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Another request for advice re: home entertainment computer

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  • 23-08-2003 3:47pm
    #1
    xinjinqiao
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2 ✭


    Hi,

    I am studying Chinese in China now and am thinking about setting up a computer to use for home entertainment. I have read many articles about this - I really have enjoyed the articles I have read on your site - but i have few twists to the normal request and I am a bit of an imbecile (i don't think i can even spell it) when it comes to this topic. Here is what i want to do with this computer:

    - watch dvd's and vcd's on a television
    - play mp3's
    - show powerpoint presentations on a television for teaching english, etc. along with music - a kind of homemade karaoke
    - use the computer/television with a webcam/voice chat to keep in touch with my sister and to let my friends do the same.
    - record television programs directly to hard drive for future viewing, aka tivo
    - surf the web
    - I may play some games but will not use it extensively for that purpose.
    - listen to internet radio
    - watch internet t.v.
    - i am going to network this computer and hope to be able to share the dvd player.
    - I also want to connect my Dazzle multimedia box to it to convert videotape to digital format, and vice versa. analog sound to mp3's and vice versa, etc. i do not plan to do any editing of sound or vide on this machine. I have "big Bertha" in my study to do that. I only want to be able to capture and convert the media with this machine at fairly high quality and then downgrade the quality later if it is not necessary.
    - i want to use a wireless keyboard/mouse combo with possibly wireless remote for the dvd player, tv card etc.

    I have a 800 mhz amd athlon slot a cpu (a.k.a. "the heater) that i am not using now that i hope to use for it. The motherboard is generic with (I think) a stereo plus built in sound card. I also have a tv card and 6 channel sound card i am happy with - i forget the brand at the moment.

    One a scale of 1 to 10 i am looking for a system that ranks about 7.5 to 8. I My ultimate goal in learning all of this? In a year and a half i plan to enter grad school and study the use of multimedia in education and I need to know how to be able to capture and manipulate the files.

    Questions:

    1. Is this athlon fast enough for the task?

    2. I have noticed the emergence of scsi DVD players - the cheapest for about $100. I was thinking about using a scsi dvd player and hard drive to relieve the cpu of the task of controlling everything. Do you think this will help? I have heard that SCSI devices allow 2 or more people to access a device at the same time. Is this true for DVD's

    3. is there a webcam made now that has a dedicated pci card to give better compresson and decoding than standard usb1 and usb2?

    4. Like everyone else i am really worried about getting a video card with good tv out. The consensus seems to be to get ATI. I have also read that the 7500 produces better tv out than other ati models. What do you think?

    5. i have a 29" tv, a little better than average Chinese brand color tv. I am sure a computer monitor would give me a more clear picture...I am wondering, if i want to use a computer monitor - i can't afford a 29" computer monitor (even if they make one) since a monitor is more clear and crisp than a television, will clarity and crispness make up for a smaller picture? In other words, if i get a 21 or 22" monitor or lcd will the sharpness of the picture make up for the smaller size? My family room is about 140 sq. ft. What about using 2 21" inch monitors together? Can the monitors be adjusted to display half the picture?

    6. Some of the newer motherboards for the slot A use DDR. most of them use the prior type of memory. Will there be a significant performance difference?

    Thanks :)


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  • Options
    #2
    MartinHSabag
    Closed Accounts Posts: 186 ✭✭MartinHSabag


    Hi xinjinqiao (I hope it means something in Chineese...:p )

    Building a HTPC is not easy (and not cheap as people might think) and the spec you've made is quite high....
    I'll try to answer briefly to your questions and then reffer you to the best forum for this purpose.

    1. I'm afraid it won't be the best for all what you've speced.
    2. Never heard of it, I know most of the HTPC just use a normal (IDE) DVD-ROM and the decoding is done on the display card anyway so the fact that it's SCASI or IDE has nothing to do with freeing the CPU.
    I don't know about the sharing.
    If you mean that two computers will be able to access the drive at the same time - I don't think it's possible. Just think about the fact that the laser reader will have to be in two different places at the same time.....
    3. I'm sure there are, but why would you need one ?
    If you want a better quality picture - get a good webcam. There are webcams with 1.3 Mega Pixels - that should be more than enough. The picture Quality thet you see using MSN Messenger or Netmeeting is mainly dependant on the speed of connection and settings and not necessarily the webcam itself.
    4. I haven't heard about your consensus, I actually find that Radeon give more bang for the buck - try the 9700 or 9800 pro.
    5. The picture quality of the TV-OUT (Composite or S-Video) is much inferrior than the VESA connection. The Monitor supports much higher resolution (depends on the monitor and the display card) and not like in a TV where the max resolution is dependant on the PAL/NTSC standard.
    The best PQ will be on the computer.
    Will the sharpness make up for the size ? - it's a personal call - only YOU can answer that.
    Connect two monitors to show split picture ? - yes, possible - there are display cards with two VESA connections and Winsdows XP support that - but, do you really intend to watch a movie on two monitors with something like 5 inches distance in the middle ?????
    6. It will, mainly for Games and the recording you intended to do.


    Check this forum

    Good Luck


  • Options
    #3
    xinjinqiao
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2 ✭xinjinqiao


    yes...xinjinqiao means "new golden bridge" referring to opportunities....I have read your very knowledgeable response several times...and looked though the forum you suggested...actually, I will probably be reading through that for the next couple of weeks to digest all of the info. I have a couple of questions re: your response.

    (RE: PQ) Would you say that the best option is a dvd player with a television, the second best is a computer with dvd player and the third best is a pc with a tv out card going to a tv?

    What is the minimum speed cpu/memory config you would recommend? From your response it seems that memory is as important to htpc as it is to scanners in dtp. I know the athlon is a bit slow...I was thinking about a scsi dvd because the scsi drive controller takes some of the overhead off of the cpu, so the cpu is freer to do other things. What about using a hardware decoder, also to free up the cpu?

    Can you recommend a website that has one article serving as a htpc primer for us newbies?

    T


  • Options
    #4
    MartinHSabag
    Closed Accounts Posts: 186 ✭✭MartinHSabag


    Hi
    I'm glad I managed to help you in some way.
    The AVSFORUM is THE forum for this kind of stuff and also for Projectors, screens, HDTV etc.

    Regarding the PQ, no. Actually there are several options and a DVD player with a TV can be better or worse than a PC with a TV or a PC alone - it all depends how you transfer the video from the player (DVD or PC) and to what (Monitor, TV or Projector),i.e is it a composite (one yellow RCA) or RGB or Component or even digital like DVI.

    So the quality of video format (from best to worse) is:
    1. DVI
    2. Component
    3. RGB (VESA is type of RGB)
    4. S-Video
    5. Composite

    Now, for the display (i.e monitor/projector/TV) it all depends on the resolution (if talking about monitor and PJ), refresh rate, contrast ratio etc. etc. etc.

    1. Monitor
    2. Projector
    3. TV

    As for the source (player), actually the PC (if built properly) could be the most powerful player as you are very flexible (from the software point of view) to control a lot of things that you can't on other players - however the biggest advantage of a HTPC is when connected to a projector and won't bw noticed on a regular TV (not to say a 21" one....) therefore if I were you I would buy a cheap DVD to cennect to my TV with the highest quality signal possible (RGB or Component - depends what the TV supports) and leave the PC for the MP3's and Powerpoint through a TV-OUT (preferred S-Video).

    I can't tell what the minimum spec for the HTPC would be, it's all matter of budget same as speakers and sports cars...;)

    Here are some links (just type "HTPC" in google....):
    Link1
    Nice project
    Another nice project


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