I love it!
I just finished my new HTPC with spare parts last week. Got all my music and movies transferred over and sat down to watch it in all it's glory this weekend. Unfortunately my monitor is only 1680x1050, so it's pretty small. I've been wanting to watch a couple movies in full 1080P on the big screen in the living room. MAN, did that make a HUGE difference! 1080P with 5.1 surround is just awesome.
Call me crazy, but that's not even the coolest part about the whole deal. To me, the coolest part is the damn remote! I wanted a way to control the PC without lugging a keyboard and mouse in and out; or just leaving it in the living room hooked up. I found this program called RemoteDroid that let's me use my Android as a keyboard and mouse. It even has a Wii mode that lets me move my mouse by moving my phone. Tilt up, mouse goes up. Tilt down mouse goes down, etc.
HTPC
Re: HTPC
For those of you unaware it goes a little bit further than just a display medium. He now has a FREE DVR that can capture any output going to the TV including DVDs, Public Broadcast, Sat/Cable, a picture of my junk being remotely streamed to the television, anything!
Also, on top of that he can upscale content, edit content, torrent movies and watch them on his TV without ever getting up and you know all those neat features in web connected TVs? They seem pretty lackluster when you have Deminthus' setup. At the press of a button he can go anywhere on the internet. This means that the laughable limitations imposed by internet TVs are thrown out the window. You can go anywhere on this baby including RedTube.com. That's right folks, free streaming porn to your TV.
Those are the obvious merits. Now lets get gritty. He can watch TV from his phone or any other computer now. Surveillance systems can easily be hooked up and monitored remotely or on screen as well. If he wants to listen to music using his stereo system all he needs to do is get it on that computer (meaning he could use CD/DVD/MP3/Torrents/Streaming(Pandora.com)/Streaming(From My Computer)/Streaming(Radio Channels and/or VOIP like Mumble), dedicated hosting for non-intrusive services (think hosting a mumble server).
It really goes beyond 'cool I can watch movies'. What he did really opened up the multimedia portion of his multimedia center. I recommend everyone does it and the second I have a high def TV I'll do it myself.
Also, on top of that he can upscale content, edit content, torrent movies and watch them on his TV without ever getting up and you know all those neat features in web connected TVs? They seem pretty lackluster when you have Deminthus' setup. At the press of a button he can go anywhere on the internet. This means that the laughable limitations imposed by internet TVs are thrown out the window. You can go anywhere on this baby including RedTube.com. That's right folks, free streaming porn to your TV.
Those are the obvious merits. Now lets get gritty. He can watch TV from his phone or any other computer now. Surveillance systems can easily be hooked up and monitored remotely or on screen as well. If he wants to listen to music using his stereo system all he needs to do is get it on that computer (meaning he could use CD/DVD/MP3/Torrents/Streaming(Pandora.com)/Streaming(From My Computer)/Streaming(Radio Channels and/or VOIP like Mumble), dedicated hosting for non-intrusive services (think hosting a mumble server).
It really goes beyond 'cool I can watch movies'. What he did really opened up the multimedia portion of his multimedia center. I recommend everyone does it and the second I have a high def TV I'll do it myself.
Re: HTPC
Well, give away all my secrets yo!!Ashenfury wrote:For those of you unaware it goes a little bit further than just a display medium. He now has a FREE DVR that can capture any output going to the TV including DVDs, Public Broadcast, Sat/Cable, a picture of my junk being remotely streamed to the television, anything!
Also, on top of that he can upscale content, edit content, torrent movies and watch them on his TV without ever getting up and you know all those neat features in web connected TVs? They seem pretty lackluster when you have Deminthus' setup. At the press of a button he can go anywhere on the internet. This means that the laughable limitations imposed by internet TVs are thrown out the window. You can go anywhere on this baby including RedTube.com. That's right folks, free streaming porn to your TV.
Those are the obvious merits. Now lets get gritty. He can watch TV from his phone or any other computer now. Surveillance systems can easily be hooked up and monitored remotely or on screen as well. If he wants to listen to music using his stereo system all he needs to do is get it on that computer (meaning he could use CD/DVD/MP3/Torrents/Streaming(Pandora.com)/Streaming(From My Computer)/Streaming(Radio Channels and/or VOIP like Mumble), dedicated hosting for non-intrusive services (think hosting a mumble server).
It really goes beyond 'cool I can watch movies'. What he did really opened up the multimedia portion of his multimedia center. I recommend everyone does it and the second I have a high def TV I'll do it myself.
TVTuner card will be coming soon, then I'll be able to do all the above. What really gets my rocks off is that I can do this from anywhere in the world once I set it up that way. Check my security camera feeds via phone or internet browser while I'm out of town? Yes please. Upload new data from a remote location? Sure. Watch a movie from my hotel room? Albeit a terribad connection, I'll do it just because I can.
The possibilities are endless, my friends.
And yes, Tahlren. Nerdgasm is correct. Only problem I have now is my roommates want to watch it all the time. That causes a problem since my phone controls it all! lol
Re: HTPC
LMAO. Leave it to me, I'll find a problem with your good shit. If I can't, I'll make one!!Ashenfury wrote:I thought the biggest problem was that you can't torrent as many HD movies as you want with your bandwidth? Jeeze, I'm always behind.
It's the seeding, really. I mean, EVERYBODY wants my porn.
Re: HTPC
So you route the hi-def signals out of your STB through the HTPC to record them? Or do you torrent all of your content?
Grisbault, Twice-Made.
The p, s, l, and t are silent, the screams are not.
The p, s, l, and t are silent, the screams are not.
Re: HTPC
Right now it's mostly ripped DVDs and a couple torrents. I haven't even really looked for a tuner card; but yes, I will be routing everything through the HTPC eventually. I have a tuner card and Blu-Ray player in the plan, I just haven't put the plan to action, yet.
I've decided to go with a remote for it, though. Although I love being able to control it from my phone, everyone else needs a way to access it. So I decided on this. That gives anyone else the ability to navigate and pick a movie or listen to music. I still need my phone to type, though(and I dig leaving it like that).
I've decided to go with a remote for it, though. Although I love being able to control it from my phone, everyone else needs a way to access it. So I decided on this. That gives anyone else the ability to navigate and pick a movie or listen to music. I still need my phone to type, though(and I dig leaving it like that).
Re: HTPC
Just be aware that the more remote connectivity you create, the more doors you open for someone you don't want to come in.
Re: HTPC
Fo sho. I'm fairly familiar with keeping my stuff secure, but the more practice I get the better I become. I've taken most precautions to protect my system(no SSID broadcast, MAC address filtering, etc), but if somebody wants in bad enough they're going to get in.Guduk wrote:Just be aware that the more remote connectivity you create, the more doors you open for someone you don't want to come in.
Now what they see if they get in is a different story. My personal PC is always off unless I'm on it(with WireShark running if it IS on), and nothing personal is put into the HTPC. Hell, I don't even log into my Google account on that computer.