What is Digg?41 Comments
- cdthompso1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Someone has to say it: just Myth (http://www.mythtv.org).
- AnalogDaylight, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I have Windows Media Center and it has an ultra slick interface, never crashes, does everything I could possibly want, and all this from the comfort of my couch with my included remote control. When people bash the windows system, just what are you trying to do???? Systems with Linux, without Linux, you've gotta have this and you've gotta have that. Just what are you trying to make your computer do? I can watch my divx movies I get off bittorrent, pull up pics, play music, network throughout my house, all seamlessly ..get over the windows bashing crap. If you are so smart and think you know what really needs to be done with software, where's your software at? Put some coding where your mouth is..
- stisev, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1HTPC = Home Theatre PC.
Ars rules. - dhughes, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0 mspice the article did mention Linux, MythTV is Linux, Freevo is another Linux entertainment. It's just a general description of what Home Theatre Personal Computer (HTPC) systems can do.
- javamonkey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I've started playing with Media Portal, an open source HTPC project. It looks like a really good imitation of MCE.
http://www.team-mediaportal.com/ - Ferneaux, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0
Having built a few HTPC systems for friends & coworkers, this article was a welcomed sight. When I built my first HTPC a few years ago, it was extremely hard to locate devices with a small form factor that fit in with my other media devices. Most of the time, I had to have the cases painted black in order to increase their appeal. It almost came to a point to where I was going to gut-out old VCR's just to use the case.
Now, with this increased visibility to the HTPC market, finding cases and other items have become a lot easier....and cheaper.
I use WinXP MCE as the OS, not for its DVR functionality. For the DVR, I use BeyondTV. Having tested many of the more popular DVR app's out there, the "smartskip" (ability to block out commercial breaks) feature in BeyondTV keeps them at the top for me and those I build systems for.
It'll be nice to see more devices out there for Mac though....I can't wait to set my Mac Mini up as a DVR too.
Cheers! - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Ars always has the best article about pretty much anything! love 'em
- n3tfury, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0excellent read. well earned digg.
- hriwo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I love my HTPC, best part is easy to upgrade.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Do not use abbreviations that cannot be easily identified by most users. HTPC? High Tension Personal Computer?
- wolfpond, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Apple pioneered mainstream multimedia-centric computing, yet the opening paragraph of this article mentions only MS's stab at solving this problem.
Lame++ because of its assumption that Apple is not a mainstream platform. - reverb, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Next time, expand the obscure acronym. A lot of people won't bother digging an article or clicking the link if the summary isn't comprehensible.
- wbguy88, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0BTW i just click the block report button and all the spam is gone.....great article btw
- reclusivemonkey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"Video
Dual TV tuners are a key part of HTPC high-end functionality. With two tuners, you can record one show while watching another through your HTPC, doing time-shifting as appropriate or other fun things."
Not so. I have a 256Mb RAM, 900 Mhz CPU HTPC with a bargain bin TV Tuner in it, I can record and watch any recorded show at the same time with no problems at all, including rewinding, pausing and fast forwarding the recording (in MythTV). $800 dollars is fine if you have the cash, I personally knocked mine together from spare parts/"donations for fixing". I am sure you can guess which OS/PVR software combo I used; that's not the point though. What I would be interested in is if MCE would perform as well on the same hardware as MythTV. Not for any flame wars, just out of interest. - Ferneaux, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"Starts off with Microsoft marketting speak and no metion of Linux. Why have an HTPC w/o linux?"
While Linux is a great OS for those technically inclined, it's not for everyone. Not only is there a learning curve to Linux, but I also tend to have my HTPC boxes be multi-taskers...basically, I don't build it just for a DVR. HTPC's can also be used for video games and anything else a PC has to offer.
How many major games out there are Linux compatible? ....now weigh that against those offered for Windows. That's just part of the point... - botoxx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Thanks for blocking KoolAidGuy.
- spamdies, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0kool aid guy is a loozer script kiddie, and not even a good one.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"*****, I've encountered no DRM in MCE."
Well aprently you don't know what DRM is. Yes MCE has DRM try to copy a file to your laptop w/o using 3rd party software. - Scout1811, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Good Article. I was looking for something similar the other day on a SFF site.
- gregcotten, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I agree with analogdaylight.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0^^
RandallBe said "Well aprently you don't know what DRM is. Yes MCE has DRM try to copy a file to your laptop w/o using 3rd party software."
Well you obviously haven't used MCE2005 with the latest updates, as the "proprietary" windows media files it creates, works just fine on any XP machine with WMP10...... The only real DRM is that you can't easily turn that file format into another type without 3rd party software and play it on a different type of player other than MCE WMP10 or XP WMP10..... But it can be done nontheless.....
I've setup multiple MythTV boxes and have had a hell of a time everytime getting the DVD portion of the system to playback properly...let alone the fact that getting your video card configured properly to take advantage of your screen resolutions... Yeah the documentation makes it look like it's easy, but it never was. MCE2005, installed to a decent machine with a PVR500 and all is good to go.... Networked to other pc's and all video, pics, music and PVR/DVD functionality at the touch of a button on ONE remote control that was easier to setup than pie.....
