The Official HTPC Thread

[-DMP-]

I just use my iPhone 5 or old iPhone 4 as a remote. My tv, laptop, and htpc have apps that allow them to be controlled by my iPhones.

I use tifi-remote for my tv.
Xbmc remote for xbmc(sometimes)
Hippo remote for mouse/keypad control on the laptop/htpc.

-DMP-

 

[Audible101]

I just use my iPhone 5 or old iPhone 4 as a remote. My tv, laptop, and htpc have apps that allow them to be controlled by my iPhones.

I use tifi-remote for my tv.
Xbmc remote for xbmc(sometimes)
Hippo remote for mouse/keypad control on the laptop/htpc.

-DMP-

I just bought like the cheap MS remotes and use it with that. Aeon Nox is lovely though. Can't wait until AMD release the new APU processors, they will be HTPC heaven for me.

 

[newarkhiphop]

http://www.the-coli.com/coli-deals/119545-[deal]-roku-2-xs-$55-free-hdmi-cable.html#post4419102

 

[Juliano Soprano]

What you need to know depends on what you plan on doing with it. Strictly media? Video Capture/Tuners, etc. For multi-tv's both AMD and Intel iGPUs can push two monitors. Just have to pick a mobo that has the outputs you plan on using, (most likely 2 HDMI's). Or you could purchase a cheap card like a NV GT210 or AMD equivalent.

Hello friend The things I want from a media center:

• Netflix and Hulu streams easily accessible
• Torrent Movies and ability to get shows and movies from HBO, Cinemax, Showtime etc. Basically ability to get premium cable channels that increase the cable bill
• Video games – old school like the Nintendo family, Sega Genesis, PS1 and 2 classics. Ability to get my steam account on there also, this is not a huge priority though.
• Movies – need to be able to stream and have some on the HD, all High Def and easy to get.
• Youtube access, not a HUGE deal breaker, but I would love that.
• Music – need to be able to play all my music on there, and need to have the option of accessing streaming music sites and downloading music.
• Access to a web browser – I would like to be able to browse the Internet on my TV, like hit up The-coli while on the couch. Don’t know if this is an option
• The GUI needs to be customizable and easy to navigate.
• Remote control has to work for the build, don’t want to control this only with a keyboard and mouse.

All of this has to run smoothly, I basically want to start with my media center, see how much I can get out of it, then consider getting cable if needed. If I get cable, I don’t want to have to get anything but basic cable.
So what should I look at? Is building my own HTPC with XBMC the best way to do this or can a Raspberry pi, Apple TV, PS3, Xbox360 or Roku fulfill these demands?

Info I have now:
Give the Gift of a Home Theater PC with These Media Center Builds

XBMC + HTPC Should I go with this build? or do something else?
How I Built the Media Center of My Dreams for Under $500
Create a Kickass, Seamless, Play-Everything Media Center: The Complete Guide
Raspberry Pi
Turn a Raspberry Pi Into an XBMC Media Center in Under 30 Minutes

@-DMP-
@CTech83
@newarkhiphop
@winb83
@Malta

I was considering making my own thread about this, but I think y'all will help me out in here

 

[2gunsup]

If it weren't for your need of emulators, possible access to Steam, and browser I'd have recommended a server type network storage build with Plex + Roku combo. To meet all your needs I'm thinking a HTPC with Windows 8 + XBMC would be the way to go.

If you need Netflix you'll need a Windows based build as far as HTPC's are concerned.

Edit: In other news,

Clever hack brings Plex to the Apple TV, no jailbreak required

 

[Juliano Soprano]

If it weren't for your need of emulators, possible access to Steam, and browser I'd have recommended a server type network storage build with Plex + Roku combo. To meet all your needs I'm thinking a HTPC with Windows 8 + XBMC would be the way to go.

If you need Netflix you'll need a Windows based build as far as HTPC's are concerned.

Edit: In other news,

Clever hack brings Plex to the Apple TV, no jailbreak required

I have a 6-7 year old PC I'm planning on turning into NAS and I can get a Roku 2 for free, I want the Classic games so bad but I can wait for now and do the Roku thing, worse comes to worse I can put this set up in my room and still create a HTPC for the Living room.

So with a NAS and Roku + Plex, I'll get everything but emulators, Steam and a browser?

 

[CTech83]

I just use my iPhone 5 or old iPhone 4 as a remote. My tv, laptop, and htpc have apps that allow them to be controlled by my iPhones.

I use tifi-remote for my tv.
Xbmc remote for xbmc(sometimes)
Hippo remote for mouse/keypad control on the laptop/htpc.

-DMP-

If you had an Android phone, i'd recommend the Yatse app for XBMC.

Home - Yatse, the Android Xbmc Remote and Widget - Yatse, the Android Xbmc Remote | Yatse 2

That shyt pauses what i'm watchin when I get a phone call, then resumes it once I hang up.

 

[2gunsup]

I have a 6-7 year old PC I'm planning on turning into NAS and I can get a Roku 2 for free, I want the Classic games so bad but I can wait for now and do the Roku thing, worse comes to worse I can put this set up in my room and still create a HTPC for the Living room.

