Hello folks,
Money restriticions:
-I am a third world citizen AND although I receive a pretty much good wage for my country standards (33,000 US$/year net income) eletronics are high taxed (ranging from 30 thru 60% over US prices) here and usually we are pushed to smugle parts from neiboring countries where parts cost something similar to US prices.
-I did set a expense limit of US$ 500.00 to assemble my HTPC, does not mattering where the parts come from (so, yes, I am serious about bringing some parts from those neigboring countries).
-Software: my idea is at the beggining have a dual HTPC configuration; one partition having WinXP+MediaPortal, one partition having Linux+MythTV (Knoppixmyth probably) and a third partition holding all media files. This third partition will also offer a shared directory for synchronizing sensitive files from my notebook. As time goes on I will kick one of those HTPC frontends if it turns to be inferior.
-Needs that go a bit beyond of what MediaPortal or MythTV may offer:
a) Wake up capabilities for recording, alarm clock, etc.
Easy plugin development for customization (MediaPortal plus)
c) MAME and other emulators interface integrated within the htpc frontend software.
d) DVD ripping (almost sure MediaPortal does not provide - need to develop a plugin to talk to DVDShrink or other)
e) Radio recording (FM or stream) is a nice thing to have also.
f) Integrated frontend for burning easily media content to a CD or DVD.
g) I don't care about NOISE or CASE SIZE, since we are working with very such strict budget.
-TV set: 21 inches CRT flat screen television that has only S-video and component video input.
-Speaker set: will buy a 5.1 speaker set later, implies that the onboard sound must be able to talk to this set
-Hardware (HERE I NEED SOME SERIOUS ADVICE HERE, REMEMBER MY BUDGET)
200-250 GB SATA Hard disk
AMD or Intel low-end platform with low power consumption (NEED ADVICE HERE)
Motherboard offering integrated sound supporting 5.1 or 6.1, SATA and LAN.
Good cost/benefit video card offering TV out support (NEED ADVICE HERE)
512 MB RAM
Best cost/benefit TV Tuner board (NEED ADVICE HERE, DO I NEED HARDWARE ENCODING???)
DVDRW (Good brand...NEED ADVICE HERE)
LAST OBSERVATION: 500 MINUS 60-70 bucks for an horizontal CASE!!
PRETTY TIGHT, HUH?
Help me folks!
Money restriticions:
-I am a third world citizen AND although I receive a pretty much good wage for my country standards (33,000 US$/year net income) eletronics are high taxed (ranging from 30 thru 60% over US prices) here and usually we are pushed to smugle parts from neiboring countries where parts cost something similar to US prices.
-I did set a expense limit of US$ 500.00 to assemble my HTPC, does not mattering where the parts come from (so, yes, I am serious about bringing some parts from those neigboring countries).
-Software: my idea is at the beggining have a dual HTPC configuration; one partition having WinXP+MediaPortal, one partition having Linux+MythTV (Knoppixmyth probably) and a third partition holding all media files. This third partition will also offer a shared directory for synchronizing sensitive files from my notebook. As time goes on I will kick one of those HTPC frontends if it turns to be inferior.
-Needs that go a bit beyond of what MediaPortal or MythTV may offer:
a) Wake up capabilities for recording, alarm clock, etc.
Easy plugin development for customization (MediaPortal plus)
c) MAME and other emulators interface integrated within the htpc frontend software.
d) DVD ripping (almost sure MediaPortal does not provide - need to develop a plugin to talk to DVDShrink or other)
e) Radio recording (FM or stream) is a nice thing to have also.
f) Integrated frontend for burning easily media content to a CD or DVD.
g) I don't care about NOISE or CASE SIZE, since we are working with very such strict budget.
-TV set: 21 inches CRT flat screen television that has only S-video and component video input.
-Speaker set: will buy a 5.1 speaker set later, implies that the onboard sound must be able to talk to this set
-Hardware (HERE I NEED SOME SERIOUS ADVICE HERE, REMEMBER MY BUDGET)
200-250 GB SATA Hard disk
AMD or Intel low-end platform with low power consumption (NEED ADVICE HERE)
Motherboard offering integrated sound supporting 5.1 or 6.1, SATA and LAN.
Good cost/benefit video card offering TV out support (NEED ADVICE HERE)
512 MB RAM
Best cost/benefit TV Tuner board (NEED ADVICE HERE, DO I NEED HARDWARE ENCODING???)
DVDRW (Good brand...NEED ADVICE HERE)
LAST OBSERVATION: 500 MINUS 60-70 bucks for an horizontal CASE!!
PRETTY TIGHT, HUH?
Help me folks!
, at glance at the subject line it reads as 500 thousand dollars US.