Sorry MythTV just like all things Linux or OSS is still half baked... a good attempt, but half baked.... - tsupersonic, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Analogdaylight, as much as I hate bashing, there's nothing to stop the hardcore fanboys. People just bash because they are expressing their opinions and yes, everyone has different opinions on Windows and Mac. Some people love Windows, some people hate it (or anything Microsoft), some people love Macs (& Apple to the extreme) and some people hate Macs. Anyways, I have been looking for a media player that emulates Windows Media center edition interface, I think it looks cool. I know dell has one, but I don't own a dell. If anyone knows of a media player that just does music, pictures, and movies, please tell me (not WMCE).
- hriwo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0reason to use MCE instead of mythtv is compatibility.
- paularms, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0The budget box is $839??? are you kidding me?
I built an HTPC for under $600, including software and with some better parts (thought 2 years ago, it is basically the same system that you would get with the parts they list) - digglugg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0A home htpc does not need to be expensive and in my personal opinion should not be located in my living room. There is enough in there already, find a closet or a basement. Again, my opinion.
Here's my setup:
-- ~$500 - eMachine T6212 (now appropriately called 6412 since it has an AMD 64 bit)
-- ~$150 - Hauppauge PVR - 150 and Snapstream BeyondTv 4
-- ~$50 - Phillips DVD player that plays divx format
-- ~$1 - DVD+RW for transporting recorded video from PC to DVD
The Hauppauge requires an open PCI slot. The PVR150 does the recording and has a chip on the board so that it does its own processing and does not tax the system CPU. BeyondTV is a decent scheduler and it does the conversion from MPEG2 to DIVx or Windows Media.
The biggest issue I have is not the hardware but the software. I wish it would be more intuitive when recording. Like if a show is scheduled to run at 8pm but it's been delayed by 10 minutes then delay the recording by 10 minutes so that I can get the end of the show. This may be more of a broadcast thing too instead of software. I am sure someone could let me know about that. - wyldtek, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I want to add an HD card to accompany the Hauppage PVR500 in my MCE2005 box. Does anyone have any input on the Avermedia AVerTVHD MCE A180 vs the ATI HDWonder (or any other MCE compatible HD card)?
- chair, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0KoolAidGuy has already had his blogger account deleted, guess the only thing left is to do wat he says and "fix" the digg system.
On topic: I've given up on HTPCs, I built one, based on WinXP and running Meedio, DigitalWatch and WebScheduler (Two great DVB programs) but in the end it was the hardware. It was noisy and hot (alas, the Australian summer) and in the end it was doing all kinds of weird things. I could buy new (and expensive) components to get the system running cooler and quieter, but it still wouldn't be right. Like, I'd have to settle for a large ugly case. And consumer PVRs just don't offer enough flexibility. I think my best bet is to wait to see what Apple does with the new Mac Mini. If it's at a good price, and the OS isn't locked down (at the very worst I can install Linux) it could be the perfect PVR.
Note: I am not an Apple fan boy, I've never owned a Mac or an iPod. I own an iAudio X5 and have nothing but contempt for Apple fan boys that go onto review sites and rate down competing products because they're competing products. - dynamx, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1just block him and move on....
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0"Starts off with Microsoft marketting speak and no metion of Linux. Why have an HTPC w/o linux?"
why have an htpc w/ linux? - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Windows Media Centre is just as flawed and bloated as any other version of Windows. It's just got a bigger (and more exploitable) media player built in. There are much better, more secure and more reliable Open Source alternatives, and the user won't have to put up with all the DRM rubbish imposed by Windows.
- gwjc, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0> sidewalkpilot:
I don't know dude; I checked it out _because_ of the abbreviation that I didn't recognize. Well, that and I saw it'd just been dugg by the K. - emaf37, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0If you look at Zelig's comments, they all say the same thing. It's kind of interesting....
- AmateurX, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0If you can't figure out what HTPC is, or use acronymfinder.com then you should not be using digg.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0you, know, no matter what this K00LAidGuy has to say is wasted as he's just causing himself grieff.
He's got to be totally emo - mspice, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0Starts off with Microsoft marketting speak and no metion of Linux. Why have an HTPC w/o linux?
no digg :-( - SnowballDotBe, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0Whos is this loser making all this stupid comments...?
Can't digg block out certain text (like you can on a forum). - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1he's some random with lots of accounts.... not just "coolaid guy"
he's just exploiting the digg system, much the same way a moron would exploit the wiki system....
listen mate, how about you just ***** off.... if you want the admins to fix a flaw, send them a private email... don't ruin an open user friendly system for everyone you ***** brain. - Ramble, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0"and the user won't have to put up with all the DRM rubbish imposed by Windows."
*****, I've encountered no DRM in MCE.
"Lame++ because of its assumption that Apple is not a mainstream platform."
It isn't, it has 5% market share.
And they make ***** products. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0"Well, that and I saw it'd just been dugg by the K."
what a fag - zelig, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0CoolAidGuy is trying to hyjack DIGG. Somebody please screw with him.
- Zorn, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0Mac user. Could not care less about Windows media.
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