i had the pinnacle hd stick pro (i forget the exact model) and hated it...it didn't matter what what computer (new or old) i used it on - the quality was sub-par and it was constantly having issues with lag

in fact, the first one i had didn't support QAM...the second did, but wasn't any better in terms of quality

i ended up with the avermedia M780 (PCIe), which is low profile: http://www.aver.com/mpd/combopcie.html

2/11/2009 10:09:58 AM

Quote :

"i've been using vista home premium media center"

With tweaks & plugins.

2/11/2009 1:35:59 PM

i switch to media portal, never looking back

2/11/2009 6:42:51 PM

^yeah that's what we use. Have the cable box for tv, and media portal for networked media. Great interface and easy controls. Worked flawlessly with my incredibly old cyberlink remote.

2/11/2009 6:54:47 PM

So, I've been poking through the thread, but from what I can gather, there's no way to use Windows Media Center in Vista (I'm using Ultimate x64) to watch Clear QAM channels?

2/13/2009 8:41:41 AM

microsoft came out with a Media Center TV Pack a while ago that enables clear qam support

[Edited on February 13, 2009 at 11:01 AM. Reason : see http://thegreenbutton.com/forums/thread/281532.aspx]

2/13/2009 10:56:27 AM

For those that are using MCE and some sort of Extender, ie 360, how do you go about organizing 600GB of random mp3,avi,mkv?

3/25/2009 6:33:08 PM

Is there a Unix Based uPnP server that 360 will pick up on?

3/26/2009 11:31:18 AM

3/28/2009 2:11:56 AM

Need some advice here. I have a 9600gt in my htpc. Recently its been overheating. I checked the temps and it was idling over 100c. The fan had stopped working. I opened the case up and noticed the fan was acting all crazy. It would work fine for a while, then make a weird noise and slow down a lot.

Did the fan just go bad? Should i just go ahead and replace the whole heatsink assembly?

4/2/2009 5:26:12 PM

^ Replacing the heatsink assembly won't help you if the fan controller is bad.... unless you're going to passively cool or water cool the card. The fans are usually the problem.

4/2/2009 5:29:50 PM

^well the fan is part of the heatsink assembly. I didn't think i could just go buy a new fan for the custom heatsink assembly. So i would have to just replace the whole heatsink + fan. The fan controller is part of the heatsink isn't it?

4/2/2009 5:34:28 PM

^ The fan controller is on the card and it tells the fan how fast to spin based on the card's temps.

4/2/2009 6:07:06 PM

ah. well it seems like the fan is bad. i started it up after 5 minutes of having it off and it ran fine for like 20 seconds then wobbled and started going slow again. I can manually stop it, and it'll speed up again then wobble and be slow again.

[Edited on April 2, 2009 at 6:10 PM. Reason : .]

4/2/2009 6:10:09 PM

Ok fixed that problem. The fan bearing was bad.

Have another problem. We use mediaportal with my roommate's 42" Vizio. For some reason lately (didn't do this before), whenever we leave media portal up and switch to the component cable input or just turn the tv off, then try to get back to the HDMI1 input for the HTPC the TV doesn't recognize the signal coming from the HTPC even if we move mouse/keyboard and just displays the blue no input screen.

The ONLY way i can get the display to come up again is to either restart the computer OR remote into the HTPC using logmein and move the mouse. I'm assuming this re-sends a signal to the tv or something because of logmein's virtual video driver or something.

We've currently solved this problem by either exiting out of mediaportal before turning off/switching inputs, or simply remoting back into the HTPC with logmein.

Why would the TV lose the digital signal coming from the HTPC?

4/15/2009 11:58:49 PM

btt, anyone know what's happening?

We've been having to remote into the computer to get the tv to recognize the hdmi signal. really weird.

4/27/2009 2:01:35 AM

Media Portal + TV Series + Moving Pictures = omfg i am in love.

5/6/2009 12:56:33 AM

i'm developing for mp-tvseries if you want alpha test builds let me know - some major changes coming.

