OT: Cutting the cord and HTPC's

[Conesus_Kid]

Hi gang,

I thought I'd start a new thread about cutting the cord with Time Warner Cable.

This weekend, I installed an outdoor antenna which picks up 18 local (Rochester) channels. I also purchased a Roku streaming player. I am completely happy with the results thus far. I removed the Time Warner cable boxes from the TV's and believe it or not, everyone in my house survived and the planet continued to rotate on its axis.

I think the next phase of this project will be to build an HTPC (Home Theater PC). We are due for a new computer, so I figured that instead of putting it in the den, we can just hook it up to the HDTV in the living room.


I'm considering Micro-ATX form factor. This won't be used for gaming. Main uses will be web browsing, email, and streaming online videos. I will most likely incorporate > 1 TB of HDD space for downloaded video content, music, and our photos.


Has anyone here built such an animal? I've built several PC's before, but it's been a while and I'm sure that the technology has changed. I'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences here.

Thanks.

 

[tent boy]

Can't help you out with the computer stuff. But, it's nice to know that it is possible to cut the cord and have everyone in the household survive. We have cut the cord in the past, only to have it " repaired" without my consent. Be strong. You are not out of the woods yet. There will be an uprising during the withdrawal period. Probably an ambush when you get home from work.

 

[PufferNut]

I just recently built a gaming rig myself, as well as a friend of mine. The hard drive he used was designed for video surveillance and video streaming like in a DVR system. You may want to look into this kind of storage.. his was a Seagate.. but was DoA lol. The second drive did work, but I did some research for him and it seems that series was prone to failure. Solid state drives are the hot rod HD right now, but for the size your looking its big $$$$. I know video cards used to be available with tuners in them, I would think something like that would be great for your application. A quad core should be sufficient, but as it sounds like a lot of multitasking is likely to occur I'd go more cores if budget allows. Read up on your compatibilities (google is your friend)and it should be easy.

 

[SkiFletch]

I've done it before, both for myself and a buddy. His was way more-better though since he built it into a mailbox. Looks so cool under the TV. IMO you don't need all that much processing power to do an HTPC. Look into newegg as they have a lot of barebone systems with mATX form factors all ready to go.

 

[EllieSuz]

Will you subscribe to any streaming services such as Hulu, Netflix, etc.? Would you share details about the outdoor antenna? Where did you buy it and how complicated was the installation? I've been campaigning to drop cable too, but my husband isn't having it. I need ammunition, Scott.

 

[madbomber]

While we are addicted to fios and its channel lineup (90% useless), we are digital media junkies as well. Subscribe to piratebay.org . I use a windows home server for sharing my media. Once there it can be accessed by anywhere including my tablets and phone, even through a web browser thats silverlight compliant (no apples, sorry). I also purchased a couple partiot network media players for each TV. There are many different manufacturers selling network media players now, some for very cheap. Its a great way to get and digtial media to your TV without investing in an entire PC. Spend the money on a server or disk storage. If you want regular TV programs that may not be available over the air, just get netflix. Of course if your savy enogh, you can find anything broadcast on the web.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

I'd suggest doing a realistic assesment of your media "requirements" and THEN proceeding with design of the solution - you may find you don't actually need an HTPC (i.e. if you have a Wii or xbox or Roku, you can get most online media that way.) Plus with all the cloud media options out there (Amazon, iTunes, etc) even stuff that would normally live on your own server can probably live on the net.

I'm a bit biased by my own case though. I built an HTPC about a year or so ago, after we'd cut the cable, and after a few months we pretty much just stopped using it. We found we could get everything we needed via netflix, hulu, youtube, websites for the major networks, amazon prime, etc - all via the Wii on our living room TV or in rare cases that the wii can't handle by plugging a laptop or tablet into the TV. So I've taken down the HTPC and plugged the antenna directly into the TV for those few times here and there we want to watch something OTA.

