Computer help: Desktop upgrade to HTPC
Desktop upgrade to HTPC
by adamevex - 4/19/07 9:16 AMI was wondering if there was any way i could upgrade a budget desktop PC like the HP Pavilion Slimline s3020n to a HTPC. What hardware would i have to buy and is it going to be worth it?
http://reviews.cnet.com/HP_Pavilion_SlimLine_s3020n_PC/4505-3118_7-32391038.html?tag=prod.txt.1
upgrade to htpc
by ramarc - 4/19/07 10:17 AM In reply to: Desktop upgrade to HTPC by adamevexthat box is capable of being a htpc. it will need a tv tuner card ($60-$120 depending on features and single vs. dual tuners vs. hd tuner). if you're connecting it to a high def tv, you should also get another video card with hdcp and dvi/hdmi output (about $70). if you're connecting to a standard def tv or a tv with vga inputs, the built-in video will suffice.
Depends
by jackson dougless - 4/19/07 10:29 AM In reply to: Desktop upgrade to HTPC by adamevexIt all depends on what you want to be able to do with the thing. For example, do you want surround sound audio, do you want high def video, do you want to be able to watch "live" TV broadcasts, do you want to be able to record TV broadcasts to watch later, etc?
All of those things will play a factor in whether or not you can turn a system like that into a HTPC. As a general rule however, low end systems have minimal upgrade potential, so I wouldn't go getting my hopes up.
One fairly low cost solution that I find works really well, is to use my Xbox as a media hub. You take any original Xbox (not the 360), and either put a modchip in it or softmod it so that it can run Xbox Media Center. Since the Xbox already has everything you need to hook it up to most TVs, it saves a lot of hassle on that front. It also has the ability to play back surround sound audio if you have a receiver. It has a network card built into it (wired) so you can stream files from your computer over a LAN to it. If you want wireless, any wireless ethernet bridge device will work.
Xbox Media Center is based off of the same decoder that powers VLC Player, which as many will tell you, can play back just about anything you throw at it. The Xbox is fairly small, easy to move around, uses far less power than any computer, boots up far quicker, has a remote attachment that you can buy that uses standard RCA remote codes if you have a universal remote, and since the original Xbox was basically a slightly modified PC, you can slap in any IDE hard drive to store copies of things like your DVD collection locally on the Xbox. It's what I use for all my video watching needs. I don't use the audio player or image viewer abilities of it, but if that's of any interest to you, it's another option. Best of all, it even plays games if you want. You can get emulators for all the old game consoles, right up to the PSX, which isn't perfect, but pretty darn good all in all. Naturally you need to own a copy of the game(s) in question before you can download copies to use with the emulator. Then there are some of the good Xbox games like Halo 1 and 2, and others. It's an amazingly versatile little beast. Cheap too, compared to even a low end PC. Both in up front costs, and ownership costs such as the impact it will have on your utility bill.
Thanks
by adamevex - 4/19/07 1:35 PM In reply to: Depends by jackson douglessI was thinking of modding my xbox as an alternative. But what i'm most interested in is watching HD video, watching and recording Tv broadcasts. I'm really not concerned about the sound. Is this possible on the xbox?
Thanks for all the info.
Not really
by jackson dougless - 4/19/07 2:57 PM In reply to: Thanks by adamevexI suppose if you installed one of the Linux distributions, you might be able to get a USB TV tuner working if you got an adapter for the controller ports, but they're only USB 1.1, so bandwidth might be an issue. I have seen mods to add USB 2.0 ports to an Xbox, but I'm not so sure it's really worth it. And with the 733MHz CPU and 64MB of total RAM, there's a limit to the resolution the Xbox can play back. Some of the older models can have an additional 64MB of RAM soldered to the motherboard, and people have managed to put in a 1.4GHz Celeron into an Xbox, which would help... But it's a lot of work, a high chance of something going wrong, and Xbox Media Center is about the only app, other than Xbox Linux distributions, that would really be able to take advantage.
What I might suggest, is just getting some middle of the road TV tuner for your system, use it to record shows, and then stream them via a LAN to your modded Xbox. The Xbox should be good up to around 720p resolutions for most codecs, if you get component cables for it. Beyond 720p, it's going to probably be more than the Xbox hardware can handle. Of course all this assumes you have an HDTV set, and a HD-DVD and/or Blu-Ray player of some kind, because without that it's purely academic no matter which route you go.
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