Entertainment PC dilemma - please help

[eLJay]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

Hi,

I currently have my PC in the living room hooked up to the TV and my
Monsoon MH-505 5.1 speaker system positioned around the room so I can
watch DVDs and DivX movies on my TV.

Here's my dilemma. I'll be moving to a new apartment and I'd prefer to
have my PC in my room, but I still want to keep all the home
theatre/multimedia/entertainment capabilities available for the TV and
speakers in a living room with NO cables.

With my current setup, this would mean running 3 cables from the PC to
the speakers' subwoofer in the living room PLUS another cable for
S-video from my video card to the TV. I would probably get
All-In-Wonder card to be able to use a remote to control my PC, but
that still doesn't solve the cable issue.

Is there a way I can accomplish this without the cables?

I'm open to any configuration suggestions within reasonable cost. For
example, getting a "home theatre in a box" system for the living room
and connecting it wirelessly to my PC. Question is how and what
components do I need? FYI, I'll be replacing my PC completely with a
new system anyway.

Thank you for any suggestions you may have.

el

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

On Fri, 09 Apr 2004 12:04:32 -0300, eljay wrote:

> I currently have my PC in the living room hooked up to the TV and my
> Monsoon MH-505 5.1 speaker system positioned around the room so I can
> watch DVDs and DivX movies on my TV.
>
> Here's my dilemma. I'll be moving to a new apartment and I'd prefer to
> have my PC in my room, but I still want to keep all the home
> theatre/multimedia/entertainment capabilities available for the TV and
> speakers in a living room with NO cables.
[...]
> FYI, I'll be replacing my PC completely with a new system anyway.

Why not put the existing PC in the entertainment system, and dedicate it
entirely to media applications (you might even investigate installing
FreeVo or MythTV on it, but that's not really necessary), and then using
the new PC you'll be buying in your room? You could set up a Wireless
network to transfer media between the two computers (playing songs your
rip from your room over in the media center, or watching programs that
were recorded in media center in your room).

This is definitely not the cheapest way to go... except that you said you
will be buying a completely new PC anyway, so in fact it is almost free!

The media center computer doesn't need a dedicated monitor, either, since
you already have a video output on it...

--
Lenroc

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

"eljay" <emailMe@Not.com> wrote in message
news7ed705un0a756hiil7pvupvf3t5ifm8oi@4ax.com...
> Hi,
>
> I currently have my PC in the living room hooked up to the TV and my
> Monsoon MH-505 5.1 speaker system positioned around the room so I can
> watch DVDs and DivX movies on my TV.
>
> Here's my dilemma. I'll be moving to a new apartment and I'd prefer to
> have my PC in my room, but I still want to keep all the home
> theatre/multimedia/entertainment capabilities available for the TV and
> speakers in a living room with NO cables.
>
> With my current setup, this would mean running 3 cables from the PC to
> the speakers' subwoofer in the living room PLUS another cable for
> S-video from my video card to the TV. I would probably get
> All-In-Wonder card to be able to use a remote to control my PC, but
> that still doesn't solve the cable issue.
>
> Is there a way I can accomplish this without the cables?
>
> I'm open to any configuration suggestions within reasonable cost. For
> example, getting a "home theatre in a box" system for the living room
> and connecting it wirelessly to my PC. Question is how and what
> components do I need? FYI, I'll be replacing my PC completely with a
> new system anyway.
>
> Thank you for any suggestions you may have.
>
> el

Wavecom Senior by RF Link

http://www.bizrate.com/buy/products__cat_id--20000001,keyword--wavecom%20senior.html

Only problem with this is that if you run your microwave, the microwave will
cause interference. It's a cheap way to get audio and video from your PC to
your living room without wires, though.

You probably wouldn't need any new hardware. If you intend to run powered
speakers in the living room anyway, your powered speakers will run off the
receiving unit of the wavecom senior just fine. Also, it is likely that
your TV has a composite (AUX) RCA video input, so the TV would run off the
wavecom senior just fine, also. If you want 4-channel sound, you could run
TWO wavecom seniors on different addresses. I think you'd get by OK with
just one, though.

Me, I'd get a "cheap" set of speakers for the PC and a wavecom senior to
send audio/video to the living room. Use the Monsoons in the living room.
Eventually, if you want to get a decent home theater system, you can use the
Monsoons with the PC again. Oh, and you could still use the wavecom senior
to send audio and video from the PC to your A/V receiver in your new home
theater system. -Dave

 

[eLJay]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

Thank you both for the replies.

Just to clarify, I'm selling my current PC and putting the cash I can
scrape from it towards a new one.

The RF Link is an interesting idea. Pardon my ignorance, but will I
loose my 5.1 channel capability and some quality by going this route?

Thank you.



