Non Hardware and Extra Items
Operating System
For the operating system of your Media PC you will go with what you prefer. If you don’t feel like buying a copy of Windows 7 there are a few free Linux options if you have any knowledge of Linux that you can use such as LinuxMCE. For that reason I went and made my machine a Kubuntu box. With the ALL-IN-WONDER card I wouldn’t suggest a Linux based OS as it was a bit difficult to get setup and working properly. What you’re looking for in the OS is a media package to use to play the movies or your TV stream. If you got the ALL-IN-WONDER card you got software with that to do all of the above if you didn’t and got another card that didn’t come with media there are few free options such as VLC Viewer or XMBC. Both work well in all of my dealings with them.
Remote Control
Now that you got the basic box up and running you may want to look at making your interaction with it more realistic to watching your TV then playing on the PC and that is where PC remotes come into play. You will still need the ability to use the keyboard and mouse so I would suggest you get a wireless setup for, they will be easy to store and usable from anywhere in the room given the signal reaches the keyboard and mouse. You will need a remote that is supported for you OS and able to control all your other media equipment and have all the functionality that they have to completely integrate your entire media setup. Logitech makes the Harmony which is a great remote that can do this. But if you aren’t willing to spend the big bucks for that remote there are several other options to go just look for a good Media PC remote and then start saving for that all in one remote.
Conclusion
Depending on what all you got and how high up the product lists you went for on any of the items, you could have easily gotten a Media PC that is equivalent to and better than any DVR, Media Player, or gaming Platform out there. Know I am not talking on process performance because you can’t compare a Media PC to say a XBOX 360 or PS3 without forking out some serious cash, but in functionality of the device versus said platforms. You have the ability to have all of the platforms in one system. Where with the others you’re going to have multiply device to achieve what you will and do have with your Media PC. For those that look at cash value. Say you have just a DVR and a gaming system you could easily just spent 400+ dollars for about that same price maybe or just little more you could have both those systems in one device. In my opinion you can’t go wrong with a Home Theater PC, your limited to just what you can think of what you want to do with it, unlike the others were they have a set task and won’t deviate from it.
home theathers with 5.1 system sounds really great specially if you add those 12 inch subwoofers `;:
I just finished putting together my first Home Theater PC. I used an MSI Diva Live 5.1 Mobo with the amplifier card with 2GB of DDR2, and a low voltage Athlon X2. Threw in an HD 5570 for encoding purposes using DVDfab and 3TB of storage. It drives my Bose 5.1 bose cubes and bass unit and sounds as good as my old Yamaha.
Yes the Bose is one of the better audio setups out there. I have some HTPC setups with just the 3 speaker setup sound better than guys running 5 and 7 speaker kits. It was actually a direction i was looking at going myself and was just talking with a few Techwarelabs writer about it today.
The article provides no useful information, and the grammar is atrocious.
“Depended” doesn’t work that way.
Thank you for the feedback on the spelling mistake, we are not perfect and do make mistakes. As for the guide, as I mentioned above, the guide is intended for a beginner and to demonstrate the through process behind component selection. Perhaps your skill level makes this guide less useful to you but I’m sure it is much more useful to someone who has not built a media center PC/ HTPC before.
I really am sorry that you didn’t like or find my article useful. It was purposely written for a user just starting to get into the Home Theater area of PC’s and not for someone that has moderate to above average knowledge. As for the grammar errors well those mistakes are all mine. I should have done a better job at spelling and grammatical checking before submitting the article. I will work on that. Thank you for you replies they do help me out positive or negative.
This is bar none the WORST media pc building guide I have ever read.
This is a basic guide and not intended to take you through every step necessary to create a media center PC. Instead the intent is to show you what components are necessary and demonstrate some through process behind the building and selection of components. Stay tuned to us for a thorough guide to this process in the future.