how many of you guys have a HTPC? is it not the best thing ever?

[Fayd]

you need to get a nice 5.1 setup and a big hd secondary display and you'd be set

I have an onkyo 5.1 and a 28" LCD primary monitor.

does that count?

 

[zinfamous]

Computer and TV are close, so I just run a video cable to it and have the TV set up as a second monitor.

edit: As far as QAM channels go, there's no way they're scrambled, pretty sure that would be against the law. You should be able to pick up digital channels with a QAM tuner. Don't listen to whatever the CS rep on the phone tells you, it's not uncommon for them to lie to try and sell you a cable box and other services.

ummmm, no. cable companies definitely BLOCK QAM signals. this is known in just about every market. unless you've tested it yourself, you may not know it.

from my experience, it's just a few of the HD channels--meaning the ones that people want: ESPN, National Geographic, Comedy, etc. the networks are usually open, but most cable providers, as far as I understand, maintain the right to block whichever free HD content they wish to block.

 

[zinfamous]

I have an onkyo 5.1 and a 28" LCD primary monitor.

does that count?

"Big" > 42"

 

[The Boston Dangler]

mixed results with my new hauppage 2250. the hardware and driver seem ok, but wintv7 is completely crapware. i'm going to look into gb-pvr but at first glance it seems bewildering.

 

[fatpat268]

mixed results with my new hauppage 2250. the hardware and driver seem ok, but wintv7 is completely crapware. i'm going to look into gb-pvr but at first glance it seems bewildering.

Depending on your OS, you may have windows media center installed. Check that out first before you go and try new software.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

Depending on your OS, you may have windows media center installed. Check that out first before you go and try new software.

i installed win 7 home prem 64 today (20 minutes!). vista media center worked ok, but i refuse to use windows media player.

 

[Jinny]

running xbmc with aeon skin and controlling it w/ xbmc remote on my ipod touch

 

[secretanchitman]

mine is awesome - plays anything i throw at it (older games, hd stuff):

intel xeon 3060 (c2d e6600) 2.4Ghz @ 3.6Ghz
g.skill 2x2GB ddr2-800 ram
asus p5w dh deluxe mobo (came with wireless too!)
evga geforce 8800GTS 320MB
silverstone LC-17 case (rackmounted)
enermax 500w psu
lg ggc-h20l blu-ray burner/hd-dvd reader
hauppauge hdtv card (forgot what model it is)
500GB, 1TB, 1.5TB seagate 7200rpm hard drives

 

[Jeff7]

I'd like to build one for my parents - they're still shuffling through tapes and regularly struggle to figure out the VCR programming, even though they record quite a few shows.

Problems:
1) I've been out of the computer hardware arena pretty much since I went back to college about 4 years ago. No money available = no upgrades = no need to spend time keeping up on hardware.
2) HD/Digital/whatever the hell...I don't know a thing about any of this. I don't know what hardware's required, cabling, or even what questions to ask. I doubt my parents have much need for HD; their TV is probably 24" or so, and we've got a family history of poor vision. And they've got no plans to get a new TV until theirs stops working. So, I'm just not sure how to go about doing this.
3) I live ~350 miles from them, so I can't pop in to do tech support constantly, and troubleshooting over the phone has been shown to cause brain cancer and sucidal tendencies.

For myself, I do pretty much everything through computer. It still has a TV tuner in it, though I ditched cable TV several months ago. I think it's a Hauppauge 150 card, and I used it with SageTV. It's got a 22" widescreen monitor, which is adequate for a movie or something up-close. I usually like to be doing something else while a movie or TV show is on though, so I'm going to be reasonably close to the monitor anyway. I've never had a standalone TV of my own.