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43 Comments
- klawz, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11The MS Medica Center Extender is better than the Apple TV - and besides, what in the hell are you talking about? All the ATV does is stream media from your Mac, nothing special there.
- combatchuck, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11The Apple TV can't even compare to this feature set. Go back to jerking off to the Apple store.
- FunkyWitDaSysTm, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8i really wish that these types of reviews started with he full product specs, not spread them out over the review.
- Bytor, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7WTF???
"CyberLink Response - No, the HDCP is a must. In AACS compliant rule, if the content specifies ICT and the output has no HDCP, player can down scale the picture and play it. If the content doesn't specify ICT and the output has no HDCP, the player has to stop playback."
So let me get this straight, the media companies made a big deal about not inlcluding ICT (image constraint token) that would force downsampling. Great most of us were thinking, no down sampling YET. But instead of letting it play freely without ICT, they don't let it play at all.
I am glad hd-dvd copy protection is broken, I will download HD and play it on my my computer. Screw ICT and the industry it rode in on. - BobMysterioso, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6The beauty of a dvd player, playing real dvds is that it just works. Thats were the media center isn't at yet. I have a dlink dsm-520 and it works great for what I want to do with it, watch xvids. It has a music / picture player but I don't use them. They don't work that well, and I didn't buy the device for that anyway.
There are just so many formats for an htpc to deal with, and with offerings from cable companies so cheap, its really hard to justify a fancy less capable DVR. I have a Scientific Atlanta 8300HD dvr box. Last night I recorded 2 HD 1080i dolby digital shows and watched a 3rd HD 1080i dolby digital show. This box cost me, in addition to my cable costs (which are high) an extra $7 or so per month.
For me to get that kind of - it just works - performance from an HTPC, I'd need one hell of a computer. And the video cards in it would really be something too. Oh, well I'd have to have cable cards, but then that is only 1 way communication.
See where this is going? HTPC are nice, I've had one for years and years, but recently I abandoned it. I decided to go a route that does each thing well and thats it. I have an ipod + bluetooth transmitter for music. I can stand in my kitchen, hold my ipod and change the song. It works great, cost like $40 (thanks woot!) and I have no complaints. The DSM 520 - plays xvid/divx great. I have never had a problem at all, and it does it at 1080i w/ dolby digital. Lastly for TV the cable provided DVR, while not as intuitive as a real tivo (not as pricey either) is darn good, and quite powerful.
What sort of wonderbox would I need to have to get all those features? How much would it cost? Would it have pretty blue LEDs? Before the HTPC goes truly mainstream, it will just have to work, and this will no doubt be another media center just like all the others, but in a prettier box. - archer75, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Until I can record HD from Satellite these HTPC's are useless to me.
- musbou, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Ok, for the companies that still don't get it:
A media center/HTPC or whatever, is not a:
VCR, stereo set, betamax recorder, etc.
I saw a reference design of a media center from AMD a few weeks ago, and it was quite shocking. - NinjaBoy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3According to their website the graphics card is a Intel® integrated VGA G965 not a GeForce 7600GS like the article says.
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/DigitalHome/Products_Spec.aspx?ProductID=2243&ProductName=H971 - NinjaBoy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Im building my own HTP but i'm putting in more powerful graphics card so i can play some games from my couch. Id like to see where I could buy a case like that!
- jasper976, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3wow, tweaktown could use a few more flash ads
- lateralus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2According to the article the integrated video card is disabled in favor of better pci-x card.
- RidesAPaleHorse, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Agreed. Why has nobody made a DirecTV PCI card?
- razordancer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2My mother recently bought a sweet HP laptop from BestBuy with a 19" (I think) widescreen display, lightscribe dvd burner, core2 duo, 2 gigs of ram, and.... HDMI out (not via a dongle). It was under $1400..
I feel very sad now that I have the extra cash to pick one up, they don't seem to be selling them any more. - TWEAK, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3It seems like they are starting to get the idea now - besides the H971, what other impressive units have you seen, anything you would like us to test?
- b0bby, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Just a nitpick - "mods and cons" doen't make sense; the phrase is "mod cons", short for "modern conveniences". It came from home ads in the UK - "all mod cons".
- dag27, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3It seems HDMI is optional and that feature comes by adding the 7600GS to the available PCIe slot.
- combatchuck, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I think the laptop you're talking about is the HP dv9000t. Looks like a nice computer, for a good price. It weighs 8 pounds, which is apparently a lot for a laptop. I guess it doesn't seem like much to me, though.
- FrostySol, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I agree, looks nice. Still looks a little large though. Would be nice to start seeing these things in xbox360 or mac mini size so you don't have to dedicate all that shelf space to one device.
- Fratz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Core 2 Duo CPUs and AMD Athlon 64s sip wattage and can be used in near-silent computers. The Gigabyte box uses a Core 2 Duo CPU, and even the stock heatsink is quiet when used on a motherboard that dynamically adjusts heatsink fan speed. Most chips with a 90nm or smaller fab process will be great choices for a(n) HTPC.
- Fratz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2"Why has nobody made a DirecTV PCI card?"
The glib answer is "because DirecTV doesn't want you to have one." It might potentially allow you the freedom to use something like MythTV with their service and get full digital quality. They're all about making sure you only get what they want you to get. - Drizzit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2No Cable Card Support = Worthless a an HTPC. 90% of US cable now uses boxes or cable cards.
- jdryyz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Looks like a nice all-in-one solution but there's no mention of the tuner card supporting over-the-air HD. There's plenty of processing power for it and since the graphics card has HDMI out, the output should be identical to an HDTV's built-in tuner.
