Hi everybody, what a great piece of software MP is. Congrats to all involved.
I got interested in htpc when I wrote some ShowShifter plugins for a customer, but SS had too many limitations for me.
Likewise, MCE not supporting analog and Digital together was a bummer,a s I wanted to watch Foxtel (analog) as well as HDTV.
My searches bought me to here, and I'm glad I did !
I read just about everthing on this forum, and jumped in with both feet !
My setup:
Case: x15e
MB: Gigabyte 8I915 pro duo
CPU: socket 775 3.2Ghz Intel
RAM: 1Gig DDR
Video: Gigabte X600
TV cards: 2 x Compro DVB-T300 digital, 1 x PVR-150MCE analog
Sound:5.1 on MB
HDD: Western Digital 40Gb ATA + WD 250G SATA
DVD: Lite-on DVD-R
PSU: Zalman quiet 400W
Remote: MCE 2005 remote, and MS remote keyboard
MP: 0.2.0.0C1
I have a couple of 3.4Ghz P4's as work machines, so I knew the stock intel coolers were rubbish. This baby has a Zalman 7700 cu on the CPU, Zalman on the Video, and a low noise Zalman case fan running off the 5v
It runs at between 35 to 50 C, depending on load.
You can hear the fans from about 1 meter away, but an normal viewing distance not.
In any case, (pardon the pun) noise isn't an issue, as the HTPC mostly sits at S3, completely quiet. I awakens to d/l the guide (XMLTVGrabber), and to record when needed. I switch on and off with the remote.
The IR blaster controls my Foxtel STB beautifully (thanks Frodo!)
The only down side is my tv has separate remote buttons for power on and off, which means I can't switch it with the MCE remote (only one button for tv power). I solved that by making the tv go to standby when no DVI input. Obviously the TV powers up for getting the guide and recording, but i'll live with that at the moment.
I now use the PC power button on the remote to control my stereo system power.
I bought the Compros, as they are hybrid cards, and I thought I'd get Dig and analog, but alas, the analog recording (sw encoding) was totally useless, so now I only use the digital part. I added the PVR-150 as it has hardware analog encoder, and works great. Doesn't matter, as the Compros were $129, and a Fusion (digital only) was $169, so great value anyway.
All in all, I'm very happy with the system, and it has a high WAF !
I've been able to record 2 digital channels and foxtel simultaneously with no problems. ( next test is to do that whilst watching a DVD, and also playing a pre-recorded show on another PC via the LAN!). Nuthin' like stress testing.....
if someone can tell me how to embed a pic (I don't have a web page) I'll put some piccy's up.
thanks for reading,
Mark
I got interested in htpc when I wrote some ShowShifter plugins for a customer, but SS had too many limitations for me.
Likewise, MCE not supporting analog and Digital together was a bummer,a s I wanted to watch Foxtel (analog) as well as HDTV.
My searches bought me to here, and I'm glad I did !
I read just about everthing on this forum, and jumped in with both feet !
My setup:
Case: x15e
MB: Gigabyte 8I915 pro duo
CPU: socket 775 3.2Ghz Intel
RAM: 1Gig DDR
Video: Gigabte X600
TV cards: 2 x Compro DVB-T300 digital, 1 x PVR-150MCE analog
Sound:5.1 on MB
HDD: Western Digital 40Gb ATA + WD 250G SATA
DVD: Lite-on DVD-R
PSU: Zalman quiet 400W
Remote: MCE 2005 remote, and MS remote keyboard
MP: 0.2.0.0C1
I have a couple of 3.4Ghz P4's as work machines, so I knew the stock intel coolers were rubbish. This baby has a Zalman 7700 cu on the CPU, Zalman on the Video, and a low noise Zalman case fan running off the 5v
It runs at between 35 to 50 C, depending on load.
You can hear the fans from about 1 meter away, but an normal viewing distance not.
In any case, (pardon the pun) noise isn't an issue, as the HTPC mostly sits at S3, completely quiet. I awakens to d/l the guide (XMLTVGrabber), and to record when needed. I switch on and off with the remote.
The IR blaster controls my Foxtel STB beautifully (thanks Frodo!)
The only down side is my tv has separate remote buttons for power on and off, which means I can't switch it with the MCE remote (only one button for tv power). I solved that by making the tv go to standby when no DVI input. Obviously the TV powers up for getting the guide and recording, but i'll live with that at the moment.
I now use the PC power button on the remote to control my stereo system power.
I bought the Compros, as they are hybrid cards, and I thought I'd get Dig and analog, but alas, the analog recording (sw encoding) was totally useless, so now I only use the digital part. I added the PVR-150 as it has hardware analog encoder, and works great. Doesn't matter, as the Compros were $129, and a Fusion (digital only) was $169, so great value anyway.
All in all, I'm very happy with the system, and it has a high WAF !
I've been able to record 2 digital channels and foxtel simultaneously with no problems. ( next test is to do that whilst watching a DVD, and also playing a pre-recorded show on another PC via the LAN!). Nuthin' like stress testing.....
if someone can tell me how to embed a pic (I don't have a web page) I'll put some piccy's up.
thanks for reading,
Mark