Looking for a HTPC

"Andy Pandy" <andrew.TakeThisOut@NOSPAMPLEASEthefunhouse.plus.com> wrote in message
news:43badbde$0$1494$ed2619ec@ptn-nntp-reader01.plus.net...
>
> "Bal" <uknews1.TakeThisOut@gmail.comTAKEOFF> wrote in message
> news:43b9921a$0$3953$9a6e19ea@unlimited.newshosting.com...
>> Greetings,
>>
>> looking for a media centre PC that can handle Hi-Def streams.
>> Any current owners point me in the right direction or feedback on their
>> systems.
>> Has to be aesthetically pleasing as it will be going in the living so has
>> to be "er indoors" friendly.
>>
>> Tried the Dual Core PC from Aldi, looked the business but just wasn't up
>> to the job with HD movies stuttering all over the shop. Same movies
>> played on my Dell XPS ran like a dream.
>>
>> Many thanks
>>
>> Bal
>>
>
> Out of interest (I may be looking to do something similar in the future)
> what sort of spec is good enough for hi-def playback?
>
> My main desktop is an Athlon 1800XP clocked to just over 2Ghz and this
> seems to play hi-def divx ok but balks at hi-def quicktime with stuttering
> etc.
>
> Seems like a huge spec is needed for hi-def !
>
> Andy
>
>

From Windows Media HD site :

Minimum Configuration
(to play 720p video)

a.. Windows XP
a.. Windows Media Player 9 Series
a.. 2.4 GHz processor or equivalent
a.. 384 MB of RAM
a.. 64 MB video card
a.. 1024 x 768 screen resolution
a.. 16-bit sound card
a.. Speakers
Optimum Configuration
(to play 1080p video with 5.1 surround sound)

a.. Windows XP
a.. Windows Media Player 10
a.. DirectX 9.0
a.. 3.0 GHz processor or equivalent
a.. 512 MB of RAM
a.. 128 MB video card
a.. 1920 x 1440 screen resolution
a.. 24-bit 96 kHz multichannel sound card
a.. 5.1 surround sound speaker system




HTH

Lee
 >> Stay informed about: Looking for a HTPC 

Andy Pandy wrote:
> "Bal" <uknews1 RemoveThis @gmail.comTAKEOFF> wrote in message
> news:43b9921a$0$3953$9a6e19ea@unlimited.newshosting.com...
>> Greetings,
>>
>> looking for a media centre PC that can handle Hi-Def streams.
>> Any current owners point me in the right direction or feedback on their
>> systems.
>> Has to be aesthetically pleasing as it will be going in the living so has
>> to be "er indoors" friendly.
>>
>> Tried the Dual Core PC from Aldi, looked the business but just wasn't up
>> to the job with HD movies stuttering all over the shop. Same movies played
>> on my Dell XPS ran like a dream.
>>
>> Many thanks
>>
>> Bal
>>
>
> Out of interest (I may be looking to do something similar in the future)
> what sort of spec is good enough for hi-def playback?
>
> My main desktop is an Athlon 1800XP clocked to just over 2Ghz and this seems
> to play hi-def divx ok but balks at hi-def quicktime with stuttering etc.
>
> Seems like a huge spec is needed for hi-def !
>
> Andy
>
>
I dont know if this counts but I stream Hi Def content from my PC to my
Xbox360 .The PC is an Athlon 1700XP with 512mb Ram....plays flawlessly
 >> Stay informed about: Looking for a HTPC 

"LionOfTheSouth" <lion_of_the_south DeleteThis @hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:Q3Duf.68985$PD2.63170@fe1.news.blueyonder.co.uk...
> Andy Pandy wrote:
>> "Bal" <uknews1 DeleteThis @gmail.comTAKEOFF> wrote in message
>> news:43b9921a$0$3953$9a6e19ea@unlimited.newshosting.com...
>>> Greetings,
>>>
>>> looking for a media centre PC that can handle Hi-Def streams.
>>> Any current owners point me in the right direction or feedback on their
>>> systems.
>>> Has to be aesthetically pleasing as it will be going in the living so
>>> has to be "er indoors" friendly.
>>>
>>> Tried the Dual Core PC from Aldi, looked the business but just wasn't up
>>> to the job with HD movies stuttering all over the shop. Same movies
>>> played on my Dell XPS ran like a dream.
>>>
>>> Many thanks
>>>
>>> Bal
>>>
>>
>> Out of interest (I may be looking to do something similar in the future)
>> what sort of spec is good enough for hi-def playback?
>>
>> My main desktop is an Athlon 1800XP clocked to just over 2Ghz and this
>> seems to play hi-def divx ok but balks at hi-def quicktime with
>> stuttering etc.
>>
>> Seems like a huge spec is needed for hi-def !
>>
>> Andy
>>
>>
> I dont know if this counts but I stream Hi Def content from my PC to my
> Xbox360 .The PC is an Athlon 1700XP with 512mb Ram....plays flawlessly

The Xbox 360 is another possibility, when you say you stream Hi-Def what
formats can you stream, can it handle .ts files and what kind of bitrates is
the Hi-Def you are viewing?

