HTPC Plan - Cutting the Cord - Looking for hardware advice

[Dulanic]

So I have finally decided to take the plunge now and cut the cord. My rates are jumping again for TV and my calculations show it will take me about a year to recoup the investment for the HTPC. I am looking for any critque on my planned build. I want to do it as cheaply as possible but be able to record at least 2 OTA shows at any time. I am ~15-20 miles from the OTA broadcasts.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Auz3ZvnCuqm4dHNZMEZZc0xkT1g2MlFFUDhwV042cGc

This doesn't take into account the extra $10 DTV will rise again in 12 months.

 

[wirednuts]

that early term fee sucks, i would try to get out of that.

and i think this Llano chip would better suit your needs, but i could be wrong- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103957

maybe with this board- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131768

 

[Dulanic]

that early term fee sucks, i would try to get out of that.

and i think this Llano chip would better suit your needs, but i could be wrong- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103957

maybe with this board- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131768

I thought about it, but I don't think I am going to see much difference really am I? And that is an extra $30 between the MB & CPU. As for the early term... well I doubt I am going to get out, DirecTV rarely drops it from my understanding. I am thinking it will be $220 when I cancel I think. I believe it is $20 per month remaining and I am 1 year 1 month in.

 

[velillen]

First off.....thats 150 for 2 2TB WD green drives i hope. If you are paying that much for 1.....dont.

Second...no OS? Just a reminder you will need one.

Third...Remote? mini keyboard for setup/browsing/editting things?

Fourth...Your CPU choices is a 95W version. i'd try for something less power hungry personally.

Fifth...maybe go for something like the hdhomerun over a dedicated HTPC tuner. The homerun would let you still get OTA but also be able to network it to other computers if you needed/want it. More just a different option to consider.

it seems like the PSU in the case you picked likes to die. Just reading from reviews at least. Maybe look for another case and buy a good PSU (like corsair CX430) that has a good warrenty/return process.



here is what i went with for my latest "living room" HTPC (the old living room htpc is now the bedroom HTPC)

M/B ASRock H67M-ITX LGA 1155 - $87
CPU Intel Core i3-2100T Sandy Bridge (35W) - $135
ramG.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) -$32
Case Rosewill RS-MI-01 BK Mini ITX Tower/ Desktop Computer Case with 250W 20+4Pin & 1SATA Connectors Power Supply -$50
remote Rosewill WMC Remote control/Rcvr RRC-127 for Win 7 $25
OS Windows 7 home premium - 100 (was in a crunch need it asap)
Remote/keyboard wise i got a Leveno little keyboard for like 40 bucks. Works decent enough.

Right there is $469. +100 for a tuner of sorts raises it to 570. Then you just need the hard drives. I do highly recommend a SSD. Any will do. I have a Kingston that works great. In the bedroom htpc i tried a regular HDD and man it was noticeably slower all around and was louder by a ton. A 64GB is plenty for just being an HTPC. Watch the FS/hot deals thread and you can score a 64gb one for ~80 bucks. Even if it is ~150 more than you had for you setup, thats only 2 months of your DTV service is how i look at it.

Anyways hope that helps and is food for thought. not saying you need to go with the intel or anything just kind of throwing ideas out there.

 

[DaveSimmons]

FYI, SilentPCReview tested the i3-2100T vs. the regular 2100 and the real world power use difference was only 1-2 watts, so you could save a little by going with the plain i3-2100.

 

[Dulanic]

For the hard drives, $150 was just the number I did with a quick newegg check. Both Amazon and newegg want $150 for those drives. I will likely wait until black friday for a good hard drive deal.

I don't really care about "speed" per say and I want it to be a DVR to store shows so I can't live off just 64GB as I want these to be a DVR. Same with speed, as long as I can store shows and stream video I am happy. I trying to mimic having my dtv dvr for the most part and adding more streaming so I want more HD space to store the shows.

OS is also taken care of, I get extreme discounts for MS products through my work. Also, going the route you specify would involve me having to get a video card no? I have a extra keyboard/mouse combo and the tuner comes /w a remote also.

I guess just don't see the value in upgrading the things mentioned for what my goal is overall. I may look at the 35W Intel options that are cheaper and MB options that fit my needs however. I've looked a bit at this which is much cheaper but should still be enough for what I need/want to do.... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116401

I made some changes after some of the posts and changed it up to itx but still /w AMD to keep it cheaper. The case made up for the MB/CPU difference.

Thanks for your feedback.

 

[Dulanic]

I do have one other question... what is the best way to playback shows recorded on the HTPC in windows media center to another TV? What devices can it playback to? I believe it could playback on a xbox 360, what are other choices?

