Home Theatre Computer - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

Burninator · 10-26-2009, 11:07 AM

I would like to connect my computer to my TV. I haven't really done it before so I am not totally sure of all the features. But off of the top of my head I could see using it for playing music, video and pictures. I suppose I could use it for browsing the internet, but that really isn't too much of a need. Or maybe it is? I don't really know.

So what are the solutions out there? The only one that I have really taken a look at is Apple TV. Is there anything else out there that would work? Or is Apple TV the best solution?

Also because of my computer being in another room I'll need to buy a wireless router before I buy something like Apple TV. What kind of router should I get? I see that wireless routers vary from $40-$200. I assume that the $40 one wouldn't up for the speeds needed. I would be willing to spend the money for it work properly.

Any suggestions?

Cliche · 10-26-2009, 11:22 AM

Wireless N and if you don't want to pay the apple tax and have already setup the media serving portions on your computer, either an xbox 360 with wireless adapter or a PS3 for Blu-ray compatibility.

Burninator · 10-26-2009, 12:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cliche

Wireless N and if you don't want to pay the apple tax and have already setup the media serving portions on your computer, either an xbox 360 with wireless adapter or a PS3 for Blu-ray compatibility.

What do you mean when you say media serving portions?

FanIn80 · 10-26-2009, 12:50 PM

I would look at the new Mac Minis. The only downside to them is that there are more movies available in HD on the Apple TV than there are via desktop iTunes.

Either way, if you're not that familiar with networking and you just want a simple, elegant solution that is about as difficult as plugging in a toaster... spending $250 on an Apple TV isn't a bad decision.

Burninator · 10-26-2009, 01:05 PM

I think I am leaning toward the Apple TV right now. I don't really want to buy a gaming console just for linking my computer to the TV. I would probably end up wasting money on buying games that I would only play for a week. Plus I already have a Blu-ray player.

The Mac mini is nice, but I can't justify the price for my needs.

FanIn80 do you have Apple TV? Are you running wirelessly? Does it stream HD fine? I see that it has 160GB on it. Do you have to load everything onto the hard drive to view it? Or can everything be accessed straight from a PC?

Cliche · 10-26-2009, 01:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Burninator

What do you mean when you say media serving portions?

Well depending on whether you have vista/7/xp or OSX, you'll need to install a media server program like tversity onto your pc to get it to be detectable by your media playing device (whether it be a console/networked media player/browser with flash)

Otherwise, you could just use windows media player to share stuff, but I don't like WMP.

Also, the other reason why I suggested the console is that their UI's would be easier to use than most of the consumer devices available. Otherwise apple tv (never used nor investigated it) would probably fit your needs.

Also since it is a networkable device, you may still run into headaches troubleshooting networking problems.

FanIn80 · 10-26-2009, 01:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Burninator

FanIn80 do you have Apple TV? Are you running wirelessly? Does it stream HD fine? I see that it has 160GB on it. Do you have to load everything onto the hard drive to view it? Or can everything be accessed straight from a PC?

It will stream directly from your PC. You can either sync stuff to it (like an iPod), or you can stream it wirelessly. If you're going the wireless route, make sure you have a decent router (that doesn't mean it has to be expensive, just something with a decent signal that isn't going to get interrupted every time your neighbour answers their cordless phone).

If you can't or don't want to upgrade your router, and you find the stream getting interrupted in the middle of a movie, then you can just sync the movie to the Apple TV and watch it directly from there.

Burninator · 10-26-2009, 02:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FanIn80

It will stream directly from your PC. You can either sync stuff to it (like an iPod), or you can stream it wirelessly. If you're going the wireless route, make sure you have a decent router (that doesn't mean it has to be expensive, just something with a decent signal that isn't going to get interrupted every time your neighbour answers their cordless phone).

If you can't or don't want to upgrade your router, and you find the stream getting interrupted in the middle of a movie, then you can just sync the movie to the Apple TV and watch it directly from there.

Well I haven't bought a wireless router yet. I was planning on buying a router fairly soon and then buying Apple TV (or whatever else) down the road. But I want to buy a router that will be able to handle the load. I wouldn't want to rent a streaming movie and have it crap out.