 

[jlymner]

I second der_wille_zur_macht suggestion... I got a mac mini in part to use as a media unit ... have bought it downstairs once to do so... still a good computer for my uses and love the size and form factor...

 

[E_rock]

Western Digital makes a device calls the Live TV Hub. And its fantastic. It has a 1tb hard drive built in and a HDMI output. That allows me share all my media wirelessly through my home network. I have 150+ Blu-ray copies of movies stored on it a bunch of music and photos. Not to mention it has a bunch of online services. Netflix, hulu, pandora... Best bang for your buck IMO, and I have been selling this stuff for the last few years.

 

[Conesus_Kid]

Eileen,

This is the antenna that I'm using: http://www.amazon.com/RCA-ANT751R-Outdoor-Optimized-Reception/dp/B0024R4B5C

It's mounted on the back side of my house up towards the roof. The coaxial cable is run down the wall of the house and into the basement, where it's split to go to different rooms. It was a really easy install.

We subscribe to Netflix streaming, Hulu Plus, and I'm an Amazon Prime member, so there's tons of content there.

After thinking about it some more, I'm not so sure I need an HTPC. I'm thinking about adding an NAS to my home network for any content that I want to keep on hand.

Eric- I'm going to check out that device, thanks.

 

[Srixon]

I'm gonna need the full tour.....beer making and how to make time Warner kiss my naughty spot! Let me know soon.....lol

 

[oldimpala]

CK-

Although I've far from cutting the cord (I work for Verizon, and get a great deal on FiOS), I use a full-blown media server to supplement my needs in the house.

Lay out some thoughts and requirement as to what you want to do with your server/replay boxes; and what you want your server to do.

My needs went a little beyond just media (As yours might, too, if you think about it.) I wanted to house my music and digital picture portfolios (Sanus and Squeezebox servers with 140GB of music; and to feed integrated digital frames), the ability to do backups/bare metal restorations for my PCs (Which saved my butt once a year ago), and the ability to handle a WSUS server. (Geeky; I'll explain if you want.)

After some consideration, I went with a Windows Home Server platform; and eventually upgraded to WHS 2011. It's based on Server 2008, but tweaked down for SOHO/personal use. It supports XBMC (Xbox Media Center), remote access and streaming, and tons of other items.

With a Xeon, server motherboard, an ATTO drive controller, a 42U Rack, 24-Port Gigabit Switch and 28TB of storage (40TB capacity, and growing), it's a beast. But I've got tons of media, and a bulletproof system for HD audio and video streaming over multiple platforms and locations.

The reason I'm bringing this up isn't to geek out on ya; it's to think about what you may want to *ultimately* do with this PC. It's not just a HTPC, it *can* do more in the backgroundl it's a PC. Plan for what you want.

If you want to stream to multiple locations, and want backup options, want HD Video/Audio, want to stream audio, want all that stuff.... I've been down that road. Ask, and I'll help you get there.

For streaming, think about what media containers (MKV, AVI, ISO, MP4, etc) you want to support, and what type of video resolution you want. What type of audio you'd like (Dolby DTS 9.2, or two speakers in your TV kind of questions.) What you want to perhaps "Centralize" in your home, and what your total needs are to store those files. Those questions may determine your platform, and what you need to set them up (Like Win7 Media Center versus a standalone streamer.)

I can also throw you some ideas on the interface (XBMC, My Movies, and Zappiti are some examples) for what you and your family want to see/maintain/use on your actual TV screeen.

Let me know what hardware you're using, what you want, and I can throw you some ideas; and probably some hardware if you're needing some stuff (I have boxes full of PC junk.)

-Andy

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

Anyone up for hire?

Anyone up for hire?