 

[wirednuts]

just use another media center pc, and have the library sync to the network folder that your htpc records to

 

[Dulanic]

just use another media center pc, and have the library sync to the network folder that your htpc records to

Not a real option for me, I imagine there has to be another cheaper way.

 

[wirednuts]

im pretty sure old xbox1's hacked to run xbmc can do it...

i dont know why they dont make more media center extenders though... its a real shame

 

[s44]

I do have one other question... what is the best way to playback shows recorded on the HTPC in windows media center to another TV? What devices can it playback to? I believe it could playback on a xbox 360, what are other choices?

If it's not encrypted -- and it's not, because it's just OTA -- you can stream it to most DLNA targets (WDTV, most Blu-Ray players, some TVs) with Serviio or Mezzmo. This may need a bit more grunt than an A4 really has though.

You only need official extenders for Cablecard-recorded stuff.

 

[Dulanic]

If it's not encrypted -- and it's not, because it's just OTA -- you can stream it to most DLNA targets (WDTV, most Blu-Ray players, some TVs) with Serviio or Mezzmo. This may need a bit more grunt than an A4 really has though.

You only need official extenders for Cablecard-recorded stuff.

So I could move my PS3 up there and just insall Serviio on the HTPC? Sounds pretty simple overall... I am new to this stuff overall. The WDTV doesn't even need Serviio does it? I read that WDTV could work with Win 7 stuff at least if i am understanding it right?

http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/07/wd-tv-live-hd-gets-play-to-functionality-full-windows-7-compl/

 

[s44]

Well, the WDTV needs *something* to feed it the files, though even a network share on your box might work. Win7 has a DLNA server built into WMP12, but, uh, it doesn't have too many advanced setup options. That's why i suggest a third-party one.

That's for the file serving. There's also the transcoding, of course, since I believe only some Samsung devices play wtv natively. Again, the Play To function in the WMP12 DLNA server will transcode, but so will Mezzmo (out of the box) or Serviio (may take some hacking, haven't tried it).

WMP12 does work, though, and is already there, so maybe you might stick to that. It does require controlling from the PC and not the target, though.

 

[velillen]

FYI, SilentPCReview tested the i3-2100T vs. the regular 2100 and the real world power use difference was only 1-2 watts, so you could save a little by going with the plain i3-2100.

idle usage was 1-2W. Real world usage was more 5-7W. Load was something like 12W. Not a huge difference either way since the 2100T loses ~15% power compared to the stock 2100. Then nice thing is the heatsink with the 2100T is low profile. Works a ton better with the mini-itx case i picked. Top of the stock 2100 actually rubs the psu in that case vs having ~quarter-half inch clearance with the low profile.

For the hard drives, $150 was just the number I did with a quick newegg check. Both Amazon and newegg want $150 for those drives. I will likely wait until black friday for a good hard drive deal.

I highly recommend NOT buying one of those drives at that price. I havent paid over $75 bucks (shipped mind you) for any of my 2tb Samung F4 green drives. prices right now are just high due to flooding in Asia.

in fact at the moment Bestbuy has a Seagate 2tb drive for 75 bucks (reg 90 bucks). Not my top choice as i love my Samsung F4's but i'd still go for that seagate if i had to (had seagates previously with no issues).

I don't really care about "speed" per say and I want it to be a DVR to store shows so I can't live off just 64GB as I want these to be a DVR. Same with speed, as long as I can store shows and stream video I am happy. I trying to mimic having my dtv dvr for the most part and adding more streaming so I want more HD space to store the shows.

Sorry i meant you get a 64GB SSD for the OS and programs and then have a 2TB drive for storage. For both you'd still be looking at ~150 bucks. but its personal choice. Having one htpc with an ssd i just couldnt stand my htpc that had a regular HDD in it. The speed difference was just to noticeable for me.



Rest looks good. The llano is a nice choice. biggest issue is the case is MINI-ITX. The mobo you have selected is MICRO ATX. So it wont fit in that case. And that case is small so you basically have room for 1hdd and a disk drive and nothing else. Even then its crammed. Just a heads up.

 

[Cheesetogo]

For the hard drives, $150 was just the number I did with a quick newegg check. Both Amazon and newegg want $150 for those drives. I will likely wait until black friday for a good hard drive deal.


SNIP


Thanks for your feedback.

There are plenty of 2TB hard drives (I would suggest the Samsung F4EG) that can be had for close to half that price. Buy 2 and use one for backup.

