|
Making my old PC into a whole-house DVR and media center?
08-23-2012, 09:54 PM
|
#1
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 2,203
|
Making my old PC into a whole-house DVR and media center?
I'd really like to build a DVR / Media Center out of an old PC I have no real use for. It's a DELL DIMENSION E521 with the specs listed below.
My goal is to take advantage of my 20 mbps dl/ 2.5 mb upload speeds I get at my new home and ditch the cable TV. I have seen a lot of different options out there like HULU, Playon (this intrigues me a lot), etc...
I want as seamless an interface as possible, HD capabilities, remote control use, *possibly multi-TV (ie whole house) use as one tv is on the backside of my wall in the living room, etc.
I will of course need tv/tuner card, a video card I assume, more ram, bigger hard drive....but beyond that I'm getting lost!Any advice would be wonderful
Item Description Unit Price
Quantity Total Price
Dimension E521 Small Mini-Tower: AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core 3800+ (2.0 GHz) Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium 1 $319.00
Dimension E521 Small Mini-Tower: AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core 3800+ (2.0 GHz)
No Speakers
Dell Optical USB 2-button Mouse
USB Keyboard
Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium
No Raid
Service Software
AOL Software
Support Software
Operating System Label
Processor Label
48X CD RW/DVD Combo Drive
Software CD
AOL Software Documentation
AOL ISP Software
Scratch & Dent
1 GB DDR2 SDRAM 533MHz (2 DIMMs)
V.92/56K PCI DataFax Modem
Assembly Cable
ISP Search Assist
Microsoft Works 8.5
Adobe Acrobat 7.0 Reader
Earthlink ISP
250 GB EIDE SATA II Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
16X DVD ROM Drive
13 in 1 Media Card Reader
|
|
|
|
Join the #1 Early Retirement and Financial Independence Forum Today - It's Totally Free!
Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!
You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!
|
08-23-2012, 10:03 PM
|
#2
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 3,902
|
Sounds doable except for the remote control part. If the services like Hulu view your device as a computer, they will assume you are using a keyboard, and therefore present a keyboard-driven user interface.
|
|
|
08-23-2012, 10:41 PM
|
#3
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 2,203
|
I do believe there's a remote out there...cant recall the name...googling....
SnapStream Beyond TV: Features
I liked this interface, but not sure how it might work with some of the other programs that are streaming based
firefly is the app i guess - so you need to use your phone
|
|
|
08-23-2012, 11:02 PM
|
#4
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Rio Grande Valley
Posts: 38,145
|
AppleTV. It comes with a remote. The remote tries to control my laptop too but I finally figured out how to turn that "feature" off.
Oh, and I can control my AppleTV from my iPad or Mac too and control my stereo - not just video/TV.
Been enjoying that HD stream from Hulu+.
__________________
Retired since summer 1999.
|
|
|
08-24-2012, 11:28 AM
|
#5
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Lawn chair in Texas
Posts: 14,183
|
Just guessing, but 1G of DRAM sounds puny for this application.
__________________
Have Funds, Will Retire
...not doing anything of true substance...
|
|
|
08-24-2012, 01:28 PM
|
#6
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: On a hill in the Pine Barrens
Posts: 9,720
|
When I attached a P4 system to cable, I found that system memory was important, but more important was the video memory and processor. The on board video was mostly keeping up, but there were problems.
|
|
|
08-24-2012, 01:28 PM
|
#7
|
Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 141
|
You should be alright. I used to use exactly same machine until upto end of 2010 and I use to do serious video editing. It wasn't lightening fast but it worked. It should be just fine as a DVR.
Look into XBMC. I have not set up DVR myself so can't be of any more help.
P.S. - If you can scour through some old machines at repair shop, get more RAM for sure, it will help a lot.
|
|
|
08-24-2012, 01:59 PM
|
#8
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Lawn chair in Texas
Posts: 14,183
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by target2019
When I attached a P4 system to cable, I found that system memory was important, but more important was the video memory and processor. The on board video was mostly keeping up, but there were problems.
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by noelm
You should be alright. I used to use exactly same machine until upto end of 2010 and I use to do serious video editing. It wasn't lightening fast but it worked. It should be just fine as a DVR.
Look into XBMC. I have not set up DVR myself so can't be of any more help.
P.S. - If you can scour through some old machines at repair shop, get more RAM for sure, it will help a lot.
|
I bought a video board with 1G on-board memory for maybe $45 at Fry's to augment my "studio" computer, which would only take 2G DRAM max. The problems are that many systems won't take more than 1 or 2G DRAM, though yours appears to max out at 4G.
Documentation
On-board video processors share that. So, add DRAM to the max the motherboard will support, AND buy a video board with its own memory instead of using on-board graphics, assuming it doesn't already have a separate video card.
__________________
Have Funds, Will Retire
...not doing anything of true substance...
|
|
|
|
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
|
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
|
» Recent Threads
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
» Quick Links
|
|
|