Home Theatre PC

One of the projects I've been working on lately is my Home Theatre PC. I've been really wanting to get a Tivo-like device, but didn't want to spend all that money. A nice PVR with lifetime subscription would cost well over $300 for a really good deal, and probably around $500 normally.

So, I put together a PC that would give me the PVR experience, plus a little bit more. I've been satisfied with it how it came out, and we use it daily in our home. There are still a few more things for my wish list on this system, but as it stands now, it is still excellent.


Table of Contents


Home Theatre PC Accessories

Wireless Keyboard:

Logitech Cordless MX Duo - $100
I personally don't have one yet, but I've read many reviews online and tried a few wireless keyboards myself. I like RF wireless devices because IR devices need a direct line of sight to the receiver. The difficulty I have found choosing an RF keyboard is finding one with good range. Most only have a range of 6 feet, some less than 3 (why even bother with wireless). The Logitech KB and Mouse are said to have a range good to atleast 20 feet. The MX Cordless Duo also has the additional bonus of using rechargable batteries in the mouse.

PC Remote Control:

Streamzap Remote - $40
I personally don't have one yet, but I've read many reviews online and tried a few wireless keyboards myself. I like RF wireless devices because IR devices need a direct line of sight to the receiver. The difficulty I have found choosing an RF keyboard is finding one with good range. Most only have a range of 6 feet, some less than 3 (why even bother with wireless). The Logitech KB and Mouse are said to have a range good to atleast 20 feet. The MX Cordless Duo also has the additional bonus of using rechargable batteries in the mouse.

Gamepad:

Logitech Cordless Rumble Pad - $50
I found it very hard to come buy wireless gamepads for PC. This one is not only wireless RF, but it has a built in vibration function too.

TV Tuner:

Hauppauge WinPVR 250 - $150
This is another piece of hardware on my wish list. Feature highlights are hardware MPEG-2 encoder and IR remote bundled with it. The MPEG-2 encoder is the real money maker here though. To encode a full screen MPEG-2 stream with software only will take atleast a 2 GHz PC. With this tuner card, you only need a PC fast enough to write the stream to disk.

My System's Specs

System Specs
PricePartVendor
$81AMD XP2200+ Retail (1.8 GHz, 266 MHz FSB)NewEgg.com
$66ECS K7VTA3-RAID MB (KT400, USB 2.0, IEEE1394, LAN, Audio)NewEgg.com
$25Zalman Copper CPU Fan CNPS3100+NewEgg.com
$35Case w/ 350 Watt PS (Just4PC Brand)TigerDirect.com
$50XFX GeForce4 MX440se w/ TV outTigerDirect.com
$40Hauppauge WinTV Go PCICircuitCity
$110Maxtor 80GB 7200 RPM HD with 8MB CacheStaples.com
$40MadDog 16x DVD-ROMCompUSA
$70KHypermedia 48x CD-RWOfficeMax
$40Kingston 256MB 2100 DDR RAMOfficeMax
$40Kingston 256MB 2100 DDR RAMOfficeMax
$40K-Byte 256MB 2100 DDR RAMOfficeMax
$50SnapStream 3.0 PVSSnapStream.com
$25Actisys IR BlasterSnapStream.com
$40Stream Zap PC RemoteCompUSA
$752Subtotal
Rebates
$-30Rebate on XFX GeForce4 MX440se
$-20Rebate on WinTV Go PCI
$-75Rebate on 80GB HD
$-20Rebate on DVD-ROM
$-40Rebate on RAM
$-40Rebate on RAM
$-40Rebate on RAM
$-265Rebates Total
$487TOTAL

Operating System:

Windows Vs. Linux: I've found Linux often difficult to use. If you don't have the supported hardware, it will be nearly impossible to use. If the hardware is supported, but not automatically detected and configured at installation time, it is still really hard to get working. Installing Linux applications is also hit or miss, seems like it either works or it never will.

Since I have all the software I need on the Windows platform and I'm familiar with it, I choose to install Windows. If I were to try Linux, I would give MythTV a try. It's free open source PVR application.

Which Windows? Windows 98/95 have a 2GB size limitation on files. It can be worked around, but why bother? Windows Me is just horrible, I've never heard anything positive about it. Windows NT doesn't support any of the latest versions of DirectX, so I eliminated that. The real choice came down to Windows 2000 or XP.

I first tried Windows 2000. I use 2000 daily, was very familiar with it, and didn't need any of the other Windows XP features. SnapStream was very unstable with Windows 2000 though. Looking at their support bulletin board, everyone who was having good success with SnapStream was running on XP. After I switched to XP all my problems were solved.

Applications:

SnapStream: This is the PVR software that I used. It only costed $50 as a promotional price, but it is normally $100 at their website. I was able to purchase it directly off of their website, I was emailed a key for the software and a download link.

I will do a more thorough review of this product later on, but for now here are the key features:

DVD Backup: The PVR computer is the most powerful computer in my house, so I like to puts extra processing muscle to use. Making DVD backups is an especially hardware intensive operation. Here are the utilities I use:

Emulation: You don't really need a powerful computer to run most video game console emulators (a 1GHz will typically work really well). Since the computer is connected to a TV, it's perfect for running the console games just like they were in the good ole' days. My emulators of choice:

Zophar's Domain is a great source for links to the latest and greatest emulators for different systems and consoles.

WebTV: Surfing the web on a TV isn't the best way to surf, but it is sometimes convenient. The browser of choice would be Mozilla hands down. Key features: