I recently built a HTPC for the gameroom (AKA my 13 year old daughter's room). The general idea was to replace the DirecTV PVR and DVD player with the HTPC and a basic DirecTV STB. I've done that, but it's not an 'apples to apples' swap and it doesn't appear to be nearly as user friendly.
First issue - the picture quality is not so great. Even though the 32" Viewsonic has a VGA connection, I have to use the component connection because the AIW video card will not allow a VGA connection when using the DVI for the smaller monitor. Running the picture from the STB thru the AIW card back to the TV seems to loose a lot of resolution. Is there a fix for this? Do I need to buy a separate high end video card and a separate TV capture card? I run dual monitors with a Quadro FX 540 video card at work for 3D modeling and there are no issues whatsoever I had hoped the same would be true for my HTPC.
Second issue - There is a volume 'glitch'. My daughter has said that there have been times when she tries to watch something and there is no sound - even after shutting it down. I don't have any idea what is causing this - I'm thinking it's related to the third issue...
Third issue - it's sluggish, it just doesn't respond the way I would expect a computer with high end components to respond. Starting media center takes a lot longer than I would expect. I'm not talking about boot up, that doesn't usually take long at all. I'm talking about starting the Windows Media Center utility. Once it is started, if I don't have the screen maximized and I try to drag it, the picture might disappear and the screen might lock up. I recently replaced the RAM with the CORSAIR but that hasn't resolved the issue either. Any ideas?
Fourth issue - sometimes the remote does not send the correct signal. Sometimes it will send 2 of the 3 numbers to the STB even though on screen it shows all 3 numbers. Any ideas? Should I just go with DirecTV serial connection available on line? Eventually I want to tweak it a little so that I can use a universal remote so I don't have to jack with the Microsoft MC remote.
Am I expecting too much? I built it myself because I figured I'd be better off being able to pick my own components - even though it would cost more than a preconfigured system from say Dell. I learned my lesson on a couple of components (hard drive and power supply), but in general, I bought decent components with good reviews.
HTPC
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
Ultra
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+
GIGABYTE GA-M55SLI-S4 Socket AM2
CORSAIR DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) 240-Pin 2GB (2x1GB) TWIN2X2048-6400C4
MAXTOR 250
DUAL LIGHTSCRIBE DVD R/RW DRIVES
ONBOARD SOUND
ATI Radeon X1900 ALL IN WONDER PCI-E
ONBOARD LAN
HANNS-G HU196D
VIEWSONIC 32" LCD
First issue - the picture quality is not so great. Even though the 32" Viewsonic has a VGA connection, I have to use the component connection because the AIW video card will not allow a VGA connection when using the DVI for the smaller monitor. Running the picture from the STB thru the AIW card back to the TV seems to loose a lot of resolution. Is there a fix for this? Do I need to buy a separate high end video card and a separate TV capture card? I run dual monitors with a Quadro FX 540 video card at work for 3D modeling and there are no issues whatsoever I had hoped the same would be true for my HTPC.
Second issue - There is a volume 'glitch'. My daughter has said that there have been times when she tries to watch something and there is no sound - even after shutting it down. I don't have any idea what is causing this - I'm thinking it's related to the third issue...
Third issue - it's sluggish, it just doesn't respond the way I would expect a computer with high end components to respond. Starting media center takes a lot longer than I would expect. I'm not talking about boot up, that doesn't usually take long at all. I'm talking about starting the Windows Media Center utility. Once it is started, if I don't have the screen maximized and I try to drag it, the picture might disappear and the screen might lock up. I recently replaced the RAM with the CORSAIR but that hasn't resolved the issue either. Any ideas?
Fourth issue - sometimes the remote does not send the correct signal. Sometimes it will send 2 of the 3 numbers to the STB even though on screen it shows all 3 numbers. Any ideas? Should I just go with DirecTV serial connection available on line? Eventually I want to tweak it a little so that I can use a universal remote so I don't have to jack with the Microsoft MC remote.
Am I expecting too much? I built it myself because I figured I'd be better off being able to pick my own components - even though it would cost more than a preconfigured system from say Dell. I learned my lesson on a couple of components (hard drive and power supply), but in general, I bought decent components with good reviews.
HTPC
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
Ultra
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+
GIGABYTE GA-M55SLI-S4 Socket AM2
CORSAIR DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) 240-Pin 2GB (2x1GB) TWIN2X2048-6400C4
MAXTOR 250
DUAL LIGHTSCRIBE DVD R/RW DRIVES
ONBOARD SOUND
ATI Radeon X1900 ALL IN WONDER PCI-E
ONBOARD LAN
HANNS-G HU196D
VIEWSONIC 32" LCD
