Home Theater PC

So, I’ve decided to create something like a TIVO. What's better than TIVO? Well, how about the ability to play DVD's, Radio, get Movie theater information, newspaper/net comics, TV programming guides, music and pretty much anything else your imagination needs for entertainment. What's better than that? Well for a relatively small price (or free) you too can make your own HTPC A.K.A Home Theater PC.

I pretty much got sick of doing the whole VCR thing. Looking for tapes and searching in the tapes. What a freaking waste of time.

Before anything, my specs:

Soyo Dragon KT600
AMD XP 3000+ 2.17ghz Over Clocked
NVidia Geforce FX5200 256MB with SVideo out.
Leadtek TV2000XP Deluxe w/remote
19inch Samsung Monitor
512MB PC333
A bit of time
Some friggin patience!!!
1 Loving girlfriend who still loves this dork.
Caffeine


1. Read my previous blog about PVR stuff (short)

• BYOPVR

2. Do some research.
You wouldn't buy a car blindly just because people say it's cool. No, you need to find out for yourself!

Unlike me.
Take a look at:
Build Your Own PVR
HTPCNews
or a google search!

3. Get a card
I got the Leadtek TV2000XP Deluxe. It's a software card which means it doesn't have a hardware decoder built in. Translation: It uses more CPU to encode video and audio. It can take input from SVideo, RCA, and normal analog coaxial cable. It comes with a I(nfra)R(ed) remote control and a FM Tuner. The software It comes with is ok but not very good for Home Theater stuff (it's a little buggy). I've seen a billion sites saying get a Hardware Encoder Card like Hauppauge PVR250 or PVR350. I chose not to because of the price. The leadtek card I got looks great and works great with my PC. I didn't do any benchmarking but I haven't really noticed any slowdown so far.

4. Find your front-end.
This is pretty much the most important part for me.

It has to be easy to use (for the girlfriend who still loves this dork)
look nice(to impress friends or woman)
Finally it should be useful.

I've looked at a bunch of different front-ends. For my card I’m working on 10(ok.. 4) different front-end programs to try to get my desired look.
I'm playing with:

Windows:
myHTPC most recently known as MEEDIO: myHTPC is free but no longer supported. Meedio is the pay version of that and is very nice. Has alot of different type of plugins for all types of stuff. Take a look at the forums for more information on the myHTPC. I'm currently using GOTTV plugin with simpleBrowser, simpleVideo as well as others.
ChrisTV:Not free. Works pretty good for TV stuff. Not really a frontend more of a PVR.
GBPVR: Free. Looks awesome but doesn't suport my card (non-hardware encoded) as far as I know.
Media Portal: Free. Open Source. Looks awesome. Just saw this today and it supports my card. We'll see!

Linux
MythTV: Free, Open Source, Awesome. Haven't used it yet though. Looks great.

5. Understanding the basics.
After you get your card and your front-end. You need to set it up. But before you do that let's get some things straight.

You want a TV programming guide? HUH?!? DO YA!?
Ok, fine. Use XMLTV. Go to labs.zap2it.com and sign up for their free TV Guide service. Basically you should download the newest version. Bring up the good ol' DOS command. cd to the XMLTV directory and type:
C:\XMLTVDir>xmltv tv_grab_na_dd --configure
Follow the prompts to put your zap2it user name a pass and BAM! Then run:
C:\XMLTVDir>xmltv tv_grab_na_dd And now you’re a TV Guide downloading fiend!
That will take some time and create a file called “tv.xml” int the XMLTV root folder. Most likely your program will need that file for the programming guide.

Not all made the same.
All PVR/HTPC programs will most likely be different. Don’t expect them to look or act the same. There is always a learning curve. Just expect it. Most of the ones I’ve seen use XMLTV or some other programs. Some use can use your card, some can’t. Try them all out. Find one that is best for you.

More later.

Even though it says "more later" Dan decided to ask me a question in the comments. So per Dan's comment:

"Just out of curiosity, have you set it up so that you can run the whole thing
from your living room, or do you have to watch TV in the PC room?"

Well, Dan, Using the S-Video out on my video card and a S-Video-to-RCA converter(radio shack-20 bucks) and also a 1/8th-to-RCA converter for the audio line-out to TV(Radio Shack-10 Bucks). It works pretty decently. The newest NVidia driver has special settings for TV resolutions. So you don't have to work using 800 x 600 resolution. I use a remote too.. More about that later. Ok Dan!? MORE LATER! M O R E L A T E R