Episode 65 - Build a Great Vista Home Theater PC!

[allsighs]

I gotta second that I wish that some time was taken to show the install and build because as someone who has been a HTPC fanatic for years, diving in without some very good info can result in a very costly and frustrating build. Love the show but i would have loved to see them take a solid set off components and complete a build and show its features (like the MythTV episode) rather than just touch on various parts because some of those parts are not going to play nice. For example, there is no Windows Media Center support for the long-awaited Hauppauge HD-PVR (much to the huge disappointment of many VMC lovers like myself), probably something that would have been discovered and probably not been recommended should a build have been completed.

All in all I love to see HTPC anything...but rather than give broadbased recommendations, i'd love Systm to stick to beginning to end build projects.

Keep up the good work.

[rrsavage]

Originally Posted by allsighs

I gotta second that I wish that some time was taken to show the install and build because as someone who has been a HTPC fanatic for years, diving in without some very good info can result in a very costly and frustrating build. Love the show but i would have loved to see them take a solid set off components and complete a build and show its features (like the MythTV episode) rather than just touch on various parts because some of those parts are not going to play nice. For example, there is no Windows Media Center support for the long-awaited Hauppauge HD-PVR (much to the huge disappointment of many VMC lovers like myself), probably something that would have been discovered and probably not been recommended should a build have been completed.

All in all I love to see HTPC anything...but rather than give broadbased recommendations, i'd love Systm to stick to beginning to end build projects.

Keep up the good work.

The Hauppauge HD-PVR is supported in both SageTV and BeyondTV enabling HD capture of 720 and 1080 content. I am running two HD-PVR boxes using SageTV and my HTPC life could not be better :-) I prefer SageTV because they have their own HD-100 Extender tiny little set top box. With this set top box I do not have to have a full blown PC at each TV location. All I have is a centralized SageTV server with multiple HD-100 extenders distributed throughout the house. The extenders provide the full SageTV GUI to each location and allow streaming of content from the SageTV server, including all the HD content. The HD-100 extenders is also a much smaller price for a viewing client than building a full HTPC viewer station. SageTV is written in Java, and while it is not free and not open source, the software cost is relatively nothing and there is no recurring cost for programming guide data. They also include a developers API for creating plugins and SageTV studio editor for customizing all aspects of the GUI. There is an active forums of users and developers adding plugins and utilities all the time to provide additional functionality and capabilities. In fact, I found Systm and watched all the episodes directly on my SageTV system from the comfort of my living room on an HD-100 extender. Anyone considering MythTV, BeyondTV, or Vista Media Center should really take a close look at SageTV before making the final decision. I could not e happier. SageTV is available for Windows, Linux, and MAC and is relatively easy to install.

[chapmani]

I have to take exception with several of Patric's comments about the Antec Fusion case.

I own the NSK-2480 which is a slightly cheaper model with the same basic design. Mine is missing the volume knob, the VFD/LCD (depending on the model of Fusion), the built in IR receiver and the front firewire port. The front of the NSK is silver plastic in stead of the brushed or black aluminum. In all other respects, it is the exact same case.

Firstly, if the VFD is too bright and irritating, unplug it. Just because it is in the case, doesn't mean you HAVE to use it.

Patric's point about the "proprietary power supply" is just plain wrong. You can use any standard ATX power supply you want in this case. The back cutout for the power supply has been specifically designed to accommodate PSU's with a 120mm "bottom" fan. How? By rotating the power supply 180 degrees (ie fan facing up instead of down).

The tipple chamber design allows for better air flow, and separates the primary heat sources. The power supply fan cools the optical drive, and the power supply -- that's it. Outside air is drawn over the hard drives, then into the main chamber. Air is also pulled in over the video card, and in across most of the back of the case. There is an adjustable baffle to route that back entry air to the processor's heatsink. Two adjustable 120 mm fans move lots of air along these routes. Many find they don't need a fan on the heatsink with this airflow.

Patric's point about the size of the case is correct - it is large. In essence it's a rack mount size, with a more living room styled look. Heavy - yea it IS solidly built. Light cases tend to transmit a lot more sound from the drives and fans inside the case.

The case was designed with significant input from Mike Chin, the "quiet PC" obsessed guy behind SilentPCReview.com. His critique of the final product, and discussion of design decisions is definitely worth a read. It made so much logical sense, I had to buy one, and I've been extremely happy with it. If you can live without the volume knob that you'll never use, the "cool guy" VFD/LCD, and a front firewire port, the NSK-2480 version is probably the least expensive HTPC case you'll find. Since most tuner cards come with their own IR receiver, I don't think Fusion's one is needed. (Besides, I chose an RF remote instead.) I'm running the KnoppMyth version of Myth (much more optimized for PVR use the Mythbuntu) on it.

[fred2fred1]

Hey - Blond guy - go back and count how many times you say 'literally' - Geez

All in all I love to see HTPC anything...but rather than give broadbased recommendations, i'd love Systm to stick to beginning to end build projects.

A little too late, but I agree completely.

Originally Posted by fred2fred1

Hey - Blond guy - go back and count how many times you say 'literally' - Geez

maybe there can be a "basically" vs "literally" competition.