Sorry for so many questions but just want something that works out of the
box. I assume the Xbox360 is doing all the decoding in situ hence why it
works with your PC setup.

As mentioned earlier I also have a Dell XPS Gen 5, 1024mb RAM, Intel P4 650
3.GHz CPU and an ATI X850XT graphics card - this spec so far as not let me
down when playing ANY hi-def content so I might play it safe and buy
something with similar spec but just a bit more living room friendly.

Another option I've discovered are the newer generation of DVD Network
Players

Snazio SZ1350, Zensonic Z500 and KISS DP-600, apparently these can decode
Hi-Def on the fly from files stores either on your PC or connected via an
external USB2 Drive. The KISS one looks the business but isn't available
until middle of Feb at the earliest.

Going back to PC spec, the one I returned had the following Intel Dual Core
Pentium GHz CPUs, 1024mb RAM, 128mb Nvidia 6700XL (overclocked 6600GT I
believe) graphics card and it wasn't quite upto the job. Played back 95% of
Hi-Def fine but movies with slow panning scenes highlight some problems.
This could purely be down to the drivers but I was using the latest ones. I
can't see the CPU being the bottleneck even though it was only GHz.

Cheers again

Bal
 >> Stay informed about: Looking for a HTPC 

Bal wrote:
> "LionOfTheSouth" <lion_of_the_south.RemoveThis@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:Q3Duf.68985$PD2.63170@fe1.news.blueyonder.co.uk...
>> Andy Pandy wrote:
>>> "Bal" <uknews1.RemoveThis@gmail.comTAKEOFF> wrote in message
>>> news:43b9921a$0$3953$9a6e19ea@unlimited.newshosting.com...
>>>> Greetings,
>>>>
>>>> looking for a media centre PC that can handle Hi-Def streams.
>>>> Any current owners point me in the right direction or feedback on their
>>>> systems.
>>>> Has to be aesthetically pleasing as it will be going in the living so
>>>> has to be "er indoors" friendly.
>>>>
>>>> Tried the Dual Core PC from Aldi, looked the business but just wasn't up
>>>> to the job with HD movies stuttering all over the shop. Same movies
>>>> played on my Dell XPS ran like a dream.
>>>>
>>>> Many thanks
>>>>
>>>> Bal
>>>>
>>> Out of interest (I may be looking to do something similar in the future)
>>> what sort of spec is good enough for hi-def playback?
>>>
>>> My main desktop is an Athlon 1800XP clocked to just over 2Ghz and this
>>> seems to play hi-def divx ok but balks at hi-def quicktime with
>>> stuttering etc.
>>>
>>> Seems like a huge spec is needed for hi-def !
>>>
>>> Andy
>>>
>>>
>> I dont know if this counts but I stream Hi Def content from my PC to my
>> Xbox360 .The PC is an Athlon 1700XP with 512mb Ram....plays flawlessly
>
> The Xbox 360 is another possibility, when you say you stream Hi-Def what
> formats can you stream, can it handle .ts files and what kind of bitrates is
> the Hi-Def you are viewing?
>
> Sorry for so many questions but just want something that works out of the
> box. I assume the Xbox360 is doing all the decoding in situ hence why it
> works with your PC setup.
>
> As mentioned earlier I also have a Dell XPS Gen 5, 1024mb RAM, Intel P4 650
> 3.GHz CPU and an ATI X850XT graphics card - this spec so far as not let me
> down when playing ANY hi-def content so I might play it safe and buy
> something with similar spec but just a bit more living room friendly.
>
> Another option I've discovered are the newer generation of DVD Network
> Players
>
> Snazio SZ1350, Zensonic Z500 and KISS DP-600, apparently these can decode
> Hi-Def on the fly from files stores either on your PC or connected via an
> external USB2 Drive. The KISS one looks the business but isn't available
> until middle of Feb at the earliest.
>
> Going back to PC spec, the one I returned had the following Intel Dual Core
> Pentium GHz CPUs, 1024mb RAM, 128mb Nvidia 6700XL (overclocked 6600GT I
> believe) graphics card and it wasn't quite upto the job. Played back 95% of
> Hi-Def fine but movies with slow panning scenes highlight some problems.
> This could purely be down to the drivers but I was using the latest ones. I
> can't see the CPU being the bottleneck even though it was only GHz.
>
> Cheers again
>
> Bal
>
>
>
I dont know about bitrates.I am by no means an expert with these kinds
of things ,I just tried it to see if it worked.I played a downloaded .ts
file (Independance Day) . Was about 13GB in size ,if that matters at all.
 >> Stay informed about: Looking for a HTPC