Laptop for HTPC???

calibos

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Is anyone using a Laptop for a HTPC? Surely they're fast and high spec enough these days. Even the graphics cards in them are much improved nowadays. Also, do they make laptop versions of tuner or capture cards 'cause if a laptop can do a decent job then I might opt for one instead of another desktop.
I can make a better case for a laptop with the powers that be. "Use it anywhere in the house love, surf while sunbathing love, use it all the......oops......use it sometimes in the HT room":D It would also be whisper quiet.

So go on, tell me why its not feasible. It musn't be or else everyone would be using them. Maybe its because you couldn't play newer games at full detail on the big screen, 'cause if thats the all then no problem. The desktop can be brought in for 'Special Occasions'!!:D
 
I've tried both my HP P3-500mhz and P3-850mhz DVD laptop's and to be honest laptops vary a lot for projector use. You need to make sure that you get one with at least the new Radeon graphics chipset preferably with 8mb+ video ram.

Ive tried quite a few over the last 6 months and they all suffer from strange quirks, like sometimes the DVD drive has trouble reading certain DVD's, so you eject it then reinsert it and all's fine. Sometimes Ive had weird overlay problems with the graphics, although to be honest the drivers are not the best for laptops imho. Another problem I've found with my new p3 850mhz laptop is the native resolution of the screen is like 1400x960 so once you reduce it to the projector's resolution you only see half the screen!, unless you zoom in but then the laptop screen looks blurred.

The one thing I did like about the laptops though was the picture seemed vibrant, the portability. The noise was'nt really an issue because my HTPC is actually quieter than the laptop anyway!. I have'nt tried a TV card but I would presume this would only work via the USB port, and USB has completely inadequate bandwidth for dscaler/TV viewing.

If you wanted to spend £1000+ on a laptop then your mad!, you could get a very impressive HTPC setup, very very quiet, and make it into a multimedia music/video/dvd/tv centre in the living room!. A laptop is handy though for browsing the web/playing music from your jukebox in the garden though :eek:)

James
 

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