HTPC Help

[phillyman36]

Ok i brought a new tower case for my pc and had this left extra equipment left over.


Antec P182
Asus p5k
Core 2 Duo E6600 w zalman hsf
Corsair 620 psu
wd 250

All i need to get to make a complete pc is ram, video card(sound card i was just going to use onboard sound )

I want to make a htpc for my mom. i have a window xp disk i dont use so my question is

Can i use windows xp home edition as the media center software or do i have to buy another copy of vista

i want here to be able to use a remote and turn on and off the pc, and watch movies from the hard drive. She may use it to surf the internet once in a while but i will be more of a movie box

1) is xp ok or what software do i need
2) what remote can i get for her to use

Thanks for any help. Ive been doing some searching but most results are for vista built in media center

ps she wont be using it to watch cable/on air tv just movies i put on it

 

[sivart]

Do you have a copy of Windows XP media center? Regular Windows XP doesn't come native with a version of media center (although there are third party applications).

If your mom isn't above average with computer skills, an HTPC may be more of a frustration than an asset.

I saw a few Vista media center remotes in the store today (under $40), not sure if they would work with MCE 2005 (XP)

The WD box with an external hard drive may be a more viable option for just watching videos.

 

[phillyman36]

Thanks for the reply i have the regular xp home edition She has very limited pc skills she can turn it on and off and get to the web and open apps. Im starting to look at stuff like imedian hd by imon but it seems vista may be the way to go

 

[tracerbullet]

If she's not good with PC's then I'd go with something like the Vista or older XP MCE edition. I have MCE on my HTPC and I really like it, especially with the remote, I can pretty much do everything with it. MCE is really self explanatory to learn the whole system overall.

Everything can be done through XP, but it would be a lot more work for her, knowing what programs to use and when, how each of them works differently with different interfaces, etc.

Even if you do go the MCE route, don't forget that it's still a PC, and there will still be things like antivirus and service pack updates, etc. and that she'll have to gain some knowledge to be able to function with any kind of HTPC at all.

If I was doing something liek this with my parents, I'll be honest, I wouldn't go through with it. Buy them an off the shelf DVR and / or DVD player and be done with it. They could learn to use an HTPC but wouldn't ever actually go through the work to do so, it'd be a useless metal box for them.

 

[jtvang125]

XP pro and home does not have any media center capabilities builtin but you can install 3rd party programs for that. I've only used the media center builtin to vista so I can't say about the ease of use and maintenance of these other programs. So if you're going to be purchasing a new OS, I highly recommend you go with Vista Home Prem. It's a lot better than XP MCE.

You can buy a MS MCE remote that will allow you to turn off the htpc but since the remote's receiver is usb powered you won't be able to turn the htpc on through the remote. However in my case the htpc case I bought has a power adapter that taps into the main power for the motherboard for the remote's receiver. This allows me to turn the htpc on with the remote.

One last thing, you can actually set it to have the pc boot right into VMC and navigate within with the remote. To do anything in Windows you'll need a kb/mouse.