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  • 19-11-2012 11:50am
    #1
    adocholiday
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,016 ✭✭✭


    Hi guys,

    I have an old PC that is sitting idle for ages. It has an old Intel Celeron processor. Not sure of the model but it's 2.0GHz. It has 1GB of DDR RAM and an 80GB HDD. Also has a sound card and a DVI out video card, as well as the stock VGA out.

    I was considering setting it up as a HTPC for my parents as a Xmas gift. It will have an external hard drive for movies/shows and a TV tuner (I think) but I really don't know where to begin.

    Is there even any point with the hardware that I have. Second, will a tv tuner even work with the analogue signal now gone?

    Also my parents have 2 sky boxes. One is sky+ the other just regular sky. Is there anything I can do to use the HTPC to replace one of the boxes thereby reducing costs? Willing to sacrifice some of the tv channels, obviously not expecting a full sky service with this.

    I basically want to know what I can get from a HTPC at a basic level, what hardware to get, and a brief guide to getting up and running.


Comments

  • #2
    degsie
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,755 ✭✭✭degsie


    Personally I'd think twice using a PC based media solution as your parents would have to deal with an OS as well as the s/w you would be using to display the media. For frustration free solution I'd recommend something like a WDTV Live streamer which supports an external HDD. These are a no brainer and the menu system is easy to navigate. Just my 2c's.


  • #3
    TheIrishGrover
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,217 ✭✭✭TheIrishGrover


    degsie wrote: »
    Personally I'd think twice using a PC based media solution as your parents would have to deal with an OS as well as the s/w you would be using to display the media. For frustration free solution I'd recommend something like a WDTV Live streamer which supports an external HDD. These are a no brainer and the menu system is easy to navigate. Just my 2c's.


    Well, he could use XBMCUbuntu (Used to be XBMC Live. This boots straight into XBMC. Can even be installed on an SD card so once the card is installed it'll boot into it but once pulled it'll boot into windows or whatever OS he has installed on the PC.

    You would need a DVI-HDMI dongle to connect to their TV, assuming they have a HD/HD ready TV. The only thing is that you won't get sound through this. You could use a headphone-to-phono cable to connect the sound from the PC to the TV if it has phono in sockets. But you are probably better off buying a cheap HDMI graphics card as this will give you dedicated video memory and will also output sound to the TV along the HDMI cable. Something like this would do (assuming your celeron uses PCI-express slots) http://komplett.ie/Komplett/product/ati__amd/20082840/asus_radeon_eah6450_silent_di_1gd3_1gb_pci_e/details.aspx

    The handy thing about XMBC is that, once you have set it up for them and it's done its scan then they won't have to browse through folders to search for movies. TV series can also have their seasons in separate folders (Season 1,2,3, specials etc) or just under the TV Show heading. Also, if you have the PC online, you can set it so that XBMC will scan for any new movies added to the drive and gather movie information/posters etc which might be handier for them rather than just a list of files.


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