So any suggestions would be great. I figured I need n, but there are all kinds of routers out there. Extreme n, dual band, gaming, etc. I'm not sure if spending the extra money is worth it.

HeartsOfFire · 10-26-2009, 08:52 PM

I bought the 160 GB AppleTV thinking I could use it as an external hard drive as well. It turns out I was mistaken, you can't. It's a stand-alone device. Honestly, I can't see why anyone would want to buy a 160 GB AppleTV when you'll get the exact same results streaming the media straight off your PC. I nhindsight, I wish I had gotten the 40 GB model instead.

But other than that, I have nothing but good things to say about AppleTV.

FanIn80 · 10-26-2009, 09:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeartsOfFire

I bought the 160 GB AppleTV thinking I could use it as an external hard drive as well. It turns out I was mistaken, you can't. It's a stand-alone device. Honestly, I can't see why anyone would want to buy a 160 GB AppleTV when you'll get the exact same results streaming the media straight off your PC. I nhindsight, I wish I had gotten the 40 GB model instead.

But other than that, I have nothing but good things to say about AppleTV.

Yep. I thought the same thing about the 40 vs the 160. Now they dropped the 40 and lowered the price of the 160 to the old 40 price, it's even better.

I'm still looking at going the Mac mini route as a future project though.

Burninator · 11-30-2009, 01:59 PM

I'm still not sold on the Apple TV. I am concerned about the limitations of it.

In regards to the Mac mini. Does the base model have enough hardware out of the box to run as a HTPC? The hard drive space seems lacking, but that could be fixed with an external hard drive for cheaper (and more space) than upgrading the mini from Apple's website.

PsYcNeT · 11-30-2009, 06:23 PM

Cooler Master Elite 330 Chassis, Black - $54.99

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Product...14200(ME).aspx

Intel Pentium® Dual-Core Processor E5300 2.6 GHz w/ 2MB Cache - $79.99

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Product...23217(ME).aspx

Samsung SH-S223B 22x SpeedPlus™ DVD-Writer - $28.99

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Product...25096(ME).aspx

Asus P5QPL-VM EPU - $89.99

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX25039(ME).aspx

Kingston ValueRAM 2GB PC2-6400 DDR2 SDRAM - $59.99

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX22157(ME).aspx

Western Digital 500GB Caviar Black 7200rpm SATA II w/ 32MB Cache - $64.99

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Product...22446(ME).aspx

$379 + GST ($19.00)

Damn, thats more pricey than I figured. So for basically $400 you can have an HDMI/Optical out, HDCP-compliant, 7.1 Optical out, 500 GB full storage, very quiet, and fully maleable software and surfing wise. You can load internet video on the fly, I guess you could throw in

Logitech Wireless Desktop® MK300 -$49.99

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX25383(ME).aspx

for your own convenience.

As well

LG 8x Blu-Ray Reader / 16x DVD-RW - $154.99

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX23672(ME).aspx

can be used in place of the DVD drive if you want Blu-ray action as well.

This is a slightly beefed version of what I'm running, and it's way more convenient because with a good router as well, you can stream video over the network from different computers onto the TV-PC. In that effect, you could opt to run it network only and ask a friend for an old harddrive to run the OS on.

As well, you could just simply collect old parts that work and accomplish this combining them with an HDCP-compliant videocard (like 60 bucks).

PsYcNeT · 11-30-2009, 06:27 PM

Crap forgot a PSU

Enermax Tomahawk 405W Power Supply - $49.99

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Product...26712(ME).aspx

So yeah, add $50 onto that, unless again, you can get an old PSU from someone.

Kjesse · 11-30-2009, 06:52 PM

It really depends on the system you now have in terms of what you need for a media extender.

If you have a 1080p TV and a windows systems with Vista or 7 (or even XP with Media Center), an Xbox 360 is the only way to go. An Xbox 360 costs about the same as an Apple TV but will allow you to stream 1080p movies from your computer.

