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Looking into HTPC...general question.
#218985 08/25/08 03:37 PM
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NOLAGT Offline OP
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So I just got a iPod and a iPhone (awesome things I tell you) and it is making me start to think about HTPC ideas. I just got finished uploading all my CD's to iTunes (25 gigs worth) and the iPhone has a program that lets you control the iTunes wirelessly. So I start thinking well I can hook the PC to my HT system and listen to music outside and have control over it on the phone!

So now im thinking I would like to upload all my movies to the PC as well (dont know if it would go in iTunes or not) I have a nice size of standard DVD's and now I have a PS3 so I will be getting into Blu-Rays. What does SD and BR DVD's take up on a hard drive?

So what I am wondering is in general...I know I could have a HTPC to have the music in itunes and play it on my HT. What about the movies...I am sure the SD dvd's are no problem...but what about BR movies....decoders...HD sound?? Would they be able to play from the HTPC.

I have a old onkyo reciever (that I will upgrade one day) and a PS3 and the means to run hard wire from the HTPC to the HT area.

I would also like something that would have maybe a RAID setup to make backups incase something goes down....it takes a long time to upload 25gigs of music. I want to also use the HTPC as my regular home PC as well with XP on it. I am not sure what is all possible since im just now looking into all this. Any info, link, guidence, would be great! Also...what would this HTPC cost in general...I dont need top of the line either...I am more of a bag for the buck man and with a RAID to keep things backed up I would feel good about going the cheaper route.

Re: Looking into HTPC...general question.
NOLAGT #218988 08/25/08 03:55 PM
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A few answers to your many questions (not in order).

1) Size of DVD/BD
DVD-Quality: A ripped DVD (where copy protection is removed) is around 4-6Gb of content on average. You can bring that number down considerably (to around 500/1000Mb if you accept lower quality in both audio and video.
BD disks cannot be copied right now, but there is a reason why they needed dual-layer disks going to 50G (full quality)! A 720P movie with DVD-style audio is about 6Gb.

2) iTunes + iPhone
You either need to take the audio out of your PC (SPDIF or analog) and into your HT directly or through an AirPort. The AirPort approach (the one I use) is only working with iTunes, but the DAC is pretty good. I you have a soundcard with an SPDIF outpout, you can simply pass a regular coax cable back to your soundsystem and then have all your PC audio redirected (that's the reason I use the AirPort; I only want iTunes redirected).
I have the iPod Touch with the "Remote" application, BTW.


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Re: Looking into HTPC...general question.
NOLAGT #218989 08/25/08 03:58 PM
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Also to add to this....I have DRTV with the HD DVR. Would there be a way to also have the HTPC be the HD for the DVR to increase my room so I dont have to delete stuff. Is it also possible to have the stff from the DVR saved to the movie portion of my HTPC, where my dvd's would be stored? DRTV does this anoying thing now with pay per views. You only have 24hrs to watch before it deletes. Sometimes I want to buy a UFC fight but wont be back home in 24hrs to watch so im SOL. It would be nice to make a copy of it and save it from it being deleted.

Thanks agian

Re: Looking into HTPC...general question.
EFalardeau #218990 08/25/08 04:01 PM
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 Originally Posted By: EFalardeau
A few answers to your many questions (not in order).

1) Size of DVD/BD
DVD-Quality: A ripped DVD (where copy protection is removed) is around 4-6Gb of content on average. You can bring that number down considerably (to around 500/1000Mb if you accept lower quality in both audio and video.
BD disks cannot be copied right now, but there is a reason why they needed dual-layer disks going to 50G (full quality)! A 720P movie with DVD-style audio is about 6Gb.

2) iTunes + iPhone
You either need to take the audio out of your PC (SPDIF or analog) and into your HT directly or through an AirPort. The AirPort approach (the one I use) is only working with iTunes, but the DAC is pretty good. I you have a soundcard with an SPDIF outpout, you can simply pass a regular coax cable back to your soundsystem and then have all your PC audio redirected (that's the reason I use the AirPort; I only want iTunes redirected).
I have the iPod Touch with the "Remote" application, BTW.


Wow I didnt realize a BR move was so big. If I put BR movies on to a HTPC (when you can) I would want it in full 1080p and HD sound....so that seems it would be frigen huge. Even with 1t drives I would need quite a few to keep a larger selction of BR movies I guess.

I had looked at that airport thing. Does the sound quality remain the same as if it was connected directly??

Last edited by NOLAGT; 08/25/08 04:04 PM.
Re: Looking into HTPC...general question.
NOLAGT #218991 08/25/08 04:02 PM
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BR can be copied with AnyDVD HD to bypass the encryption.


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Re: Looking into HTPC...general question.
jakewash #218993 08/25/08 04:11 PM
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Thanks for the link! This can be golden to protect HD-DVD investments (the reason why I got a BD/HD-DVD LG reader for my PC).


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Re: Looking into HTPC...general question.
NOLAGT #218994 08/25/08 04:13 PM
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The sound out of the AirPort is very good. The DAC in it is alright and since iTunes talks to it directly, the output is not the result of mixing stages on the PC.


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Re: Looking into HTPC...general question.
EFalardeau #218995 08/25/08 04:18 PM
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NOLAGT Offline OP
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I will have to look on the back of my PC to see what outputs I have for the sound card.

I want to back up all my stuff too...as well as have a place to store it all. 400+ cd's take up a lot of room and DVDs take up more. Not to mention the condition of my CD's after being hauled around for 10 years!

Re: Looking into HTPC...general question.
NOLAGT #219009 08/25/08 05:45 PM
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For storage you may want to get into NAS's(Network Attached Storage) HP, D-link, Linksys all have some, just to name a few manufacturers. I run the Linksys NAS200 it is the cheapest of the bunch and will hold 2 SATA drives which can be configured to mirror each other for a back up or just run them seperately to max out room.


Jason
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Re: Looking into HTPC...general question.
jakewash #219014 08/25/08 06:26 PM
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I don't think you're going to have ANY success trying to offload content from your DTV DVR to a computer.

The DVR can stream content from your computer.

You can add an external HD to your DVR and use it instead of the internal one.

But - again - my understanding is that you can't transfer anything recorded on your DVR to another device. At least until DTV wants you to.

Oh, and we had a scintillating conversation about "RAID is not 'backup'" in the Water Cooler a few weeks ago.


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