The Foxconn Cinema II Deluxe comes with a remote and a pci wifi router card. I love the thing. I tried a sempron 140 in it to test the BluRay capabilities with the intergrated HD4200 graphics and it worked flawlessly. I put a Rana 440 in it, and put it in a lian li v351. Its pretty righteous.
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The Foxconn Cinema II Deluxe comes with a remote and a pci wifi router card. I love the thing. I tried a sempron 140 in it to test the BluRay capabilities with the intergrated HD4200 graphics and it worked flawlessly. I put a Rana 440 in it, and put it in a lian li v351. Its pretty righteous.
[citation][nom]70camaross396[/nom]the one thing missing from this system is a TV-Tuner card. Now that I think about it, one thing that seems to be missing from all HTPC/PVR systems is the ability to plug in digital cable/satalite and see all the channels. I know ATI had a prototype all-in-wonder card capable of this, but never released it to market. I would love to have an HTPC/PVR system that I could use to replace my cable box. No more set top box rental fees, and I can record all the tv I want. Until PC makers realize that Digital Cable/Satalite is here to stay and that we need tv-tuner cards cabable of displaying all channels, then HTPC's will not become main stream.[/citation]
There is that add-on card with 4 cable tuners built-in. Can't remember the name but it is around $400 and you can use two in a system and then record 8 shows at a time. Don't most game consoles have Blu-Ray drives in them? And I know the Wii can do Netflix and internet access. Not sure if you can add a wireless keyboard/mouse to a game console, but if they can access the internet then they can do at least basic text functions like e-mail and maybe even a short document and spreadsheet. So what is the advantage of spending $750 on an HTPC? For that you can buy a game console, an iPod Touch type device and a netbook for your documents. Why waste the PCIe slot for wireless? The fastest most reliable option is to connect this device directly to your internet connection and then use a wireless router to service the rest of your network. That eliminates the need to configure wifi and avoids interference. I do like the concept, last year.
There is that add-on card with 4 cable tuners built-in. Can't remember the name but it is around $400 and you can use two in a system and then record 8 shows at a time. Don't most game consoles have Blu-Ray drives in them? And I know the Wii can do Netflix and internet access. Not sure if you can add a wireless keyboard/mouse to a game console, but if they can access the internet then they can do at least basic text functions like e-mail and maybe even a short document and spreadsheet. So what is the advantage of spending $750 on an HTPC? For that you can buy a game console, an iPod Touch type device and a netbook for your documents. Why waste the PCIe slot for wireless? The fastest most reliable option is to connect this device directly to your internet connection and then use a wireless router to service the rest of your network. That eliminates the need to configure wifi and avoids interference. I do like the concept, last year.
Well, obviously, we have a case of a SERIAL WINDOWS USER, he's climbing through your windows hanging your PC's up, so you need to hide your drives, hide your wlan's and hide your m/b bios rom, 'cause he's hanging up everything out here.
OH C'MON, I think it's common sense to use linux as an htpc. The boot time is ~20 seconds, you can make it use no more than a gigabyte on the drive. Even xbmc would've been better.
OH C'MON, I think it's common sense to use linux as an htpc. The boot time is ~20 seconds, you can make it use no more than a gigabyte on the drive. Even xbmc would've been better.
kinggraves
Distinguished
- May 14, 2010
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No TV tuner in an HTPC? At least leave a free slot so I can do it internally and not have a USB dongle dongling around.
Also, if you're going to go with proprietary, throw in some cablecard or HT speaker hookups instead of the "computer speaker" hookups.
Completely not worth the cash when it's just a video player with a BluRay stapled on.
Also, if you're going to go with proprietary, throw in some cablecard or HT speaker hookups instead of the "computer speaker" hookups.
Completely not worth the cash when it's just a video player with a BluRay stapled on.
How do you justify this statement: "All of these compromises are relatively minor in the scheme of things, and as a result, the Core i3-330M mobile CPU should perform in roughly the same league as Intel's desktop Core-i3 530"? It reads as though you are reading the performance charts right off the Intel web site when nothing could be further from the truth.
CPU charts (Read them here....http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html) give the I3-330m a Passmark score of 1984 while the I3-530 score is 36% higher at 2716. Not a small difference. Certainly the 37% boost in core clock speeds from 2.13GHz to 2.93GHz should tell you that the performance of an integrated GPU will be greatly improved along with your enjoyment when it comes to playing your favorite games. If you are going to tell a story don't spin it as though you are telling facts. You would have done your readers a greater service by leaving that line out completly.
CPU charts (Read them here....http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html) give the I3-330m a Passmark score of 1984 while the I3-530 score is 36% higher at 2716. Not a small difference. Certainly the 37% boost in core clock speeds from 2.13GHz to 2.93GHz should tell you that the performance of an integrated GPU will be greatly improved along with your enjoyment when it comes to playing your favorite games. If you are going to tell a story don't spin it as though you are telling facts. You would have done your readers a greater service by leaving that line out completly.
