IT IS ALIVE, and “I am so excited” in a Jessie Spano sort of way, minus the caffeine pills. I finally have a house to call my own that is all networked up. For me the HTPC has been the heart and brain of my entire dream system. The purpose of this project was to take advantage of all the free content on the internet and not have to pay a cable bill. With programs like Boxee, Hulu, TVersity, and Graboid a person should have no reason to pay for tv. Save the money on all the channels and up your bandwidth to 16mb+ a second.
HTPC stands for home theater PC, although exactly what is a home theater PC is debatable. Most people agree that a HTPC needs to be connected to some sort of screen, usually a television. But then there are so many wide uses for a HTPC that it is hard to outline all of them.
THE SPECS
Here is a quick breakdown of the specs:
AMD Athlon 64 1.6Ghz
2GB DDR2 Ram
160GB HDD – Preloaded with Microsoft Windows Vista Basic
1TB HDD – Movies and Files
SuperMulti DVD±RW Dual Layer Labelflash
Asus M3N78-VM Motherboard – Socket AM2+, MicroATX, Geforce 8200, Audio, RAID, VGA, DVI, HDMI
500W Power Supply
Apevia X-Master Desktop HTPC Case with Front USB, Firewire, and Audio ports
THE BUILD
I originally bought a refurbished eMachines EL 1200 Desktop from TigerDirect.com ($189.97), but that setup left me with no way of outputting the video onto my screen at a reasonable resolution. The power supply was only 240W and most video cards require 400W and up. The case was proprietary and the PSU was too small to be replaced by a larger PSU to meet my requirements. The next option was to just buy a new case and motherboard ($149.98) that would have HDMI out built onto it. I gutted out the eMachine and put everything into the new case and onto the new motherboard. I am not going to sit here and tell you how to put together a computer. If you don’t know how to build a computer, you have nothing to fear. The grand total for the project was $339.95 minus CA tax, but shipping was free.
THE PROGRAMS
What is Boxee?
Boxee is a free, open-source software platform that integrates personal media with Internet media along with social networking. boxee’s social networking component allows users to share information about what they’re listening to or watching with other Boxee users or friends on social networks like twitter, facebook, etc.
Boxee is designed for your TV and use of a remote control. To get Boxee on your TV you’ll need to first connect your computer to the TV screen. You will most likely need an DVI/VGA to HDMI cable.
What is Hulu?
Hulu is a website that offers commercial-supported streaming video of TV shows and movies from NBC, Fox, ABC and many other networks and studios. Hulu videos are currently offered only to users in the United States. In order to ensure that no international users outside the U.S. have access to the video channel, Hulu has blocked anonymous proxies and virtual private networks. Hulu provides video in Flash Video format, including many films and shows that are available in 360p and 480p.
What is TVersity?
TVersity Media Server is a software package that allows a personal computer to stream content to UPnP devices, such as the Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii, regardless of the limitations of the device. For example, the Xbox 360 does not support certain codecs or Internet videos such as YouTube. TVersity Media Server transcodes the video on the PC into a compatible codec and then streams it to the device.
What is Graboid?
Graboid Video makes it easy to access to the most extensive library of full length videos with over 150,000 videos online, and now you can try it free. Simply Download Graboid Video and create your account.
Conclusion
I went ahead and downloaded all of those programs and viola! a working Home Theater PC. Some possible future additions to my HTPC will be a Blu-Ray drive, TV Tuner Card (should I pay for cable and want to record it), wireless remote control and keyboard, and multicard reader.
It isn’t a crazy machine. I didn’t opt for the blow your mind type of setup. I wanted a simple machine that would do everything I needed it to do a price I thought was very reasonable.
As far as my HTPC being the heart and brain of my system, I am now able to stream my entire movie and music catalog to every room in my house. I can also access all my music, videos, and pictures when I am at work or anywhere for that matter. If a guest is staying over in the extra bedroom they have access to everything and even Netflix, just as if they were in a hotel.
Now I can begin all the other projects associated with this one so stay tuned for the Wiimote HTPC controller, USB and/or Bluetooth NES Controller, USB and/or Bluetooth Sega Controller, HTPC with NES and SEGA emulators, and in-ceiling surround sound speakers that this will be hooked up to.
Have you ever made an HTPC? What types of things did you add to yours? If this was your project what would you change? Any and all comments welcome.
#1 by Ian on November 23, 2009 - 1:36 pm
Quote
A couple years ago, upon purchasing my 1080p flatscreen, I’d decided to transfer the majority of the guts from my desktop PC in to a liquid cooled HTPC set-up.
I’d really been meaning to streamline the collections of CDs and DVDs and run strickly on HDD’s, fixed and portable. I wanted a “less is more” set-up.
The build wasn’t easy, and there were a couple wrinkles to iron out over time due to my own inexperience but it turned out great! I run a dual core AMD 2.6 and 4GB of dual channel DDR. It’s more than enough. I’ve got a 36GB 10k Raptor driver running XP (For school) and Ubuntu + a 250GB internal and a 250GB external drive. Both are at near capacity so it’s time to amalgamated to at least 1TB. My videocard is somewhat behind the times at 512MB but it does the trick for the time being. When the time comes to upgrade I’ll make the plunge in to Blue-Ray I’m sure. for now, a PS3 is the more sensible alternative. I’ve been happily without cable for the past three years so I opted out of a TV tuner card. My Xbox 360 is included on the rack aswell. No seperate audio card but I run a tatsy little Logitech z5500 which, for it’s price and size, is bumpin’.
I run wireless keyboard/mouse/remote/headset (room mates) and pretty much navigate the HTPC on my lap or lying down on the couch like a lazy bastard should. The VFD and myriad of blue lights really gloss the whole set-up and with the Thermaltake Rhythm + low RPM case fans, the residual noise is kept to a minimum without running the system too hot due to overclocking.
Since I move around a lot, it all breaks down and packs away pretty quickly aswell. That is a bonus.
#2 by diynerds on November 23, 2009 - 1:43 pm
Quote
That sounds awesome…I remember you mentioning that a while back, but never heard the details. I was just thinking today how rad it would be to walk into my house and say weather and have my HTPC pull up the weather. So a voice activated HTPC project will be in the works I promise you.