So with a NAS and Roku + Plex, I'll get everything but emulators, Steam and a browser?

If cutting out cable completely I'd personally buiild a HTPC mainly for XBMC 's PseudoTV addon.

But yeah, a Roku should play anything you download just fine via Plex, you'll also have Netflix and Hulu. Plex also has a plethora of other web channels you can view.

 

[Juliano Soprano]

If cutting out cable completely I'd personally buiild a HTPC mainly for XBMC 's PseudoTV addon.

But yeah, a Roku should play anything you download just fine via Plex, you'll also have Netflix and Hulu. Plex also has a plethora of other web channels you can view.

Props breh, I'm gonna get that Roku and set it up this weekend. I think I'm still gonna build a HTPC, but I'm gonna do this first and take my time in getting the right equipment for building the HTPC.

 

[newarkhiphop]

Hello friend The things I want from a media center:

• Netflix and Hulu streams easily accessible
• Torrent Movies and ability to get shows and movies from HBO, Cinemax, Showtime etc. Basically ability to get premium cable channels that increase the cable bill
• Video games – old school like the Nintendo family, Sega Genesis, PS1 and 2 classics. Ability to get my steam account on there also, this is not a huge priority though.
• Movies – need to be able to stream and have some on the HD, all High Def and easy to get.
• Youtube access, not a HUGE deal breaker, but I would love that.
• Music – need to be able to play all my music on there, and need to have the option of accessing streaming music sites and downloading music.
• Access to a web browser – I would like to be able to browse the Internet on my TV, like hit up The-coli while on the couch. Don’t know if this is an option
• The GUI needs to be customizable and easy to navigate.
• Remote control has to work for the build, don’t want to control this only with a keyboard and mouse.

All of this has to run smoothly, I basically want to start with my media center, see how much I can get out of it, then consider getting cable if needed. If I get cable, I don’t want to have to get anything but basic cable.
So what should I look at? Is building my own HTPC with XBMC the best way to do this or can a Raspberry pi, Apple TV, PS3, Xbox360 or Roku fulfill these demands?

Info I have now:
Give the Gift of a Home Theater PC with These Media Center Builds

XBMC + HTPC Should I go with this build? or do something else?
How I Built the Media Center of My Dreams for Under $500
Create a Kickass, Seamless, Play-Everything Media Center: The Complete Guide
Raspberry Pi
Turn a Raspberry Pi Into an XBMC Media Center in Under 30 Minutes

@-DMP-
@CTech83
@newarkhiphop
@winb83
@Malta

I was considering making my own thread about this, but I think y'all will help me out in here

you need a mid/high HTPC , def. dont want to go the roku route for the things your looking for that life hacker $500 htpc is the best way to start use that as your base and adjust to your like

 

[newarkhiphop]

@2gunsup @GoldenGlove

question about plex , i bought a roku 2 XS recently for my parents place and i plan on picking up another one in a couple of weeks for my place, a few weeks after that hopefully i will be building a small nas to hold about 2TB of movie , can i have the NAS sharing the movies with both rokus running plex?

 

[GoldenGlove]

@2gunsup @GoldenGlove

question about plex , i bought a roku 2 XS recently for my parents place and i plan on picking up another one in a couple of weeks for my place, a few weeks after that hopefully i will be building a small nas to hold about 2TB of movie , can i have the NAS sharing the movies with both rokus running plex?

I don't see why not

 

[2gunsup]

@2gunsup @GoldenGlove

question about plex , i bought a roku 2 XS recently for my parents place and i plan on picking up another one in a couple of weeks for my place, a few weeks after that hopefully i will be building a small nas to hold about 2TB of movie , can i have the NAS sharing the movies with both rokus running plex?

Si Senor. In regards to how many unique streams you can have at anyone time that is limited by the hardware used in your NAS and bandwidth your network can handle. Also the media type.

 

[Hersh]

i recently got back into xbmc -- but im thinkin i want somethin "always" on-- should i got the pi way or a hdmi android stick? dont really have the space to put my laptop in my entertainment center.. and i dont have many local files-- really just usin navi and free cable etc.. help me out.

 

[GoldenGlove]

I've been running into buffering problems with my Plex + Roku combo lately. I'm not sure what's causing it either.

It only does this for movies, not for any TV shows. I have my default quality stream setting at 10mbps, when it pauses, I'll knock it to 8mbps and it usually clears up, but last night it was still stuttering so now it's an issue that I'm going to solve today.

I remember the last time I has this problem, AVG was the culprit. Once I removed that the streams went through fine.



Only new thing that I've installed on my PC since that AVG removal is the Hangout plugin in Chrome and I doubt that's what's causing this.

I know it's not my connection because...

[Wired]

And on wifi I pull 20mbps in every room that I have a Roku. I know it's good enough for movie streams because I've watched plenty before recently without these problems. And when I throw a movie on, nothing else is streaming or downloading at the same time.

I have a dual-band router that supports like 300mbps so shouldn't I be able to get even faster speeds over my wifi? Or is 20 the most you can get? Any suggestions would be appreciated.