[citation][nom]zooted[/nom]This would be great, if it were priced around $300-400[/citation]
Exactly. With the Blu-ray drive, as far as movies are concerned, this thing becomes a direct competitor to the PS3. There is no way I'm gonna spend $750.00 on this when I can get a PS3 for $300.00.
Exactly. With the Blu-ray drive, as far as movies are concerned, this thing becomes a direct competitor to the PS3. There is no way I'm gonna spend $750.00 on this when I can get a PS3 for $300.00.
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[citation][nom]kinggraves[/nom]Also, if you're going to go with proprietary, throw in some cablecard or HT speaker hookups instead of the "computer speaker" hookups.[/citation]
Audiophiles will be bitstreaming the audio through the HDMI output.
That's the best quality PC users can get, and this machine support it...
Audiophiles will be bitstreaming the audio through the HDMI output.
That's the best quality PC users can get, and this machine support it...
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[citation][nom]JimBobBillieRay[/nom]How do you justify this statement: "All of these compromises are relatively minor in the scheme of things, and as a result, the Core i3-330M mobile CPU should perform in roughly the same league as Intel's desktop Core-i3 530"? [/citation]
I justify it because for HTPC duty--video playback, and light internet use--you would never be able to tell the difference between the i3-330 and an i3-530.
[citation][nom]JimBobBillieRay[/nom]Certainly the 37% boost in core clock speeds from 2.13GHz to 2.93GHz should tell you that the performance of an integrated GPU will be greatly improved along with your enjoyment when it comes to playing your favorite games.[/citation]
You can overclock Intel HD graphics until it explodes and it's still not going to be a gaming machine. As for the games it *can* play--low-impact titles like WoW and whatnot--overclocking it doesn't accomplish all that much as far as real-world performance. It's not going to let you bump up the resolution and play games smoothly all of a sudden.
You're falling prey to the minutia and missing the big picture in the process. 😉
I justify it because for HTPC duty--video playback, and light internet use--you would never be able to tell the difference between the i3-330 and an i3-530.
[citation][nom]JimBobBillieRay[/nom]Certainly the 37% boost in core clock speeds from 2.13GHz to 2.93GHz should tell you that the performance of an integrated GPU will be greatly improved along with your enjoyment when it comes to playing your favorite games.[/citation]
You can overclock Intel HD graphics until it explodes and it's still not going to be a gaming machine. As for the games it *can* play--low-impact titles like WoW and whatnot--overclocking it doesn't accomplish all that much as far as real-world performance. It's not going to let you bump up the resolution and play games smoothly all of a sudden.
You're falling prey to the minutia and missing the big picture in the process. 😉
Looks like a cheap piece of junk that doesn't fit in at all with any typical audio equipment. They could have at least made it the same width as standard home theatre equipment (43.5 cm) so it at least looks appealing in the rack. They could of used that extra space for items such as a VFD, extra HD mounts, quieter cooling, etc.
Darkv1
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- May 30, 2009
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[citation][nom]70camaross396[/nom]the one thing missing from this system is a TV-Tuner card. Now that I think about it, one thing that seems to be missing from all HTPC/PVR systems is the ability to plug in digital cable/satalite and see all the channels. I know ATI had a prototype all-in-wonder card capable of this, but never released it to market. I would love to have an HTPC/PVR system that I could use to replace my cable box. No more set top box rental fees, and I can record all the tv I want. Until PC makers realize that Digital Cable/Satalite is here to stay and that we need tv-tuner cards cabable of displaying all channels, then HTPC's will not become main stream.[/citation]
The main issue with using a HTPC as a PVR with digital cable/ satellite service is that most providers encrypt their channel streams (at least premium channels like HBO, ect). If a HTPC were to be equipped with a cablecard or other device that the provider could authorize then you could record freely.
The main issue with using a HTPC as a PVR with digital cable/ satellite service is that most providers encrypt their channel streams (at least premium channels like HBO, ect). If a HTPC were to be equipped with a cablecard or other device that the provider could authorize then you could record freely.
I would buy something exactly like this if one, it included wireless N. And most importantly had cable card functionality with built in DVR capability. If this cant replace my cable box then it is no better than my LG bluray player that has a 250 Gb hard drive, accesses my media files with built in wireless N, can plug external hard drives into, and access premium internet services like Netflix.
It's a shame that you guys didn't test the DTS-MA and TrueHD capabilities of this little thing. For my future replacement of my TViX mediaplayer is playback of those two codecs a must!
drwho1
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nice article, although when I decide to "get" an HTPC, I will just simply build one.
like the writer says, I don't see a reason for a HTPC this small (it looks nice) but has no space for improvements/add-ons.
Still this might be a good unit for people who couldn't bother building their own, or... "moms out there".
like the writer says, I don't see a reason for a HTPC this small (it looks nice) but has no space for improvements/add-ons.
Still this might be a good unit for people who couldn't bother building their own, or... "moms out there".
