far from a toy.

4GB would be complete overkill for a HTPC, 2GB at most would be needed. The zotac ION boards are pretty popular here too. If it is for your mom I'm assuming you want this more of an applicance and not necessarily a full bore PC. That is why the ION platform is ideal and a very popular choice here in the forums.

Also, I'd look into getting the box setup with a remote as opposed to keyboard/mouse.

[Tilted]

so you basically hook up the revo to your TV, network it to another PC for storage, and use XBMC to stream from the network?

[Tilted]

Also, I'd look into getting the box setup with a remote as opposed to keyboard/mouse.

I did, but I browsed the forum and saw all kinds of problems with remotes. I just assumed keyboard/mouse would be better, if not easier.

[gabbott]

so you basically hook up the revo to your TV, network it to another PC for storage, and use XBMC to stream from the network?

Yup, exactly. It is tucked away behind the TVs with just the USB remote receiver in view and I have full access to my music and movie library on those sets.

[gabbott]

I did, but I browsed the forum and saw all kinds of problems with remotes. I just assumed keyboard/mouse would be better, if not easier.

It is not that bad, once you have a setup that works, shouldn't have any issues. Remember, people usually only post when they have a problem. If you get a usb remote receiver that works, with xbmc live/linux version, it isnt too difficult to then setup any remote you want to work.


Edit: when I get back a little later I can post the USB receiver that I use that works very well for me. I buy the remote receiver separate and then pick out the remote I like to use.

[Tilted]

Thanks, I'd appreciate that.

And would it be difficult to network a linux revo with a Windows XP/7 network? I don't know much about Linux, but i know my mom won't want to deal with a new OS.

[sraue]

Hi guys,

...

How are these components?
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/Public...r=12901566

The Motherboard has onboard graphics, but I'm not sure if it's sufficient for HD video.

i would prefer this board:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6813128396

because, if you want run linux, the intel drivers are more stable as the ATI OSS drivers and the HDMI implementation is sometimes a bit tricky with other chipset or drivers then intel (esp. HDMI Audio). With your CPU it is possible to run HD Video with this CPU (and you can also use VAAPI support). I have an board with Intelgraphics here and all is running fast and smooth (also without VAAPI). My system with my own small distribution (http://www.openelec.tv) boots in around 10sec. to XMBC on an normal HDD and needs much less CPU/MEM as an other OS. If you will give it a try you can download an "nighly snapshot" from http://snapshots.openelec.tv.

[poofyhairguy]

Thanks, I'd appreciate that.

And would it be difficult to network a linux revo with a Windows XP/7 network? I don't know much about Linux, but i know my mom won't want to deal with a new OS.

Yeah, a Windows XP box can steam media to a Linux ION box, no problem...

[gabbott]

Thanks, I'd appreciate that.

And would it be difficult to network a linux revo with a Windows XP/7 network? I don't know much about Linux, but i know my mom won't want to deal with a new OS.

The beauty of xbmc live is it installs a stripped down ubuntu install with xbmc on top of it so when it boots up it goes right into xbmc, she would never see or need to know or deal with the underlying OS.

I have mine setup so you can put them into sleep mode from the power button on the remote and also use the remote to wake them from sleep (which takes less than 5 seconds to be in a usable state).

[gabbott]

This is the remote usb receiver I use is a phillips OVU4003-00, isnt available from amazon but this gives you a picture of it:

http://www.amazon.com/Philips-OVU4003-00...B001EUE2W2

You can find it around for usually about $5-$15, people sell them on ebay and usually comes with a remote as pictured above, though the remote is pretty cheap, but you can use another remote.

I've ordered a few of them from here:

http://www.used-pcs.com/ProductCart/pc/v...30#details

from that place it doesnt come with a remote but for my purposes I didnt need the remote.