Apple TV is easy to use, but has limited resolution and is locked down in terms of the kinds of media you can stream. It also forces you to use iTunes. I loved iTunes until I started using Windows 7. Microsoft has finally gotten it right. I haven't touched iTunes since, except to update my iPhone.

Media Center on the other hand (I am right now using Win 7 with a 360) lets me stream everything (Blu-Ray, DVDs, DiVX, XviD, MKV, you name it... there's just a couple freeware programs to install) in 1080p with digital sound stream (I only have 5.1, I don't know if it does 7.1).

I've ripped all my DVD's to hard drive, and also my now obsolete HD-DVD's.

However I have watched full quality Blu Ray on my 360 and I don't have a Blu Ray drive. I won't get into that.

Of course, if you use a Mac, Apple TV is the only way to go for an extender. If you use a PC, I can't understand why anyone would get Apple TV unless the rest of their system can't handle true HD.

With a bigger budget, get a full fledged computer for your home theater (PC or Mac), but really, it isn't necessary now that Windows 7 has solved some of the persistent codec problems of Windows Vista (problems which are still present with Apple TV) allowing you to get a 360 and just stream anything.

EDIT: For a router, go wired if at all possible. If not, Wireless N is a must, and you'll need a more expensive router than if you go wired.

2nd EDIT: I just checked to see if Apple has yet brought out a true HD solution for their Apple TV... since they are the media kings for computers.... and they haven't. They can only output in 1280x720 (720p) although they do advertise that they are "compatible" with a 1080p TV

HeartsOfFire · 12-01-2009, 09:33 AM

I've had my AppleTV for a year and a half. I use it now because at the time I purchased it, it was the best device for streaming media from PC to TV.

Microsoft is well on their way to catching up, mind you. At the time of this printing, I do not have a Blu-ray drive and the 360 is not blu-ray compatible, so I will continue to use AppleTV. Should their next gen system feature blu-ray compatibility, and I find a means to make backups of Blu-Ray movies in TruHD, I will consider switching and using the 360 as my media center. And even then, only IF I'd be able to convert all my movies and TV shows from Apple's format to an MS compatible format.

GoinAllTheWay · 12-01-2009, 10:07 AM

So when you guys are talking about building these types of units, it's going to sit beside the TV that it's going to stream video to, yes?

I'm still trying to figure out what is a good, reliable media extender without having to use a PS3 or 360. My ultimate goal is still to build a PC that does sit beside a TV but only for the purpose or recording incoming TV. Once done recording, it dumps the show on my server which can then stream to any other TV in the house.

Pastiche · 12-01-2009, 11:21 AM

Asrock Ion 330

Google it

Bob · 12-01-2009, 01:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Burninator

I'm still not sold on the Apple TV. I am concerned about the limitations of it.

In regards to the Mac mini. Does the base model have enough hardware out of the box to run as a HTPC? The hard drive space seems lacking, but that could be fixed with an external hard drive for cheaper (and more space) than upgrading the mini from Apple's website.

I use a Mac Mini (2.0 GHz, 2 GB, otherwise stock) for my HTPC. I run Plex and stream all my media off a NAS via Gigabit ethernet. Handles everything except very high bitrate Blu-Ray rips and HD Audio (you just get regular DTS/DD 5.1). It's a wonderful machine, but there's a fairly big learning curve to get it all working. It does, however, play everything I've ever thrown at it without much fuss.

Pastiche · 12-01-2009, 01:48 PM

Asrock + XBMC Live on a jump drive

http://lifehacker.com/5391308/build-...r-on-the-cheap

Substitute the Revo for the Asrock (cheaper and better).

XBMC live is the absolute best HTPC front-end GUI.

MickMcGeough · 12-01-2009, 09:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pastiche

Asrock + XBMC Live on a jump drive

http://lifehacker.com/5391308/build-...r-on-the-cheap

Substitute the Revo for the Asrock (cheaper and better).

XBMC live is the absolute best HTPC front-end GUI.

I haven't checked it out since, well since it only ran on the XBOX. I can't believe how cool some of the skins are.

http://xbmc.org/skins/