On Fri, 9 Apr 2004 14:55:47 -0400, "Dave C."
<spammersdie@ahorribledeath.now> wrote:

>
>"eljay" <emailMe@Not.com> wrote in message
>news7ed705un0a756hiil7pvupvf3t5ifm8oi@4ax.com...
>> Hi,
>>
>> I currently have my PC in the living room hooked up to the TV and my
>> Monsoon MH-505 5.1 speaker system positioned around the room so I can
>> watch DVDs and DivX movies on my TV.
>>
>> Here's my dilemma. I'll be moving to a new apartment and I'd prefer to
>> have my PC in my room, but I still want to keep all the home
>> theatre/multimedia/entertainment capabilities available for the TV and
>> speakers in a living room with NO cables.
>>
>> With my current setup, this would mean running 3 cables from the PC to
>> the speakers' subwoofer in the living room PLUS another cable for
>> S-video from my video card to the TV. I would probably get
>> All-In-Wonder card to be able to use a remote to control my PC, but
>> that still doesn't solve the cable issue.
>>
>> Is there a way I can accomplish this without the cables?
>>
>> I'm open to any configuration suggestions within reasonable cost. For
>> example, getting a "home theatre in a box" system for the living room
>> and connecting it wirelessly to my PC. Question is how and what
>> components do I need? FYI, I'll be replacing my PC completely with a
>> new system anyway.
>>
>> Thank you for any suggestions you may have.
>>
>> el
>
>Wavecom Senior by RF Link
>
>http://www.bizrate.com/buy/products__cat_id--20000001,keyword--wavecom%20senior.html
>
>Only problem with this is that if you run your microwave, the microwave will
>cause interference. It's a cheap way to get audio and video from your PC to
>your living room without wires, though.
>
>You probably wouldn't need any new hardware. If you intend to run powered
>speakers in the living room anyway, your powered speakers will run off the
>receiving unit of the wavecom senior just fine. Also, it is likely that
>your TV has a composite (AUX) RCA video input, so the TV would run off the
>wavecom senior just fine, also. If you want 4-channel sound, you could run
>TWO wavecom seniors on different addresses. I think you'd get by OK with
>just one, though.
>
>Me, I'd get a "cheap" set of speakers for the PC and a wavecom senior to
>send audio/video to the living room. Use the Monsoons in the living room.
>Eventually, if you want to get a decent home theater system, you can use the
>Monsoons with the PC again. Oh, and you could still use the wavecom senior
>to send audio and video from the PC to your A/V receiver in your new home
>theater system. -Dave
>
>
>
>
>

 

[ANON]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

"eljay" <emailMe@Not.com> wrote in message
news:4rme70t8r0dt51pis1l8n3t0106uv0hjlv@4ax.com...
> Thank you both for the replies.
>
> Just to clarify, I'm selling my current PC and putting the cash I can
> scrape from it towards a new one.
>
> The RF Link is an interesting idea. Pardon my ignorance, but will I
> loose my 5.1 channel capability and some quality by going this route?
>
> Thank you.
>
>

You won't lose any quality by using the Wavecom Senior. Unless you are
running a microwave nearby (evil grin), the audio and video quality is
excellent. HOWEVER, if you just use one Wavecom Senior sender/receiver
pair, then you will only have two channels of audio. This means that the
typical powered speakers will only output sound from subwoofer plus left and
right mains. IF you have a A/V receiver in the living room, then you can
get Dolby Pro Logic signals decoded from the two channels of audio sent by
the wavecom senior. But this is simulated 5.1 surround, not real 5.1
surround. If you want true 5.1 surround sound, you MIGHT be able to get
that from two wavecom senior sets, but I haven't tried this, so don't know
for sure if it will work . . . but in theory . . .

Wavecom 1 Sending:
- composite video through rca video jack from computer's video card
- left channel main audio through left channel rca jack from computer's
sound card
- right channel main audio through right channel rca jack from computer's
sound card

Wavecom 2 (on different channel) Sending:
- Center/Sub audio through rca VIDEO jack from computer's sound card*
- left surround audio through left channel rca jack from computer's sound
card
- right surround audio through right channel rca jack from computer's sound
card

* This is the only part I'm not sure of. While composite video and audio
signals are somewhat similar, and can be carried on the same wire, I'm not
100% sure that the video channel of the wavecom would pass audio. In theory
at least, it SHOULD work fine. I say this, as I've had video problems on
other equipment that the wavecom was more than happy to pass along, AS IS.
(evil grin) So I suspect the wavecom would just pass the signal as it is,
even if it's not a video signal.

Another thing you should know about the wavecom is that it includes an IR
extender. I don't know if this would help you or not, as it is meant to
allow you to control (with an IR remote control) equipment in the SENDING
room while you are in the RECEIVING room. And it works great. But to get
any use out of that feature, you'd need to have components in your PC that
can be controlled with an IR remote. Certain TV tuner cards come to
ind. -Dave

 

[eLJay]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

Very interesting.

Thank you!!