<3 moving pictures, too. i can't fully use it until filtering comes though (separate hd/dvd movies)

5/6/2009 9:20:30 AM

What tuner card do you use with MediaPortal? They recommend FloppyDTV but I'm guessing no one here uses that since you can't buy them on newegg.

5/7/2009 10:13:55 AM

^^sure man, I have a great mixture of p2p, usenet reposts, and scene rips.

^I just looked at that recommendation section and it's dated 2006

5/7/2009 8:05:22 PM

Anyone have a good setup for emulators on their HTPC ? I'm playing around with My Emulators plugin, but it looks like most of the actual emulators out (project64 excluded) won't determine which monitor to run fullscreen on.

Also, with mediaportal, do you guys use the internal player or some other such as KMPlayer?

5/11/2009 2:01:34 PM

i just need a streaming video/internet on the computer machine with hdmi video/optical out.

does not need to be able to play movies or use as a dvr, just internet.

what do i need that is decent/good quality and is under $500?

i need everything:

processor, board, memory, hd, case, video card, sound card, etc...

should i go with a out of the box solution, like a dell box with a upgraded vid and sound card?

5/11/2009 3:17:13 PM

great, now I get to deal with overscan issues using a DVI - HDMI cable with a 1366x768 resolution LCD.

5/11/2009 5:41:02 PM

^^ i bought a barebones shuttle minipc, 1.5tb HDD, 1gb mem, 1.6ghz amd proc for less than $400 a little less than a year ago and its been working great for my PS3-based home theatre setup, using NeroHome as the decoder

5/11/2009 5:50:57 PM

yeah all i need is a minipc sort of setup.

with a full size video card.

5/11/2009 8:06:48 PM

Quote :

"great, now I get to deal with overscan issues using a DVI - HDMI cable with a 1366x768 resolution LCD."

What type of video card? I'm pretty sure both nvidia and amd have drivers that support that resolution without having to overscan.

5/11/2009 8:08:48 PM

8800 GTS. The new forceware drivers for windows 7 do support custom resolutions and I've been able to set it at 1366x768. However, I still have about 5% overscan on all sides of the screen. I have been googling for the past couple of hours and cannot find any solution.

RGB D-Sub is fine, DVI-D to HDMI is jacked up. I can't find any service menu for the VX32L to enable 1:1 pixel mapping or disable overscan.

5/11/2009 11:15:43 PM

There was a check box in the nvidia control panel marked "Force HD mode" or some such. Unchecking this allowed the custom 1366x768 res with no overscan DVI -> HDMI.

Well, I suppose there's probably still overscan as I never found any evidence the VX32L did 1:1 pixel mapping, but at least the 8800 is compensating for it now. Makes me wish I had 1900x1080

5/13/2009 1:30:00 PM

Is anyone here thinking seriously about the nVidia Ion platform? I'm thinking of putting a HTPC in the bedroom. Nothing fancy, but at least needs to play DVDs and 720p video. I don't watch a lot of streaming internet video, so the fact that it's got an Atom processor probably isn't too big a deal, or is it?

5/13/2009 8:16:10 PM

HTC Willow shots -

http://viigo.im/zpu

5/13/2009 8:34:10 PM

Quote :

"HTC Willow shots - http://viigo.im/zpu"

this is an HTPC thread

5/13/2009 8:44:34 PM

Yeah, it doesn't even have an HDMI port.

5/13/2009 8:46:03 PM

Please help TWW, I know it's a lot of words, but you guys are the only ones I truly trust! Ok, I think I may have done something very stupid.

I just bought this card with the $30 MIR: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815116010

I am trying to set up a HTPC for my place in a few months. I wanted to buy something to DVR a few OTA HDTV shows and watch live TV. So I saw a slickdeal and bit on this card after doing admittedly little research. All I was really looking for was a card that works with W7.

Will this card allow me to record OTA HDTV and can I watch live TV using a HTPC? Will I need a moderately powerful CPU to do so?

