Guest Simon* Report post Posted August 26, 2009 annd I use an elgato eyeTV tuner to get digital broadcast over uhf (freeview) HD TV into the apple TV - again with the atvflash hack. Andy I might have to get you to talk me thru this one when you come down - was not aware Apple TV could be made to play all formats Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Simon* Report post Posted August 26, 2009 Jeez mate-are you building the bloody thing Why does anyone want freeview? Sorry Mark - don't take possession til late Sept. Oh and you've got a van right? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Driftit 1964 Report post Posted August 26, 2009 Seriously. Don't bother with a Media PC. Waste of money. I purchased a WDTV today. Had a play with it at computer lounge. Is an awesome little unit. With a great menu. Easy to use so that even your kids or Mrs could figure it out. Going to to put it through its paces tonight. But they showed me it playing a 1080 MKV file. Which most older computers can not play. Most ripped Blueray and HD files are in MKV format these days. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Simon* Report post Posted August 26, 2009 Cheers Dan. Please play and report back I'm still trying really hard to justify PS3 in there - bigscreen Nordschliefe from the couch has a lot of appeal Drunk bunnies on singstar too for lols PS: LOL at your sig. Had that happen to me. Hot brass down your shirt is ouchee! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bravo 34 Report post Posted August 26, 2009 Simon. Labour Weekend. The e30 needs to stretch its legs. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Simon* Report post Posted August 26, 2009 Housewarming. Labour weekend Go Reciprocal BOI visit. November/December Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bravo 34 Report post Posted August 26, 2009 Done. I'm hanging out to make use of my new deck also. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DRTDVL 0 Report post Posted August 26, 2009 (edited) Eastern HIFI sale: http://www.easternhifi.co.nz/assets/sm/157...t100_260809.pdf example: TXNR801B ONKYO HOME THEATRE AMP 0873 Black. As new ex-demo all accessories ............... was $4,999.00 now $999.99 TXNR905B ONKYO HOME THEATRE AMP 1310 Black. Ex demo. Minor scuff s. Good condition. Missing Audyssey set up mike ............................... was $5,999.99 now $1,999.99 TXNR905B ONKYO HOME THEATRE AMP 2106 Black. No box. Ex demo. Minor scuff s. Good condition. ................................ was $5,692.16 now $1,999.99 Edited August 26, 2009 by DRTDVL Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Simon* Report post Posted August 26, 2009 Great stuff Heath but tone it down a little. Am liking more the $999 down to $299 amps TBH Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DRTDVL 0 Report post Posted August 26, 2009 more a show of savings.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
martyyn 2 Report post Posted August 26, 2009 Simon, Im not going to give up on the HTPC route just yet so here's so more to think about.... Do you want to record tv, pause live tv, record one channel whilst watching another, record all the freeview channels at the same time for that matter, fast forward through the ads (or even have them removed from recordings automatically), have a full tv guide on your tv screen, have the thing wakeup in the middle of the night record your program and have it go back to sleep, have a single remote control for all of this or control it remotely from your iphone (hell you can even stream your tv, your movies and your music to the iphone if you want), what about being able to surf the web from your couch ? If yes, build an HTPC, Ive done several and wouldnt change it for anything else. If no, then go the WDTV, they are cracking. But a couple more things to remember. Going the WDTV route means you have to rip everything in the format it can play, if I get given something I cant already play I just install a new codec. Do they play HD sound? If you go the Bluray route I just pump it out to my amp, but I dont know about the WDTV. Also how many drives can you connect to the WDTV? I have 2Tb in the HTPC and another 1Tb on my server, if I need more I just add another drive, can you do that with an WDTV? I dont know. HD movies at 16Gb a piece can really add up quickly Im sure there is more, but thats it for now ! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
E30 325i Rag-Top 2918 Report post Posted August 26, 2009 Im sure there is more, but thats it for now !Full PC functionality, the Media Server PC should have a reasonable sound and graphics card to run the surround sound and HD images, so it should also be reasonable for games, like driving simulations but not sure if you can get Singstar (??) on PC.Would probably struggle on top end games like Halo, or whatever the PC version is, but then that's a different type of machine requirement. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Simon* Report post Posted August 26, 2009 Cheers Martyn and thanks for PM I like the idea of a full blown HTPC that can do everything, but the realist in me knows that I hardly ever record anything, find almost all TV crap nowadays and will basically want to watch the news, sport, Top Gear and movies. I have a huge backlog of ripped and compressed movies now and actually am yet to experience anything blu-ray let alone rip one. In the past I had an X-Box modded with a big HDD and running X-Box Media Centre LAN'ed up with with my PC storing yet more movies and a truckload of music Am getting lots of ideas from all this though, cheers. Incidentally how much is an Apple TV unit? Bueller? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
