Enter to Win: Roomate HTPC from VidaBox!

[tomahawktim]

I purchased my first (yes, first) home cpu last November and my first home theatre this summer.
Unfortunately, I am afraid I won't be able to handle the htpc without help.

 

[davlaf]

I'm a student, so I don't have enought money to buy a HTPC. But I will certainely buy one in the next 10 years . I'm afread of the support I could get with this because I don't know a place near me where I could buy one and get some instant support... So send it back to the manufacturer and... That's a lot of troubles...

David Lafleur

 

[cshaw88]

Other:

I built a HTPC 2 years ago at a cost of about $2500. Personally I enjoy having the flexability a HTPC gives you. I can easily install additional tuners, new hardware, and software whenever I feel the need. It takes a huge investment of time and money at first, but the payoff is worth it. Through our home network we can now access all of our media anywhere in the house.

 

[madadam]

vidabox poll reposnse

Concern about sound and video quality

 

[BigSwede]

HTPC concerns

My main concerns center around my lack of understanding of what all an HTPC can / will do. Can it act as my main home PC as well as control the theater, music uses? How reliable will it be - concern about computer problems infiltrating my home media.

 

[rjh22]

HTPC - Still Reservations

The inherent PC-design of a HTPC makes me worried, both for reasons of stability and audio fidelity. I'd definitely feed digital signals to my A/V receiver from a HTPC, making it just a storage and transport device. I also wish more HTPC's could be used as digital video (DVD content) storage devices, but with all the Hollywood hub-bub over content protection, I don;t see this happening very soon without being very crafty yourself to accomplish it.

 

[Topher]

I built an htpc, but I purchased a satellite hd pvr a couple months later. The htpc works great running Media Portal, but my modded xbox already played back everything, so I should have held off the htpc until it could record hd material.

 

[PAW]

Having dealt with PC for a long time, crashing is my strongest fear

 

[VicAjax]

definitely expensive and large... however, if i could use one as a dedicated music server with top-notch sound quality (plus a few movies thrown on there), i would undoubtedly make room in my system for one.

 

[Mort]

Htpc

Price is the biggest issue for me. I converted one of my old computers into an HTPC. However, my minuscule TV and limited Storage HDD space limit me from doing much with it.

 

[tomme35]

Price and affraid of future support

Price is out of my budget. Also this is new in HT market so I am affraid of lacking support in the future.

 

[cleansparks]

Contest question: What reservations have you had about purchasing a HTPC/Media Center system? What has stopped your from getting one? Explain your choices and add any other reasons not listed on the poll.

I have had a htpc that I built on Knoppmyth. My main reservation about using it that that stability isn't where I would like it to be and maintaining it is a bit of a time commitment especially when things go wrong.

 

[jcPanny]

Htpc

I have a Windows XP PC with I use as one of the sources for my A/V system, but there are a few drawbacks to this approach.
* While vastly more configurable, Window's PCs are much less reliable and more difficult to maintain than most consumer A/V gear.
* Also, I am not aware of models that offer the HDMI A/V connection that is standard on most consumer gear.
* Finally, I have heard rumors about difficulty with HD content rights management on HTPCs.

Despite these limitations, I would use a PC as a media server before spending thousands on a dedicated piece of consumer gear with similiar (or less) functionality.

 

[Randos]

I responded with price, stability, and the fear of "here today gone tomorrow" as a result of the nightmare my roomate and I have had with our non-functioning HTPC. The HTPC we built has gone through three motherboards, two different video cards, and two different sticks of ram and still crashes randomly. After costing us a combined $2500 we now have a very large paper weight because we refuse to spend any more time and money on it. It would be nice to buy a premade, preconfigured, stable machine once the college budget allows for it again.

 

[sk60]

Contest question: What reservations have you had about purchasing a HTPC/Media Center system? What has stopped your from getting one? Explain your choices and add any other reasons not listed on the poll.

Mostly about the cost as it blows my budget out to add this

 

[Nozferatu]

I want to wait for Vistas Media center before plunking down the money.
With the 64 bit processing and a great video card I am hoping to use the 3d options on my 56" sammy.

Also style has been an issue. I want something that looks nice in the cabinet.
Price point is also an issue. With hardware constantly changing it would be nice to have a more module type setup.

Noz

 

[ehurnie]

I would use a HTPC for watching movies and listening to music and the price to buy or build one is not worth it. Also I would like to be able to record shows from my cable provider, but I do not believe there is anything in a HTPC to record HD material.

 

[icky2000]

My issues are similar to everyone else. Number one is cost - I just don't have the extra $ at this point. The DRM issues are cause for concern as well I think. My current setup with a Tivo and a SliMP3 works pretty well but a new HTPC surely would be even better!

 

[MrFong]

I actually built one myself with an old PC, but the thing was WAY too loud, and I ran into problems getting the HTPC's remote control to change the channels on my cable box.

I'd love one with the following parameters:
1) fast boot-up (or return from Standby - but the standby power consumption would have to be LOW!)
2) either silent, or VERY quiet (~20db) - we spend all this money trying to lower the sound floor of the audio system, so the HTPC better not screw that up!
3) enough space (or upgradability) to handle lots of media content

Scott

 

[Joel47]

Price and Other: the (current) inability to accept Cablecard, or otherwise easily record digital cable (and non-local HDTV).