HTPC vs DVD recorder

Chrisp7091

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Hi - I'm still stuck in the stone age with a system based round a Pioneer DVD player and have recently been considering upgrading with a DVD recorder.

Given the flexibilty and recording facilities offered by a HTPC, I wondered if this was the best choice?. Is it possible to build a decent HTPC for around £500.00?. I'd be recording from Sky digital and would need something quiet and discreet looking if its going to sit behind the telly. I currently have no need for hi-def playback as we are still using a Panny CRT.

Any suggestions regarding HTPC components and prices to rival a decent DVD recorder gratefully received!.

Cheers
 
You could probably just about scrape together a budget HTPC for £500, but it would be tight. Also, connection to a CRT tv is troublesome as svideo/composte is poor quality and VGA to scart is tricky to set up.
You may be better off looking at a media playback device or extender that comes with scart connections.
 
Nonsense , svideo is perfectly adequate for displaying on a crt tv. Several of my friends run media center edition HTPC's through svideo to a standard CRT television and it looks fine.

I built a MCE HTPC last week for my friend and it cost just over £400 incuding all the hardware needed to comply with MCE requirements (3ghz athlon xp, 1gb ram, 250gb HD, pvr150, ati 9600se ,mce remote ,mce keyboard, rf2link etc).

I find that a MCE HTPC is the only thing that has ever come close to offering the versatility of the now defunct Tivo. Plus you can use it for dvd , video, music and just about anything else you can think of.
 
I've got to say I'm more with Lisa on this one, picture quality from svideo is awful on a CRT TV, yes you can watch TV/DVDs with it but windows is next to unusable. Try and get a demo of it before you spend out if you can.
 
This all sounds like it might be beyond me!. I'm pretty good with computers as a rule and can more or less put one togther - with a little help from friends my:).

I'm a bit confused about HTPC's though. I sort of envisaged a video card with a scart connection for use with our TV. Why would running Windows using an S-video connection cause a problem?. I'm also wondering how windows is controlled using a remote - do you always have to have a wireless keyboard and mouse kicking about to navigate the system?.

Sorry - as you can tell, I'm a complete novice in this field.
 
Hi,

the problem with using an svideo connection for windows is that the text is virtually unreadable. You can watch TV/DVD pictures and they'll look OK (but no more than that), but using the desktop or surfing the internet will be less easy. If you can get hold of a PC with an svid out and give it a try that would be best, people differ on what they find acceptable so it'd be worth a look.

As for remote control the most popular setup on here would be an IR receiver (such as a USB-UIRT) and girder (www.girder.nl). This would give yo a very powerful way of controlling your PC with a remote and may mean you could get away without using your mouse keyboard.

if you do want to go down the remote control route then you'll need some kind of front end software like MCE or Meedio. I use the latter and find it great, however there is not yet full support for using an external sky box as your video source - it'll work but it will be a bit "clunky".

HTH
owain
 
Yes desktop looks awfull on a crt through svideo , Media center looks fine as everthing is in quite large text . I thought the original question was about using a pc as a pvr not about if you can use desktop over svideo.
 
Well, some healthy differing opinions for you to ponder!
Perhaps Fallwood would post his spec list of the £400 build as that may help you to source your components. With a PC that is to live in the lounge most people want a nice 'hi-fi component look a like case' with quiet/passive cooling, which usually means more expense.

I did use MCE on a CRT via s-video for a while, and I suppose at the time I thought it was okish. But once I got my plasma and connected it up via DVI -the difference in quality is like night and day. Personally, I couldn't now live with a the former.

Good advice to try it out first before you commit yourself to one routeor another.

I was thinking a modded xbox with xbmc connected via advanced RGB scart to your CRT tv, networked to your main PC and playing back media files stored upon it. Cost around £100 and functionality and picture quality would be fantastic.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
deleted member said:
Well, some healthy differing opinions for you to ponder!
Perhaps Fallwood would post his spec list of the £400 build as that may help you to source your components. With a PC that is to live in the lounge most people want a nice 'hi-fi component look a like case' with quiet/passive cooling, which usually means more expense.

I did use MCE on a CRT via s-video for a while, and I suppose at the time I thought it was okish. But once I got my plasma and connected it up via DVI -the difference in quality is like night and day. Personally, I couldn't now live with a the former.

Good advice to try it out first before you commit yourself to one routeor another.

I was thinking a modded xbox with xbmc connected via advanced RGB scart to your CRT tv, networked to your main PC and playing back media files stored upon it. Cost around £100 and functionality and picture quality would be fantastic.

lisa

Couldnt agree more about the difference in picture quality once you go to dvi/hdmi, picture looks stunning through my Z4. But as Chrisp7091 is using a standart crt tv he will be limited connections wise, svideo gives a good enough picture purely for video playback, desktop text is a no no but as I said MCE text is hoooge so it doesnt really matter. As far as the xbox solution goes its missing just one thing , the PVR side of things which is what this thread is all about. I will post a full spec of the htpc I just built when I get the shuttle model number from my mate.
 
fallwood said:
Couldnt agree more about the difference in picture quality once you go to dvi/hdmi, picture looks stunning through my Z4. But as Chrisp7091 is using a standart crt tv he will be limited connections wise, svideo gives a good enough picture purely for video playback, desktop text is a no no but as I said MCE text is hoooge so it doesnt really matter. As far as the xbox solution goes its missing just one thing , the PVR side of things which is what this thread is all about. I will post a full spec of the htpc I just built when I get the shuttle model number from my mate.
There may be a way of using the remote pc to record tv in a file format that xbmc suppoirts, and using a standard freeview box for live tv - not ideal I know but an option. Will be interested to see the spec, MCE + remote costs £100!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
deleted member said:
There may be a way of using the remote pc to record tv in a file format that xbmc suppoirts, and using a standard freeview box for live tv - not ideal I know but an option. Will be interested to see the spec, MCE + remote costs £100!

lisa


Got a bundle deal on MCE oem , 4 copys for £100 of ebay.
 

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