Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (
More info?)
"U. U." wrote:
> Keith Clark <clarkphotography@hotmail.com> wrote in
> news:40EB09B1.A93FCAE8@hotmail.com:
>
> > My home theater PC uses a motherboard with integrated ATI Radeon
> > onboard and I'm very pleased with how the image looks on the TV.
> >
>
> Is the PC a brand you bought or did you assemble it yourself from parts?
> If it's something that can be bought in a store or online (HP, Compaq, Dell
> etc.) please let me know the make and model number. Thanks.
>
> Ule
Well, you certainly could use an off the shelf PC today. I think almost any new
Dell would be up to the job - the biggest thing is hard drive space. You do
need to use an operating system that supports NTFS for unlimited size files
(I've recorded some moves that made 13 GB mpeg-2 files). Xp-Pro or Win2K Pro
will work. I've used both.
That said, mine is a home brew.
I used a Silverstone SST-LC03-B case. This case comes with a 60 cm case fan
that you'll have to disconnect to achieve reasonable levels of quiet (it
doesn't impact cooling the CPU as long as you have good open space around the
case which seems well designed for convection airflow).
http://www.pcalchemy.com/product_info.php/products_id/32?osCsid=ae2d0a23fb9bd3f7c6b503722fe05bcc
An Asus P4R800-V Deluxe motherboard (onboard graphics, S-video and composite TV
out, 5.1 sound and comes with 5.1 compatible WinDVD)
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-131-151&depa=1
I used a 2.4 Ghz Celeron (I don't do any editing or rendering on this machine),
and 512 MB of dual channel DDR (probably overkill but what the heck).
To cool the CPU I used a Zalman CNPS-7000A-CU heatsink fan - this comes with a
speed controller which on it's slowest setting is practically in-audible and
still cooler than a stock Intel cooler running nosily at full speed.
http://www.directron.com/cnps7000alcu.html
For power I used a Zalman silent 300W supply which lives up to it's name - you
have to put your hand next to the fan to see if it's on because it's that
quiet.
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-103-212&depa=0
To help quiet the hard drive I used a Zalman (notice a theme here? ;->)
shock-mount/heat-pipe kit. It looks funky but it actually did make the box
noticeably quieter.
http://www.excaliberpc.com/product_info.php?cPath=167_632_640&products_id=3538
For a hard drive I used a Maxtor 250 GB drive with fluid dynamic bearings. The
motor is silent, the only noise is from the heads seeking.
We've already established that I use two Hauppauge PVR 250 cards and Beyond TV
3.5 beta (it's a public beta and as far as I know they're still accepting new
participants). For a remote control I use a Snapstream Firefly which uses a
little RF dongle that connects via USB (I used a 12 foot USB cable so I could
position the dongle where it would get the best (RF) reception from the
remote. The Firefly software includes easy to navigate internet radio, and
movie streaming/download sites (no thanks, I'll continue to rent DVDs). I
really like the internet radio feature. Together with the TV functions and
photo slide shows (they have great anti-flicker filters), it truly makes a
total entertainment center out of a living room PC that doesn't have to look
like a PC. The next update of the Firefly software will let us order pizza (no
word on beer yet) and other "food" (;->) with the remote control. That will
rock.
You can save a lot of money if you buy the PVR-250, BeyondTV and the Firefly as
a bundle. I bought mine all separately and am kicking myself now.
http://store.snapstream.com/ff-btv-250btv.html ($179 - or $20 more than buying
the PVR-250 by itself in a retail store, like I did).
Anyway, I created a setting for recording TV at 7000 Kbps, constant bit rate,
program stream, and it gives very good results, every bit as good as live
broadcast TV.
They include a free program guide but I think you'd have to use "xmltv" to get
Norwegian listings (you did say you're in Norway, yes?).
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