I see many comparisons to laptops as well as more "desktop-like" systems, mostly due to the price, but that is comparing apples to oranges. This thing never exceeds a 60 W power envelope and is quiet. Sure, a Phenom II desktop is faster and about the same price, but it is also larger, noisier, and consumes much more power. Add a nice IR remote, Blu-Ray drive, etc. to a laptop and it is suddenly more expensive than it appears.
theoutbound
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I'm not sure of the marketability of off the shelf HTPCs. It seems that anyone who would have an interest in using one would be turned off by the lack of certain functionality in prebuilt machines (namely the lack of TV/PVR). I think most users that understand the benefits of an HTPC would rather custom build one. Although, I suppose that serving as a product for the less tech savvy, this could be a decent product even if it does lack a couple of important features.
jsc
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I was considering building an HTPC. Then I started analyzing what I really needed. All I needed was to be able to move video from a portable USB drive to a TV screen. Right now, I do not need any sort of PVR capabilities. Besides a PVR some unusual problems most people don't have.
My housing compound in Saudi Arabia has both NTSC and PAL channels on its cable system.
And I found the WD TV Live Plus in a Saudi book store:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136593&cm_re=wd_tv_live-_-22-136-593-_-Product
One thing that is surprising is how little CPU and GPU power it takes to move video and sound from a hard drive to a television. Power consumption of this thing is about 10 watts.
I think the 100HT is a step in the right direction, but it is too expensive.
My housing compound in Saudi Arabia has both NTSC and PAL channels on its cable system.
And I found the WD TV Live Plus in a Saudi book store:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136593&cm_re=wd_tv_live-_-22-136-593-_-Product
One thing that is surprising is how little CPU and GPU power it takes to move video and sound from a hard drive to a television. Power consumption of this thing is about 10 watts.
I think the 100HT is a step in the right direction, but it is too expensive.
crom
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Its too bad that it only allows for a USB TV tuner. They really can't do full 1080p, the best is 1080i. Also most of the providers are encrypting their analog channels in addition to QAM. If it had an integrated dual TV tuner, that could pull full 1080p, and dual IR blasters I would buy this in a heartbeat. As it stands now I'm going to continue with mini-ATX media center PC.
If you intend to make this review about whether a HTPC hits the mark for the non-techie, then you need to focus on the usability points that's important. i.e.
1) how well does this "power up" from stand-by state (ie. instant-on) as most people expect their TV screen to be viewable w/in 1-2 seconds
2) how well does the box handle HDMI handshake/resync w/ the TV? is there video or audio issues when coming out of low power mode? when the playback is resuming from pause?
3) what's the range/angle/sensitivity of the provided remote
4) how does it work with (e.g integrate/control your other A/V components?)
5) what are the tuner options for this HTPC?
Without an internal tuner option, this relegates this box to serving as a front-end.
1) how well does this "power up" from stand-by state (ie. instant-on) as most people expect their TV screen to be viewable w/in 1-2 seconds
2) how well does the box handle HDMI handshake/resync w/ the TV? is there video or audio issues when coming out of low power mode? when the playback is resuming from pause?
3) what's the range/angle/sensitivity of the provided remote
4) how does it work with (e.g integrate/control your other A/V components?)
5) what are the tuner options for this HTPC?
Without an internal tuner option, this relegates this box to serving as a front-end.
dwess
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[citation][nom]Nossy[/nom]Why cant they just throw in a LAPTOP sans the LCD and call it an HTPC? Geez. Seriously just cram in a i7 with a powerful graphics card into a notebook package.If you're lookin for just something to play videos files, youtubes, etc, just get a Popcorn hour, Asus Oplay, etc. There's almost no good reason for a HTPC anymore.[/citation]
Well, that not necessarily the case. I need a media center box to (amongst other things) please back my library of home movies. ALL my movies play just great on a computer, but many will not play at all on media players, and I have tried many, such as Google TV, WD Live, etc etc. For me, at the present time the only workable solution is a media center TV.
Well, that not necessarily the case. I need a media center box to (amongst other things) please back my library of home movies. ALL my movies play just great on a computer, but many will not play at all on media players, and I have tried many, such as Google TV, WD Live, etc etc. For me, at the present time the only workable solution is a media center TV.
I bought this and am very happy with the decision so far. One question I have for any more experienced HTPC users out there. I'd like to add a 2nd hard drive (Seagate Momentus 5400.6 - same model as already there) to separate out program files and data (photos etc). However, I don't want to add to the noise coming from the unit (currently it's pretty quiet). Am I likely to notice a difference in noise from the unit by adding an identical 2nd drive? Or would I be wiser to go SSD (even though this would be significantly more expensive)?
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[citation][nom]PokAlice[/nom] Am I likely to notice a difference in noise from the unit by adding an identical 2nd drive? Or would I be wiser to go SSD (even though this would be significantly more expensive)?[/citation]
The drive noise won't be significant. If you do notice, you probably won't be bothered by it anymore than you already are now with the single drive.
The drive noise won't be significant. If you do notice, you probably won't be bothered by it anymore than you already are now with the single drive.
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