After many frustrating issues with networking and compatibility, I recently purchased a PC to be a permanent part of my entertainment center. I figured I'd share some of what I've learned along the way.
Here's the system I purchased:
http://www.pugetsystems.com/nav/echo/II/specs.php
Here are a couple of pictures of the PC in my entertainment center (pardon the temporary wiring mess):
I almost purchased this system:
http://assassinhtpc.com/purchasesystems.html
Instead, I went with the Puget since they've been around longer, I was really impressed with their web site, and I saw good things about them online.
As a 15 year Dell customer, this was a big change for me. Dell's web site just doesn’t allow as much customization as I’d prefer. I liked Assassin’s products and specialization in HTPC, but since the company is brand new I passed. If they’re still around in a few years when I upgrade I’ll give them a shot.
Caveat: Please note that we’re moving away from cable so I don’t really get into integrating my HTPC with the cable box but rather with CD, DVD, and BD media.
TV settings – I had to learn about over-scan and adjust my TV accordingly. Over scan cuts off a small % of the image to clean up the edges of what’s displayed. This is necessary for cable TV but for a PC display it cuts off your desktop and makes life difficult. Though this can be adjusted through the PC, it was better for me to simply adjust the TV. I’ve noticed turning over scan off shows weird looking lines while watching cable news but that it really doesn’t show when I watch movies on-Demand.
A couple of excellent programs I discovered:
http://makemkv.com/download/
This program allows you to rip your DVD and/or BD collection into .mkv files. These can be played back with the VLC media player (found here:
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/ ). Not necessary, but a nice convenience. In hindsight, I would not have purchased Cyberlink PowerDVD 11 as it’s cumbersome and not user friendly (to me at least).
I’ll admit to being fond of Windows Media player’s interface. What I hate about it is that it jostled up my music collection (I can take some blame here but not all of it!). Some files were placed in the folder they should be and some were placed otherwise. As such, I’ve decided to re-rip my entire collection. Here are my observations on this task:
Take care to note the tag data - not paying attention to genre, album, and other tagging data will give you a hard time when you look for the music you just ripped (a big "duh" for me least)!
Per Sholling - think about your filing system before you start the rip process to avoid having to re-rip.
Some programs to consider:
Windows Media Player (WMP) – An interface that I’m familiar with but ripping with WMP can be troublesome
Media Monkey – solid program but I prefer the interface of WMP
Foobar2000 – another solid program, but again, I prefer the interface of WMP
DBPowerAmp – a program you have to pay for, but thus far it’s ripping, converting, and customization features are top notch (thanks for the advice on this one Sholling!). Of note, you can try the full version for free.
Keyboard & mouse:
http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Wireless-Solar-Keyboard-K750/dp/B004MF11MU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1310796359&sr=8-1
http://www.amazon.com/Razer-Mamba-Wireless-Gaming-Laser/dp/B001WAKR3W/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1310796381&sr=1-1
The performance of these two has been outstanding (13+ feet). The K750 has not failed yet (never seems to need charging though we have lots of windows in the living room). The Mamba mouse is overkill but it was an extra so I used it instead of purchasing a new one. Reception is good though it does get buggy sometimes – this is fixed by turning it off and then on again. It works just as well on the table or on the couch arm.
Shamefully, I can't yet part with my Logitech One remote and give over full control to the keyboard - but the functionality is there. I still use the Logitech One for volume control.
For my music ripping, I opted to go with WMP lossless and playback via WMP staying with only WMP for music. The problem I expected with this is not being able to play .flac files. However, I figured out today that with DBPowerAmp’s WMP codec I can convert .flac to WMP lossless – nice!
I’m still figuring out quite a bit but hopefully this post has shown at least a few options to folks looking at the HTPC route.
Would I give back my HTPC and scrap this whole project - no way! Absolutely an improvement to the system. Like Sholling, I held off for a long time because the technology wasn't there. Today, I can say that it takes a little tweaking, but it's worth the effort.