Planning on building at least one HTPC...any tricks I need to look at?

[Reschke]

We just cut out cable television today and are going internet only for shows that we watch. Especially since we record everything now except for sports. SO what do I need to start looking at to build a good HTPC system for my downstairs playroom for the kids so they can jump online and pull down the shows they want to watch.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

We just cut out cable television today and are going internet only for shows that we watch. Especially since we record everything now except for sports. SO what do I need to start looking at to build a good HTPC system for my downstairs playroom for the kids so they can jump online and pull down the shows they want to watch.

If it's only for HTPC use you might want to look at special HTPC chassis just for looks. Also if prior statement is true, choose low power components (passive heatsink gpu, cpu maybe even psu) to minimize noise. HD decoding doesn't require much from todays components.

[Reschke]

Thanks Ripley will start hammering on the wife for the extra funds since she wants something to look really nice.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

Thanks Ripley will start hammering on the wife for the extra funds since she wants something to look really nice.

Also if you're not going to play bluray, you could take a look at linux based mythtv etc. which are custom operating systems only for htpc use. http://www.mythtv.org/
Basically it will turn your htpc to a dvr.

[Chalenge]

I would go Win 7 all the way! Ultimate too. That way you could also plug in a Hauppauge tuner and use cable or antenna signals if you wanted. There are third party drivers for Hauppauge on Linux but there is no direct support that way. Windows Media Center is fantastic. You will want tons of disk space. Hauppauge devices come with a DVR program but Media Center is just fine as it is plus WMC allows you to log* straight in to Netflix if you have that account. WMC also allows you to restrict viewing with awesome parental controls. I have not had to use that yet but the day is coming. You can also restrict viewing based upon user accounts.

I dont think thats in Linux.

[Reschke]

OK here is the basics of what I have in the main family room.

Xbox360
Onkyo Home Theater
Samsung Bluray player

I know we can use the Xbox to watch stuff on it BUT we are limited in what is available and there is no true "browser" function on it to allow us to go to non XBL supported websites to get other shows, movies, etc... Same goes for the Samsung BD player.

I would like to keep the Onkyo system in the loop as it provides much better speakers than my television obviously so how do I connect them together to make it work. I have looked at a Micro ATX case to start dropping things into but I am still up around $1k in price once I get all this stuff together because honestly I am still thinking like building a gaming rig. I have four different computers here that I can cannibalize to make a system or I can build from scratch but it is going to take a while to get the funds together since I am looking for a job currently.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

I would go Win 7 all the way! Ultimate too. That way you could also plug in a Hauppauge tuner and use cable or antenna signals if you wanted. There are third party drivers for Hauppauge on Linux but there is no direct support that way. Windows Media Center is fantastic. You will want tons of disk space. Hauppauge devices come with a DVR program but Media Center is just fine as it is plus WMC allows you to log* straight in to Netflix if you have that account. WMC also allows you to restrict viewing with awesome parental controls. I have not had to use that yet but the day is coming. You can also restrict viewing based upon user accounts.

I dont think thats in Linux.

Why ultimate? It's nothing but a waste of money. For a HTPC the lowest lowly windows will do as long as it has a mediaplayer. The linux system for sure has more features and better interface than wmp

[Chalenge]

I dont know Linux for an HTPC Ripley. If it offers parental controls and direct support for Hauppauge devices then cool. I dont think it does. As to interface options I think the Windows remote is pretty straight forward. Its like a television remote you turn it on change channels and control recordings with it. Does Linux offer a Netflix option in the media player? Probably not. He said he wasnt going to use cable so I mentioned that as an option if he wants to return to it later.

Reschke I think what you want is a video card with HDMI if the Onkyo HT includes an HDMI input.

[2bighorn]

OpenELEC, ver. 2 just released.
http://openelec.tv

nuff said...

[MrRiplEy[H]]

I dont know Linux for an HTPC Ripley. If it offers parental controls and direct support for Hauppauge devices then cool. I dont think it does. As to interface options I think the Windows remote is pretty straight forward. Its like a television remote you turn it on change channels and control recordings with it. Does Linux offer a Netflix option in the media player? Probably not. He said he wasnt going to use cable so I mentioned that as an option if he wants to return to it later.

Reschke I think what you want is a video card with HDMI if the Onkyo HT includes an HDMI input.

Why didn't you check it out if you didn't know? http://www.hauppauge.com/pages/faq/support_faq_linux.html

Netflix however is a problem at the moment if it's necessary.

[Chalenge]

I did. They support THIRD PARTY DEVELOPERS which means no direct support to users.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

I did. They support THIRD PARTY DEVELOPERS which means no direct support to users.

The drivers of 99% of devices supported on linux are from THIRD PARTY DEVELOPERS i.e. open source coders  

The problem with netflix and the likes is that they do not want to invest time into supporting linux - and because they require DRM they cannot release a source code in order to let linux dev community to code a solution for it either. It's a stalemate of a sort. It also doesn't help that many linux devs are purists that absolutely hate any proprietary code. Wording like 'tainted kernel' are used when discussing the use of proprietary drivers

[Reschke]

Thanks for the input boys...put away the virtual swords for a bit and let me do some more reading on the things here.

[Chalenge]

The drivers of 99% of devices supported on linux are from THIRD PARTY DEVELOPERS i.e. open source coders  

The problem with netflix and the likes is that they do not want to invest time into supporting linux - and because they require DRM they cannot release a source code in order to let linux dev community to code a solution for it either. It's a stalemate of a sort. It also doesn't help that many linux devs are purists that absolutely hate any proprietary code. Wording like 'tainted kernel' are used when discussing the use of proprietary drivers

Ripley. . . the whole point of letting that be known is not everyone can deal with third party support. Meaning some people dont like to be hung out to dry which is why I pointed out that there is no support.

I dont think Netflix is concerned with time as much as having their codec open for review by just anyone. I dont think its a stalemate I think Linux is just shut out.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

Ripley. . . the whole point of letting that be known is not everyone can deal with third party support. Meaning some people dont like to be hung out to dry which is why I pointed out that there is no support.

I dont think Netflix is concerned with time as much as having their codec open for review by just anyone. I dont think its a stalemate I think Linux is just shut out.

Nobody is left hung out dry even on linux. You just are afraid of what you obviously don't know. The open source community will try to help users with problems even if the manufacturer itself doesn't care. Of course a linux user should choose not to use the kind of products that do not have proprietary or open source driver support. Surprisingly large amount of devices however 'just work' with drivers included in the linux kernel. The fact of the matter is that windows is slowly losing momentum and people are searching for alternatives. A lot of people are going Mac, more tech savvy use BSD or linux. Major gaming companies are completely trashing Windows 8 and Valve started building native linux clients for example. The closed beta is currently in action. They already got Left4dead to run a little faster on linux than windows.