Help Building HTPC

[jinjuku]

Thos devices can't run YAMJ. YAMJ is awesome because I can completely tweak the front end from the server and it will be the same with each device that connects to it. 1 setup for multiple devices. If I YAMJ didn't exist I wouldn't have an NMT.

Its easy to configure 1 device.....keeping all devices in the house synched is another story altogether and YAMJ is the best solution I have found thus far.

The Win7MCE interface + MyMovies meets all my needs. The nice thing about true PC based solutions is all the variability available.

Just like YAMJ I can simply add extenders if needed.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

For SOME reason my original post about the Sempron 140 based HP keeps getting ignored

I ignored these, since OP was sending confusing messages. Ether as original subject goes : "Help me BUILD HTPC", then jinjuku - you are absolutely correct going DIY Sempron box with low end AMD 54xx video card and dvd-rom drive is the way to go to get ***-kicking htpc, with whatever software frontend one desires.

However, OP kept saying he wanted to reuse existing dell laptop, and I tried to keep my answers regarding this part of the question.

Going VGA and TOSLink means no High Definition audio at the very least.

Yes, he will loose HD audio, however OP said he got 300+ DVD titles he wants to store and play and this simple and CHEAP solution will allow him to reuse the laptop and achieve HIS target. Would this be ultimate HTPC - no, but it'll do circles around any hardware clients like wd-tv live!
As someone said earlier - USB external storage is probably easy way to get that 1.5Tb of space needed for this.

 

[krzywica]

The Win7MCE interface + MyMovies meets all my needs. The nice thing about true PC based solutions is all the variability available.

Just like YAMJ I can simply add extenders if needed.

To each his own....it meets my needs of HD audio, a nice looking front end that a 2 year old could use and not break, and its extremely reliable....

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

For SOME reason my original post about the Sempron 140 based HP keeps getting ignored

$279 PC + $30 GPU + $ 50 BD-ROM = $359 HTPC

Yeah, that is a very nice and economic solution.

The OP can just add a 2TB HDD and you can start ripping away those DVDs.

 

[krzywica]

Does the OP have any updates on the current hardware?

 

[bmurphy2121]

Does the OP have any updates on the current hardware?

I still have the same stuff didnt really mess with it this weekend do to the fact that me and the gf got a new puppy so I spent most of my time with the new puppy. Still not sure how to post pic so that I could show my GPU and maybe take a dif route and just buy maybe a good pre-built one and using the laptop just to surf the net.

 

[krzywica]

Found a solution to your problem buddy.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31021_3-20016232-260.html

Sent from my droid2

 

[bmurphy2121]

Found a solution to your problem buddy.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31021_3-20016232-260.html

Sent from my droid2

I def will check that out when it comes closer to release date.

 

[bmurphy2121]

I just went to Amazon and read about that Boxee Box it really sounds like a good deal and def something Ive been looking for. Thanks Wica for the heads up on this thing. I wish I could get it now and try it out. I have one question tho, how can I get my DVD collection from disc to the Boxee Box to be able to watch on my HDTV? Would I need to first save them to an external HD and then the Boxee Box would find them and play it that way? Next question how do I back up all my DVD collection, like what program can I use Ive heard or Handbrake and DVDshrink but whats the best/easiest one to back my DVDs up with?

 

[krzywica]

I just went to Amazon and read about that Boxee Box it really sounds like a good deal and def something Ive been looking for. Thanks Wica for the heads up on this thing. I wish I could get it now and try it out. I have one question tho, how can I get my DVD collection from disc to the Boxee Box to be able to watch on my HDTV? Would I need to first save them to an external HD and then the Boxee Box would find them and play it that way? Next question how do I back up all my DVD collection, like what program can I use Ive heard or Handbrake and DVDshrink but whats the best/easiest one to back my DVDs up with?

You can try it out before hand as they have installable packages for every OS. Just go here and sign up, download the client and set it up, its all free.

http://www.boxee.tv/

For archiving your DVD's it depends on what exactly you want to do. If you want 1:1 rips then I would use DVD shrink and archive them all to either ISO files or DVD Folders. This would be the easiest most time effective way to do it. However it will take the most hard drive space.

The other way would be to encode everything to mkv files. I would suggest handbrake or another open source app....this will make the file sizes of your movies smaller and consolidate disk space. However it will take much monger and make your laptop virtually unusable while the encoding process is taking place. Sometimes each movie can take several hours depending on your systems speed.

 

[bmurphy2121]

"For archiving your DVD's it depends on what exactly you want to do. If you want 1:1 rips then I would use DVD shrink and archive them all to either ISO files or DVD Folders. This would be the easiest most time effective way to do it. However it will take the most hard drive space."

I would want to do it this way because of the time. The question I have is how do you turn them into ISO files? Im sorry for all the dumb comp questions but like I said before Im just learning and am still dump to the computer and how to set things up on it. Thats why Im looking for some easy and good solutions for what Im wnating to do. Not worried bout HD space cause Ill use an external one at least 1.5 tb. If I do the way you mentioned will I be able to plug up external HD to my PS3 and watch movie that way?

As for as the Boxee Box download I tried it last night but seemed that I wasnt able to get a lot of content like movies/tv shows to come up. Do you think that with this new Boxee Box coming out that there just using the download to show what it can do so that ppl will buy it when comes out? Because so for I think that thing has a ton of potential and I would be up for buying it if there was more content available.