I don't know anything about this stuff but I wanna cut the cord.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

I think the good news these days is you don't HAVE to know much unless you are personally interested. Get an antenna for OTA broadcasts from local stations and use a Wii, Xbox, PlayStation, roku, appletv, or some other appliance to get online and cloud content. Or, heck, stream it from your phone to a WiFi equipped tv... there are so many good consumer appliances out there these days and so much streaming/cloud content on the internets I really would have a hard time arguing that someone needs to run a desktop or server class OS just to watch stuff on a TV - unless, again, doing so is interesting to you as a hobby in and of itself.

 

[oldimpala]

Willie-

It depends on what you want to stream; at the bandwidth needed for my streaming appliances, the ability to read and write stripe, and the ability to do RAID protect does it for me.

My at TV appliances are Dune HDI Smart D1s. They reproduce A/V well; and do full Java based Blu-Ray ISOs. I researched a lot of other solutions; all (including the one I bought) have strengths and weaknesses. Pick what's important to you, and you can find a TV-top appilance that meets your needs.

The reason I went with a full-blown server is because other than a Drobo, nothing other than a Server will provide the bandwidth I needed. Drobos cost almost as much, and do very little other than be a RAID based NAS.

Plus, like I mentioned above, the server does more than just stream video. It killed multiple birds with one stone, so to speak....

Depending on what people want to do with their integrated media solutions, you can get away with a NAS (I started with a Buffalo NAS, and blew up from there.)

It, like starting with a 55G tank in this hobby, only leads to bigger and better solutions.

Gary-

If you need help, I can help you out... I take wages in pizza, beer, and frags.

Let me know!

-Andy

 

[E_rock]

just curious do you actually have media that is DTS 9.2? If so I want it.

 

[Conesus_Kid]

Thanks, fellas!

Andy- Your system sounds like a bit more than I require, but who knows what the future holds?!?! At this point, we have successfully streamed one of the kids' shows by hooking up the laptop to the TV and the picture/sound was great (for us).

I was looking at those Buffalo NAS units, and was thinking that that might be a direction I head in the future. Tomorrow is the one week mark without cable and people are still smiling at my house.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Andy, I don't think we're disagreeing - you're clearly one of the people who is doing this "as a hobby" itself. Contrast that with people like me, or Scott and Gary (I'm guessing) who "just want to watch TV." I'd propose that this second group doesn't need to deal with the learning curve of setting up servers or desktop-OS-based HTPCs or even massive at-home storage capacity given the availability of appliances that will play content from streaming or cloud services on the internet.

Besides the new crop of appliances, the huge surge in avilable streaming and cloud storage options have made a big impact here IMHO. We watch TV shows, look at photos and home movies, and listen to music all the time on cellphones, TVs and tablets. This might sound like I'm going to need a huge server infrastructure to support and store, but EVERYTHING I'm watching or listening to is pretty much coming from the internet (amazon prime, netflix, hulu, amazon cloud storage, pandora, turntable.fm, photobucket, spotify, dropbox, google drive, etc etc etc). The few things I don't want to store in the cloud sit on a USB RAID hard drive I paid maybe $100 for and spent 10 minutes configuring that's plugged into a 7 year old desktop PC we happened to already have, nothing special. Unless I'm interested in building servers or HTPCs for the fun of it, I don't really need one.

 

[ackr]

I cut the cord over a year back now. There was an adjustment period for my family, but we save over 1200/yr and find all we need with a free DVR via windows media center, netflix and a simple over the air antenna. Our picture quality is great! I used a site called CableCutterGuys.com to walk me through the process. It is a free site.

 

[oldimpala]

just curious do you actually have media that is DTS 9.2? If so I want it.

There are some things in 9.2; for live info, NFL Network HD and ESPN 3-D both broadcast the "Height" channel to support 9.2.

I've got some DVD-A discs that support the encoding; and the processor in the decoder I use interpolates. So, you get 95% of the quality of encoded info.

Movies; Thomas Crowne Affair (The remake) and Quantum of Solace Blu-Rays are encoded to 9.2.

It's superfluous in most instances; but cool when it works. Especially for football.

-Andy