Entertainment center PC... do you?

[Surreal]

Hi

Who hear has a PC for there entertainment center?
Do you use your PC to play dvds, mps, and tv. DO you have a big monitor and no tv or do you just use your tv as the monitor. So you have a remote? is the PC on a desk or on the shelf. Do you have wirless mice/keyboard. Do you do otherthings like web surf and edit video and send email? Do you use 5.1 PC speakers instead of a expensive strero amplifier?

please detail you setup. I want to biuld one for myself i wanna see what other have done.

[tom10167]

I personally can't see an HTPC becoming a reasonable extension unless you have TiVO or the like, where you could save shows to a hdd.

[Veland]

Well my setup (not running right now, still sorting it all out, softwarewise) is a Shuttle box running myHTPC for all my needs.

Plays cd's and DVD's and is connected to my house LAN. On a server there I have copied all the music and movies I own as I have two HTPC computers in different locations. My primary one is hooked up to my z680 speakers and controlled via remote. Also got a wireless keyboard/mouse connected, and a gamepad for some gaming.

So far no TIVO, but in the works. At the moment my TV receptions isn't good enough anyway, but my soon to be satelite system should fix that too.

Other bits and bobs? Well, the IR receiver is a homemade one, got some glowing feets on my Shuttle and have made it really quiet. Also, myHTPC is really great, but takes some work to set up right. A lot of reading is necessay before it all "comes together". Oh, and using svideo connected to my 29 inch widescreen TV and optical audio to the speakers.

[da-gokesta]

i use aregular pc for a htpc as well. I use svideo, and run a line out to the Stereo receiver. i use it mostly to play movies i pick up at lan parties

[nil_esh]

I had an extra PC connected to my TV for a while, but it wasn't getting much use, so I gave it to my sister. It was good for playing back mpeg, DivX, etc. When we get a big HDTV (planning to get a 55-65" LCD) I may consider building a new HTPC.

I've got an ATI AIW 9000 in one of my PC's. I've always liked watching TV on a monitor (have a 22" CRT right now), maybe because the old TV we got isn't very good. I've never really bothered to use the recording features much, though, I've always found it to be a bit flaky.

[EgeWorks]

I use a modded into dvd player case P4 for dvd/mp3/cd/divx. It's connected to the tv as well as a 7" LCD, and also connected to a big stereo. Is connected to the home network and internet as well. the only problem is that one channel on the TV picks up interference from the PC PSU and is poor quality (we only have 4 channels here).

It was well worth it in my opinion as getting all that functionality from a single box is way more cost/space effective than having a bunch of seperate bits of equipment all over the place. We still have a turntable though:(

[Susquehannock]

My PC has been my music system for years.
WinAmp and a few Gigs worth of MP3s
and I'm good to go. :D

And for video ... I almost always watch DVDs on my computer for
this 21" Sony Trinitron has much better picture quality
than my Tele.

[jimstandard]

Zap wizard made plans and drew up some sketches (very good ones) of a really good HTPC that covered all of the bases heres the link for it http://www.zapwizard.com/mediapc/index.html, i know if i had the money and the TV/speakers to hook it up to i would do it, im sure it comes out being cheaper, and more space/energy efficient in the end, now if only i couldnt persuade my mom to let me do this. Check the link out its pretty darn cool

[pranks7er]

i hope to build a custom one one day

for playing:

dvds
cds
mp3
video streams
games
digital camera

[Remove]

I have a system with 6 hdd for a total of 520 gigs full of movies music and all such other nonsense. It also has a tv tuner card for the cable hook up. It is hooked into my Panasonic PT-L500U projector and Panasonic home theater system and projected onto a 100" screen I built. I have a wireless keyboard and mouse for couch use.

It runs on my internal network so any of the other systems in the house can access movies and music off of it.

I occasionally hook up my main gaming rig to the home theater system. There is nothing like playing UT2K3 or DC on a 100" screen with the explosions coming through a 10" subwoofer with 180 watts powering it! :D

[El-Scotto]

about how much to reg. tv tuners go for? im looking around for building a cheap system for a friend that just wants it to dl shows and stuff like that, no gaming at all :\ I was thinking of a shuttle system and recomendations?

[tom10167]

My Leadtek was $50.

[El-Scotto]

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=1051384173297&skuId=3916052&type=product&productCategoryId=cat01151


would this be a good choice for something to record tv showswith and what not or would you suggest something else? preferably around the same price range :P