Nerds - Help me build a HTPC.

[Cam]

Okay, my access at work is really limited, so sorry if this has been posted before.

I want to build a home theatre PC. I have a stack of spare parts at home, enough to build something decent, but I don't mind having to go and get new bits for it either.

What is your personal experience with doing this? Things I want to be doing with it include but are not limited to:
Receiving and recording Satellite TV
Receiving and recording FTA Digital
Streaming stuff from other workstations on my network
HDMI output (no idea what is out there to do HDMI right now...)

Um.. yeah, need to go and run to get some work done, but if any PSB'ers have done this I'd appreciate any advice.

If no PSB'ers have done this yet, then I'll just struggle through myself and put together a guide on the process for other people to follow.

[Klink]

Ok... I have experience with everything you have described except for satellite. If you wanna chat about it.. PM me your msn or alternative means of realtime communication.

[Brougham]

i've been looking into this a lot lately as well mate.

Originally Posted by Cam

Receiving and recording Satellite TV - Not sure, depends on connection system i'd guess
Receiving and recording FTA Digital - Easy, get a digital tuner, best to get a dual tuner card (about $150) that let's you record and watch different channels at the same time (or record 2 channels at same time).
Streaming stuff from other workstations on my network - Network card with either Windows XP MCE or Vista Home Premium/Ulimate (only 2 versions with MCE with it).
HDMI output (no idea what is out there to do HDMI right now...) - Get a good quality video card with HDMI output. not a lot availble ATM, but getting more and more on the market each month

in addition, buy a HTPC case, comes with volume knob on the front, LCD screens to tell you what you're watching etc.

also, with the MCE editions, you can buy a MCE remote to control your HTPC via nice simple remote.

[MikeC]

HDMI isn't as hard as it sounds either. i was scared of it until i discovered that there's such a thing as a DVI-HDMI adapter. Win.

i've done a similar thing (not quite as complete as you're proposing) and i'm happy to provide help and assistance. Let me know what you need.

[Klink]

Just a word of warning with the front LCD screens. Lots of people have had problems running different resolutions for the case LCD and their main display. I havent actually had any experience with a touchscreen case, but seen lots of posts on Australian Media Center Community

As far as HDMI output goes. I have an ATi 2600HD card and it works awesomely. Its the only time I'll suggest an ATi card over a Nvidia.

[goof]

I'd investigate motherboards first. My one has DVI, HDMI, S/PDIF, etc all on board. (Isn't HDMI just DVI & S/PDIF rolled in to one connector?) Some boards have Nvidia 'PureVideo' graphics chips on board too which is good if you're going to run a Linux based PVR like MythTV or Freevo.

For those on a budget, this might be a good start eBay link.

To watch HDTV takes a decent CPU if you don't have hardware decoders on the video card, hence Nvidia 'PureVideo' being a good thing. My old P4-2.4GHz systems system struggles with HDTV.

[Viper]

You need to speak to Phildo ... has all that running including satellite