On Sat, 10 Apr 2004 13:36:41 GMT, "Anon" <noway@nohow.not> wrote:

>
>"eljay" <emailMe@Not.com> wrote in message
>news:4rme70t8r0dt51pis1l8n3t0106uv0hjlv@4ax.com...
>> Thank you both for the replies.
>>
>> Just to clarify, I'm selling my current PC and putting the cash I can
>> scrape from it towards a new one.
>>
>> The RF Link is an interesting idea. Pardon my ignorance, but will I
>> loose my 5.1 channel capability and some quality by going this route?
>>
>> Thank you.
>>
>>
>
>You won't lose any quality by using the Wavecom Senior. Unless you are
>running a microwave nearby (evil grin), the audio and video quality is
>excellent. HOWEVER, if you just use one Wavecom Senior sender/receiver
>pair, then you will only have two channels of audio. This means that the
>typical powered speakers will only output sound from subwoofer plus left and
>right mains. IF you have a A/V receiver in the living room, then you can
>get Dolby Pro Logic signals decoded from the two channels of audio sent by
>the wavecom senior. But this is simulated 5.1 surround, not real 5.1
>surround. If you want true 5.1 surround sound, you MIGHT be able to get
>that from two wavecom senior sets, but I haven't tried this, so don't know
>for sure if it will work . . . but in theory . . .
>
>Wavecom 1 Sending:
>- composite video through rca video jack from computer's video card
>- left channel main audio through left channel rca jack from computer's
>sound card
>- right channel main audio through right channel rca jack from computer's
>sound card
>
>Wavecom 2 (on different channel) Sending:
>- Center/Sub audio through rca VIDEO jack from computer's sound card*
>- left surround audio through left channel rca jack from computer's sound
>card
>- right surround audio through right channel rca jack from computer's sound
>card
>
>* This is the only part I'm not sure of. While composite video and audio
>signals are somewhat similar, and can be carried on the same wire, I'm not
>100% sure that the video channel of the wavecom would pass audio. In theory
>at least, it SHOULD work fine. I say this, as I've had video problems on
>other equipment that the wavecom was more than happy to pass along, AS IS.
>(evil grin) So I suspect the wavecom would just pass the signal as it is,
>even if it's not a video signal.
>
>Another thing you should know about the wavecom is that it includes an IR
>extender. I don't know if this would help you or not, as it is meant to
>allow you to control (with an IR remote control) equipment in the SENDING
>room while you are in the RECEIVING room. And it works great. But to get
>any use out of that feature, you'd need to have components in your PC that
>can be controlled with an IR remote. Certain TV tuner cards come to
>ind. -Dave
>

 

[eLJay]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

I've decided to go with a single S/PDIF cable from my sound card to
the living room and get a receiver/decoder for my Monsoon speakers.

It seems that I have two choices:
Creative DDTS-100 http://www.creative.com/speakers/series/decoder/

OR

Klipsch Promedia DD-5.1
http://www.klipsch.com/product/product.aspx?cid=433&cmd=More&cmd_r=

Does anyone have experiences with these? Which one would you
recommend?

Thank you.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

"eljay" <emailMe@Not.com> wrote in message
news:khpj7090nt7vhbup9a4bq9rhrm1rilkc5c@4ax.com...
> I've decided to go with a single S/PDIF cable from my sound card to
> the living room and get a receiver/decoder for my Monsoon speakers.
>
> It seems that I have two choices:
> Creative DDTS-100 http://www.creative.com/speakers/series/decoder/
>
> OR
>
> Klipsch Promedia DD-5.1
> http://www.klipsch.com/product/product.aspx?cid=433&cmd=More&cmd_r=
>
> Does anyone have experiences with these? Which one would you
> recommend?
>
> Thank you.

NEITHER!!! You'd be nuts to consider it. I know the Cheaper of the two is
most of the cost of a decent name brand A/V receiver. The only price I
found on the Creative is $125, I don't even want to know how much the
Klipsch would cost, if you could find it (apparently discontinued).
Etronics has A/V receivers by Yamaha, Teac and JVC, all for about $160.
That was just the first place I checked. If I spent an hour researching, I
could probably find any brand you want for less than that even.

Why buy a simple decoder for $125 when you can get a whole A/V receiver for
a little more? It would be tough to find any A/V receiver (even low end
ones) that won't accept an S/PDIF input from your computer's sound card and
happily decode DTS and Dolby Digital sound for you.

The only problem is, you will need speakers (not powered speakers) to go
with it. But is that really a problem? I mean, if you use the monsoons in
the living room, you need to buy speakers for the PC, anyway. So you'll end
up buying speakers one way or the other.

So you could pick up a cheap home theater system (A/V receiver and 6
speakers) starting around $200. If you go that route, make sure that the
A/V receiver has two (2) OPTICAL digital inputs. You need two of them. You
are already planning to use one for your PC. If you want to add something
else later, where is that going to go? -Dave