martyyn 2 Report post Posted August 26, 2009 Your right Jon, it all comes down to what you want to do with it. I use mine purely as a media center, its not there to play games but with the grunt of a quadcore AMD and 4Gb of ram Im sure it could handle most things and if I wanted to start playing games I only have to install a decent graphics card and Im away. All HD decoding is done on the motherboard along with the HD sound which I just pump out to the amp with an optical cable and jobs done. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DRTDVL 0 Report post Posted August 26, 2009 me = xbox 360 for games, pc for movies and music Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
martyyn 2 Report post Posted August 26, 2009 I forgot to mention that if you ever do get Sky, you can record everything from that and use the same remote to control it all too All of my stuff is hidden away in a cabinet under the tv with the only thing being visible is a little IR receiver. WAF is very high with that ! I guess with an HTPC you can do anything you want really, with a WDTV your stuck with what ever it can do. Can you hook them up to a network, or just a drive in a usb enclosure ? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Simon* Report post Posted August 26, 2009 I have seen some, not Western Digital specifically, devices that can go onto a network to handle streaming from a PC etc Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Driftit 1964 Report post Posted August 27, 2009 The WDTV unit has played every format they have tried. And as I said. You can update its software. Not sure about the sound as yet but will try tonight. Most ripped movies do not have HD sound too unless you are wanting to download 8gb+ movies everytime. Not worth it. Better off renting out Blueray's from the video shop. You can have 2 externals connected to it it at once. It is def the budget option for those who don't need the extended functions of a PC. My Dad who I purchased this for does not even have a home PC. Idea is to just bring his external around whenever he wants something new. If you don't play games. Don't get a PS3 or 360. They are not worth their price for their media playing capability. They can not play many codecs. Including most H.264 and all MKV formats. Which are the most common Mini-HD codecs. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
martyyn 2 Report post Posted August 27, 2009 I cant disagree with any of that ^^^^ other than if you have all the kit why bother watching movies that arent both HD for video and audio ? 16Gb for movies is nothing, you just have to be on the right plan Oh and if you do rent a movie Simon you just pop it into your HTPC and your away, if you have a WDTV you have to rip it first Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wervie67 0 Report post Posted August 27, 2009 where did you pick the TV up from? for under a grand, cant say no to 32" for the bedroom Norman Ross had it on sale for $960 from $1500. couldnt say no, lol has a mint resolution if you want to use it as a monitor aswell (1920x1600?) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Driftit 1964 Report post Posted August 27, 2009 I cant disagree with any of that ^^^^ other than if you have all the kit why bother watching movies that arent both HD for video and audio ? 16Gb for movies is nothing, you just have to be on the right plan Oh and if you do rent a movie Simon you just pop it into your HTPC and your away, if you have a WDTV you have to rip it first Yeah that is true about having to rip something to play it. Ether way a Blueray player is always good to have to show off the 1080p movies. The PS3 is an expensive Blueray player if you don't make use of its other features. $695 for the new slim model I think. ouch... But I think everyone has given you some good options and details to think about. lol. Now you just have to figure out how much you want to spend. Haha. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
martyyn 2 Report post Posted August 27, 2009 (edited) Last time I looked a bluray drive for an HTPC was about $170 Edited August 27, 2009 by Penry Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
OLLIE 26 Report post Posted August 27, 2009 so on the topic of HTPC's can anyone recommend some good cases? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
3 SERIES 92 Report post Posted August 27, 2009 Martyn, you sound like youre up with the play with HTPC's. Do you have a build sheet of whats needed? What sort of costs are involved? Cheers Brett Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pjay 8 Report post Posted August 27, 2009 so on the topic of HTPC's can anyone recommend some good cases? http://forums.nzicemag.co.nz/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=23898 Ok I've managed to find some for $100 landed. No PSU. Superb multimedia capability -Fits Standard PSII PSU -Piano-black mirror coating -The screw-free design enables users to install and remove drives without tools -With the stylish design, it will be high-class in your living room -Mini Computer Case Dimension (W*D*H): 400*350*100mm Net weight: 3.6Kg Gross Weight: 4.8Kg Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