Perhaps a better tuner card to include would be the HD-5500:
http://www.pchdtv.com/
Sadly, I don't think it is MCE compatible. This is my biggest problem with these MCE/MythTV systems. You either get HD or Cable/NTSC tuners but not both. - tdk2fe, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Interesting read - my first foray into HTPC's (I know, a bit late). Anybody else recommend good resources for finding out information on these things?
- combatchuck, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2If you're concerned about DRM, you shouldn't even be reading this article. As reviewed, this box is a purpose-built HD PVR. MythTV has no support for HDCP, and I'd be amazed to see an open source player with HD-DVD support in the next year. It's a sad reality, and I wish it weren't true, but it is. This thing, and the content it's intended for, are utterly reliant on many layers of DRM. While it's great that these companies are managing their digital rights, I keep hoping for them to remember MY digital rights, assuming I have any.
(I've said it before, and I'll say it again. My video format of choice is torrent. Not because I'm a thief or I have some kind of higher motive. No, my reasoning is that all the guys that release those movies know what people actually want, and their "product" is actually easier to use than the official release. Unless the release is in MDF or DAA format, that's just stupid. ISO plzkthx.) - archer75, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2You cannot record HD even if your TV outputs it as there are no consumer level TV Tuner cards that have DVI or HDMI inputs. You can record digital that way but it's just a pain in ass and not worth it. I have a Direct TV Tivo and it works better than the HTPC I built. Much less hassle.
- Fratz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@linuxinit So your HDTV outputs non-DRM full-bandwidth HDTV digitally, and you have the means to capture it in realtime using current off the shelf (COTS) tools? Something tells me you're not actually capturing high definition video. I've seen 1080i content at up to 30Mbps _compressed_ - uncompressed is huge. If you do have a way of doing this, please post it so others can learn how to do it.
- TWEAK, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Self promo but... http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/1002/playing_divx_and_xvid_content_on_xbox_360_an_easy_guide/index.html
- Schda, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Just let Tweak (the submitter) know.... he seems to own the website (check his submission). I'm sure he'd be happy to put a few more up on his next article that he submits to digg.
- mfaras, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1>The beauty of a DVD player, playing real DVDs is that it just works. That's were the media center isn't at yet.
That's what the submitter meant with "the latest cons" - CharlesV, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1If you don't mind a little bit of setup, a modded xbox (check craigslist, can be had for around 150/200/Trade for DS Lite), with xbmc will do all the media playback you want and output at 1080i/720p. It can' t handle true HD rips, but it handles all the "HD" and "HR-HD" rips you can throw at it, not to mention the extendability, upgradability, and community support for xbmc.
Granted, an HTPC theoreetically can record as well as playback, in addition to doing all of the regular PC functions. But if you just want to play back media and have access to all games from psx and before, you're set. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2The biggest issue I have with nearly every single HTPC review I've seen is that there is usually very little attention paid to assessing the quality of the outputted image. I've experimented with several video cards and have yet to find one that actually looks good on my TV. It would be very helpful if future reviews would focus more on this.
- himay, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2So do I understand correctly that this is a single-tuner unit? Meaning you can't watch one show and record another? Beautiful little box, but that's a dealbreaker! (I see two coaxial line-ins, but the reviewer claims the second is for radio.)
Also, without cablecard support, this will be last-generation by the summer.
E for effort, though. - linuxinit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Umm... I can record satellite and digital cable, and even DVDs or game consoles just fine with my HTPC. My TV has digital output, and I can record full HDTV resolution, or DVDs, or whatever is playing over the TV. I can turn the TV off, and it still works, so it's a hardware device that does it. Now surely if my TV can do this, there is some small piece of crap device that you can put between a digital box, and a recording device, that unlocks the token. It's really not that freaking complicated. As long as something is viewable, it's recordable.
- generalleoff, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2It looks totally 1985 to me.
- TWEAK, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1A gaming HTPC case - we'll look into it and thanks for the tip!
- TroubleInMind, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Somebody just make a friggin laptop with HDMI already. Thank you.
- MKcom, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2looks sweet
- stevejobs, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Adblock stops the ads.
- dredgemortle, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Crappy article, but next time I need advice on the color coordination of my next evening dress I will check with them.
- Smuikas, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2It'd be nice if the reviewer also spent about ten minutes in a classroom learning the English language. The article was more rife with grammatical errors than seventh grade practice SAT essays. Run-on sentences, comma splices, incorrect word use (good instead of well, etc)....
Also, he goes over the basics - but what I really want to know is how well it will run mythTV. It's such a basic review, that anyone worth his salt in the IT field could simply utilize a few photos and a specification table to glean all the information they needed, instead of reading through this poorly written and poorly organized smattering of bug guts on the windshield of the Internet. Dugg down for being incredibly lame - doubly so because it seems to be posted to Digg by the same plebeian that wrote it.
What I /really/ want to know: Is this high end hardware suitable for building a mythTV box, or should I simply look into using mini-ITX boards and putting something small and fanless together? In other words ... is it worth it, seeing as I don't want to stick vista or xp media center on the thing (as I have issues with the DRM involved)? - linuxinit, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0I don't see a single advertisement, but then again... I use privoxy.
You might try using noscript+firefox or something if privoxy is too complicated for you. - pyite, on 10/12/2007, -4/+0This article is useless.
They did not do the test with MythTV - using Windows for a Home Theater PC is kind of silly. - AttackMantis, on 10/12/2007, -28/+1Or just go with AppleTV!
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