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Help me build my new Home Theater PC
4wd:
I am presently building an HTPC myself, and my investigations have brought me to pretty much the same conclusions as 4wd on this subject.-phillfri (November 06, 2008, 03:45 AM)
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Thanks, nice to know I'm not spouting rubbish occasionally :D
....... Gyration remote control.
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Hadn't heard of those before but they look rather good - I had thought of getting some kind of wireless 3D mouse, (sorry, can't recall what they call them). Then again, maybe use CamSpace, a webcam and wave my arms around to move the mouse pointer and run programs - at least I'd get a workout :P
Stay away from the Seagate 750 and 1000 gb hard drives. Failure rates have been very high on these units (read up at Newegg) and they run hot as hell - which means you'll need good cooling and fans make noise. I bought a 750GB Seagate for an external backup unit and I had to put it in an enclosure with a fan. You can burn your fingers if you touch one of those things after they've been running for awhile!
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Same as I've found, (heat and noise that is), it's worth noting that on the list of recommended 3.5" HDDs at Silent PC Review, not one is a Seagate. I think they gave up on quiet and heat in their quest for the all important transfer rate bragging rights.
Josh:
Here is a question for whoever is listening. Are speakers a necessity on a system such as this or do you just turn your tv on when you want to listen to music? I mean, with this system, I would have the capability of streaming throughout the house if i wanted and turning on the tv isnt that big of a deal. Thoughts?
mouser:
or do you just turn your tv on when you want to listen to music?
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are you crazy? if you're going to take all of the time and effort to set this up, surely you want to be able to listen to music and watch tv with a nice dolby surround speakers, etc.
Josh:
Thats just it, there arent any really DECENT RCA connector speakers for use with these 5.1 systems. Heck, I can't find a set that does 7.1. Is there a way to convert standard red/black style connectors to RCA?
phillfri:
4wd - I've been using a Gyration remote for awhile now and I like it. It works as a psuedo keyboard/mouse via a USB dongle. That should give you an idea of the versitality potential of the Gyration. I also saw a new freeware software program at ZDNet yesterday that allows you to run commands based on mouse gestures. It sounds like the perfect match for use with the Gyration. I think that will be my next little project :>)
Josh - Streaming music has its problems. You get staggered output room to room due to timing delays in network communications. No one has ever been able to resolve that issue. I opted for a decent RF unit that plugs into my PC and broadcasts FM signals throughout the house. I just put a good (or not so good :>) FM radio in each room (they're cheap enough) and, wala, synchronized music throughout the house. Not the highest sound quality I agree, but decent enough.
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