Now, I also started to configure a HTPC on newegg and found this little gem in one of the comments: http://www.dell.com/us/en/home/desktops/desktop-inspiron-537s/pd.aspx?refid=desktop-inspiron-537s&s=dhs&cs=19&ref=dthp

It looks like I can configure it to have the following for $389:
PROCESSOR Intel® Pentium® dual-core E5200 (2MB L2, 2.5GHz, 800FSB)
OS Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition SP1, 64-Bit
MEMORY 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz- 2 DIMMs
HARD DRIVE 320GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™
OPTICAL DRIVE 16X DVD+/-RW Drive
VIDEO CARD Integrated Intel® GMA x4500 Graphics
MEDIA READER Dell 19 in 1 Media Card Reader
SOUND CARD Integrated 5.1 Channel Audio
Network Card Integrated 10/100 Ethernet

Would the above tuner card fit in there along with a HTPC-quality Sound card? I know that you can replace the videocard pretty easily. I'm not planning on buying it now, I was going to wait until I saw a really good coupon, or until they started including W7 vouchers.

Halp?

6/18/2009 8:23:24 PM

that's a decent tuner card just keep in mind one of the two tuners is NTSC (which doesn't work without a converter box now)

6/18/2009 8:27:01 PM

Alrighty, I'm trying to build a budget HTPC for watching 1080p .mkvs, surfing, music, and a few emulators. My idea is to use the amd/nvidia mobo with integrated HDMI and get the 5050e 45nm amd cpu.

I understand that the 8200 allows 7.1 LPCM over hdmi and that there is no way for any card to digitally output 7.1 with truehd and dts-hd. But will the mobo atleast let me output 5.1 dts or dd?

The biggest issue is choosing a case. There are so many options and different styles that I'm honestly overwhelmed. Any help?

Here's what I came up with:

ASUS M3N78-VM AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 8200 HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131318

Thermaltake TR2 W0070RUC 430W ATX12V Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153023

OCZ Vista Upgrade 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ2VU8002GK
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227189

AMD Athlon 64 X2 5050e Brisbane 2.6GHz Socket AM2 45W Dual-Core Processor Model ADH5050DOBOX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103298

LITE-ON Black 4X Blu-ray DVD ROM SATA Model DH-4O1S-08 - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106225

LIAN LI Black Aluminum PC-C37B Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112186

6/25/2009 7:30:59 PM

It all depends on how much you want to spend on an HTPC case. I really like this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163117

6/25/2009 8:33:48 PM

Stupid question, but all mATX mobos work in ATX cases, right?

6/25/2009 9:04:30 PM

yes.

i'm partial to this case:
Antec NSK2480
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129034 (or the big brother Antec Fusion)

6/26/2009 12:45:52 AM

^ what is the difference?

nevermind - no LED on the front

[Edited on June 26, 2009 at 1:09 AM. Reason : ...]

6/26/2009 1:08:32 AM

^^Wish it was black to match my equipment. Definitely a good option, however.

6/26/2009 8:16:50 AM

if you want a small case but don't really care if it's an HTPC case, i absolutely love my Antec Mini P180

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129041 ($80 with free shipping using code EMCLTNS23)

then again, it's not just my HTPC, it's my gaming rig, too, so i wanted something that could handle full-sized components with good airflow

6/26/2009 8:42:35 AM

^about the same size as an HTPC case just upright.

6/26/2009 12:40:01 PM

Just ordered my comp, it has all of the parts from above, plus this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129054

It wasn't actually much more expensive than the others factoring free shipping.

6/26/2009 4:14:16 PM

I like the Antec Fusion

I also got a passive cooling heatsink for noiseless operation, would hate to hear a HSF whirring away during quiet parts of a movie.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103026

6/27/2009 1:47:04 PM

^I have watched movies with a xbox 360, so I'm somewhat used to it.

6/28/2009 10:39:07 AM

i guess that is a good enough reason to not go noiseless.

6/28/2009 12:29:04 PM

jchill2 hope you remembered the PSU

6/29/2009 3:22:32 PM

so is everyone using mediaportal these days ?

6/29/2009 3:23:37 PM

windows 7 media center

i tried media portal yet again last month and it still sucked, super laggy, delayed startup out of the box... i'd venture xbmc is better than media portal

6/29/2009 4:53:40 PM

im using media portal, works well with massive collections

6/29/2009 6:21:42 PM