 

[Dulanic]

Rest looks good. The llano is a nice choice. biggest issue is the case is MINI-ITX. The mobo you have selected is MICRO ATX. So it wont fit in that case. And that case is small so you basically have room for 1hdd and a disk drive and nothing else. Even then its crammed. Just a heads up.

You caught me in middle of changing things I swapped case and MB.

 

[velillen]

You caught me in middle of changing things I swapped case and MB.

Ah lol. if you go with that Thermaltake case i'd go ahead and switch back to a normal PSU over using a micro psu. Im not familiar with that brand (diablotek) but the case should fit a normal psu. just grab a low power one. like a Corsair CX430 ($35 bucks after rebate) or a Antec NEO ECO 400C 400W ($50 bucks). i know if it was me i'd feel a bit safe with a name brand, 80+ certified PSU personally.


One thing is that board is 6 channel audio. I know nothing about the audio choices as all my mobo's are 8 channel and i bitstream. So does that mean you can only bitstream the 6 channels too? if so lacks a bit there. but not a big deal unless you have a 8 channel setup

Eitherway it still looks like a nice budget htpc!

 

[Binky]

I do have one other question... what is the best way to playback shows recorded on the HTPC in windows media center to another TV? What devices can it playback to? I believe it could playback on a xbox 360, what are other choices?

Xbox360 or one of the now defunct media center extenders like the dma2100 or dma2200 by Linksys. Dlink made one (750something) and HP made one but they would be harder to find.

 

[Dulanic]

Xbox360 or one of the now defunct media center extenders like the dma2100 or dma2200 by Linksys. Dlink made one (750something) and HP made one but they would be harder to find.

That is the plan I think I won't complain about a 2nd xbox 360... the wife might lol.

 

[mcturkey]

There are plenty of 2TB hard drives (I would suggest the Samsung F4EG) that can be had for close to half that price. Buy 2 and use one for backup.

If you can find a 2TB drive for under $100, and think you'll need it anytime in the next 6 months, BUY IT NOW. There will not be black Friday deals on hard drives that bring them anywhere close to what prices were two weeks ago. A quick perusal of Google shopping for "2tb hard drive" shows plenty under $100, but either they are out of stock, or the price is no longer accurate.

 

[Dulanic]

Well I guess it is time to "loan" a hard drive from my WHS for now. Prices keep skyrocketing for hard drives. I hate the stupid ass speculation and gouging that is going on.

 

[bobdole369]

The PS3 will handle connecting to and playing stuff that is served up by a DLNA server device.

Mythbuntu (MythTV for Ubuntu) does this for certain, as did TVersity (for windows), and I'm assuming the other packages mentioned in this thread behave similarly. Essentially on the PS3 you will see the shares that are served up by WMP or the other services. Your client device will need to be able to play those streams. If you are recording OTA HD channels with a straight digital tuner card - the MPEG-2 stream should just be written to disk. I could play them directly and I did not need any transcoding of recorded files when using either tversity or mythbuntu. I can't speak for the rest.

http://neogaf.net/forum/showthread.php?t=158357

An old thread I have bookmarked thats definitely out of date. Google is your friend.


Noting that you'll need to browse to netflix and hulu (from what I understand about WMC I haven't used it in quite a while, so the Netflix and Hulu might be integrated by now). My Wife-Acceptance-Factor did not allow this as I didn't have a wireless mouse and keyboard. You might, I don't see any purchase noted for one. She found it unacceptable to go crouch by the TV to browse to a movie on Netflix. (The fix for me was when she bought an MBP - and stopped using Netflix on the TV. This allowed me to move to Mythbuntu, which does not have a Netflix client and Hulu integration is piss-poor (it browses to the site and logs in for you))

 

[Gonad the Barbarian]

DTV and Fox are having a dispute. It looks like several Fox networks are going to be dropped tomorrow. If you have any shot at getting out of your ETF it will probably be during this dispute.

 

[Nebor]

I really don't think an HTPC is practical these days. Unless recording live TV OTA is an absolute requirement, I think you'd be much better off with a WDTV Live that can play Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Vudu HD and play DVD & Blu-ray ISOs off your WHS. All of that for $99. Hard to beat.

I'm a pretty die hard HTPC enthusiast, but they're not really worth it anymore.

 

[Dulanic]

I really don't think an HTPC is practical these days. Unless recording live TV OTA is an absolute requirement, I think you'd be much better off with a WDTV Live that can play Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Vudu HD and play DVD & Blu-ray ISOs off your WHS. All of that for $99. Hard to beat.

I'm a pretty die hard HTPC enthusiast, but they're not really worth it anymore.

OTA is a must for wife agreement.