Want to build:DVD Box/HTPC

[Turin39789]

My fiancee emailed my yesterday at work to suggest that we build a computer we can hook up to our TV to store our DVD's on permanently so that we can get the Discs and cases etc out of the living room.

So I'm building an HTPC, but we don't have cable, just OTA antenna, so I'm basically concerned with getting something small and cheap that can hold some big hard drives and will connect up to the tv easily.

I thought about just getting a small storage box for the movies and building an even simpler HTPC box to stream the dvds across the network, but the HTPC will be connecting to the network wirelessly, and our router kinda sucks.

So any suggestions on what my min hardware is going to be? I imagine it will be a little cheaper than most HTPC's because I'm not really concerned with being able to use it as a tivo/mthtv, although if the price difference is small I suppose I Could go all the way.

 

[jpeyton]

Adding TiVo-like capabilities is simply a matter of installing a tuner card and software; something you can do at any time.

DVDs are 480p, so any basic modern CPU will be able to decode it without a problem. But if you want to future proof your HTPC for high-definition, get at least a Core 2 based dual-core CPU. Something like the low-end Pentium Dual-Core or Core 2 4xxx series will be more than enough.

If you don't plan on gaming on your HTPC, a good integrated motherboard will simplify construction. Pick one with integrated GeForce video and HDMI output to future-proof it (although you can get away with DVI output by using an adapter).

Vista Home Premium with Media Center is pretty robust; it would be a good choice if you wanted an all-in-one OS/HTPC software solution.

The most important thing is obviously storage, and the question of networked vs. local storage of content depends on your usage. Do you plan on having other computers connected to and using a networked storage box? If not, it would simplify things by having your content stored locally on your HTPC. Other factors to consider are size: are you planning on housing your HTPC in a SFF case? Smaller HTPC cases might not have room for more than 1 or 2 hard drives, and HTPCs can fill up with content fast. Storing my entire collection would require about 3TB, and that is a little too much to be stored locally, so having a networked media server with plenty of rooms for hard drives works better for me.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

what kind of hdd will u be getting to store all ur dvd's and how many dvd's do u have to store?