I got a little lost building a HTCP...

C

cometcyclonemk

Limp Gawd
Joined
Feb 11, 2006
Messages
149
So I'm building my dad a HTCP. These are his requirements:

Must be able to schedule TV recordings and pause live TV. It also needs to be able to be outputted to a standard definition TV (The signal will be a standard over the air one as well).

This seems like the standard HTCP. I've read a lot of forums and how-to's but since this will be my first HTCP build and I won't be around to work out the bugs / change hardware (going back to school in a month) I want to make sure of what I need.

Assuming I have a 2ghz plus machine with 512mb plus ram and a 300GB harddrive. What else do I need? A capture card obviously, but which one? For video, will any card with a TV out do fine? He also wants to control it via remote, and he does not learn new things on the computer very quickly, so ease of use is a must. This would then bring me to my next question: What software should I use? MCE? XP pro with some sort of software? A linux based program? Some of the tuner cards come with software, are those good? The hardware would of course all have to be compatible with whatever software I go with. The machine is also on a pretty squeaky budget - less than $100 for the video card / capture card / remote would be best if possible. I have a copy of XP pro, and should be able to get MCE if needed, so keeping software costs down would be great as well.


Thanks in advance for all the help!

- Mark

PS - check out my BetaCord HTCP project in the worklog section - it'll just be a networked media player, but it's a poor college kids wanna be HTCP :D.
 
Well, not sure if you have an easy/cheap way of getting MCE but you would need to factor that into the budget. You're gonna want to get a hardware encoding capture card, and many will suggest the pvr-150 which is about 50 bucks. As far as software, if you can set up a flawless mythTV machine that'd obviously be the cheapest. Your other options are MCE, SageTV, and Beyond TV, all of which have people that will swear by them, so regarding these 3 pieces of software you can't really go wrong, it's just a matter of price.

One question, do you want to connect it to say basic cable or does it connect to a receiver of sorts (directTV, that kind of thing)? If it's the latter you'd need some sort of IR Blaster type thing (I don't use so maybe someone else can explain it better, basically changes the channel on the set top box by having the computer send out a signal).

It may be a bit out of your price range but there is a bundle at the BeyondTV site with remote, tuner, and software for 130, and a similar bundle for SageTV for 150.
 
if you are looking for stability and ease of use you are going to want to open that budget up a little. It is possible to find tuner cards for $50 if you can find a used one or aopen box. otherwise, factor in $75. A 5200 or 9600 will do fine for the video card. those can be had as low as $40. then there is software. I recommend MCE for the less savvy. stay away from linux if your dad is not a techie. supporting it over the phone will be a apin, especially if you are a linux noob like me.
 
Answer: The TV just catches over the air TV via an antenna in our attic - simple coax for connection.

A PVR-150 seems to be the card to go with then? I'm going to check into mythTV now.

thanks for the help, more suggestions would be great!
 
Windows MCE w/ the Microsoft Media Center remote is IMO the best choice for user friendliness. I love my Microsoft remote, it's extremely well laid out and intuitive. Runs about $35 too. You might be able to find AIO packages w/ tuner's MCE, and remote if you search around.

For tuners, I recomend the PVR-150MCE (about $50) if you only want single tuner capability. If you want dual tuner capability (watch one thing while recording another) then I recomend the PVR-500MCE (about $140). Both of those tuners implement well with Windows MCE.

You will also need a DVD decoder too. Many suggest the nVidia DVD decoder, but I personally had problems with it. I use PowerDVD 6.0 for my DVD decoder.
 
The PVR-150 MCE also comes in a MCE Kit version that includes the MS MCE remote and receiver.
 
HTCP? Home Theater Computer Personal?

ooo, you mean HTPC :D


I've been looking at the Betacord thread and it's coming along great!
 
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