 

[krzywica]

"For archiving your DVD's it depends on what exactly you want to do. If you want 1:1 rips then I would use DVD shrink and archive them all to either ISO files or DVD Folders. This would be the easiest most time effective way to do it. However it will take the most hard drive space."

I would want to do it this way because of the time. The question I have is how do you turn them into ISO files? Im sorry for all the dumb comp questions but like I said before Im just learning and am still dump to the computer and how to set things up on it. Thats why Im looking for some easy and good solutions for what Im wnating to do. Not worried bout HD space cause Ill use an external one at least 1.5 tb. If I do the way you mentioned will I be able to plug up external HD to my PS3 and watch movie that way?

As for as the Boxee Box download I tried it last night but seemed that I wasnt able to get a lot of content like movies/tv shows to come up. Do you think that with this new Boxee Box coming out that there just using the download to show what it can do so that ppl will buy it when comes out? Because so for I think that thing has a ton of potential and I would be up for buying it if there was more content available.

I'ts not designed to stream movies from the web for free. It is designed to stream TV Shows from the web for free. It is also designed to stream any content that you have in digital format that the device is configured to see on your local network or that is plugged into the device.

This is the fist google hit for "dvd shrink instructions". Do you use Google? If not you should check it out (seriously I don't know if you do or not)....

http://www.dvd-guides.com/content/view/16/59/

 

[bmurphy2121]

"I'ts not designed to stream movies from the web for free." Wrong this is what Amazon has to say about it "Huge Movie Library"
"Enjoy free movies from the web & watch new releases in stunning HD from premium movie services" As for as TV shows I couldnt find True Blood at all on there. So Im guessing its just a Beta version to show how the Boxee Box will work when it comes out.

As for as the DVD Shrink I know how to use it the question was how do I make an ISO file? If I make it into an ISO file will I be able to plug it into my PS3 and watch It through that way. These two questions was not answered by using the DVD Shrink "How too".

Google what is it? Dose that mean I got a high score or somthing?

 

[krzywica]

"I'ts not designed to stream movies from the web for free." Wrong this is what Amazon has to say about it "Huge Movie Library"
"Enjoy free movies from the web & watch new releases in stunning HD from premium movie services" As for as TV shows I couldnt find True Blood at all on there. So Im guessing its just a Beta version to show how the Boxee Box will work when it comes out.



Google what is it? Dose that mean I got a high score or somthing?

I don't think you understand how streaming works. NONE of the content is hosted or maintained by Boxee or Boxee Box. It enables the ability to stream from other sources, like Hulu, CBS, NBC, ect. If its not available on the authors website it will not be available in Boxee, True Blood is an HBO exclusive show for example and would not be available for free. The premium services also refers to Netflix and other pay per month or pay per movie services.

As for as the DVD Shrink I know how to use it the question was how do I make an ISO file? If I make it into an ISO file will I be able to plug it into my PS3 and watch It through that way. These two questions was not answered by using the DVD Shrink "How too".

Read the guide its in there. Its at the end. The last step is choosing how to output your modified DVD. You will want to chose iso. I haven't used this application for many years as I don't do DVD's anymore.

As far as the PS3 goes I have no idea. You can use PS3 media streamer to stream content to your PS3 via the lan or wifi from your laptop or desktop but I have no idea of the file containers or codecs that the PS3 supports as I don't own one.

 

[bandphan]

I have no idea of the file containers or codecs that the PS3 supports as I don't own one.

MPG
-MPEG-1 (MPEG Audio Layer 2) (.MPG)
-MPEG-2 PS (MPEG2 Audio Layer 2, AAC LC, AC3(Dolby Digital), LPCM) (.MPG)
-MPEG-2 TS (MPEG2 Audio Layer 2) (.MPG)
-MPEG-4 Part3 (MPEG-4 AAC Low Complexity (unprotected)) (.MP4)
-MPEG-4 Part2 (MPEG-4 SP; MPEG-4 ASP) (.MP4)
-MPEG-4 DivX (in AVI) (.AVI)
-MPEG-4 H.264 (.MP4 / .M4V)
-MPEG-4 AVC (.MP4)
DivX (.AVI / MPG)
XviD (.AVI / .MPG)
AVI (.AVI)
Motion JPEG
-Motion JPEG (Linear PCM)
-Motion JPEG (μ-Law)
VC-1 (.WMV)
AVCHD (.m2ts / .mts )


If the PS3 is going to handle the media, Id hard wire through a gigabyte network to ensure the best playback (since the PS3 has a 10/1000 adapter).
Note - The DivX, XviD & VC-1 (.WMV) only work if you're on v2.10 or more.

 

[bmurphy2121]

Well I have a 350G HD that I have formated to FAT32 and have copied a movie using DVDShrink but am haveing trouble getting the movie to play on the PS3. The PS3 sees the HD but when I click on the HD it says there is no folders/files when I know I have put music and a movie on the HD. Just having a hard time getting this thing set up.

 

[bandphan]

Did you setup the folders for sharing?

 

[bmurphy2121]

Did you setup the folders for sharing?

Yes I got the folders set up now and it works like a charm. You have to make ur first folder called VIDEO in all caps and then what ever movie u copy u put that movie in that folder and then make a new folder inside the VIDEO folder of the title of the movie and thats it. It def will help get rid of some of my movie I have on DVD thats for sure