HTPC: Building a PC for the living room

Requirements

An HTPC is a "convergence device that combines the functions of a personal computer and a digital video recorder. It is connected to a television or a television-sized computer display and is often used as a digital photo, music, video player, TV receiver and digital video recorder"--Wikipedia.

For me, what I wanted was one box with the following functionality:

• Blu-Ray drive.
• HDTV tuner for over-the-air channels, to be connected to a roof-top UHF antenna.
• DVR.
• Access to Netflix Play Instantly.
• Access to Hulu.com.
• A way to play various video files (downloads, etc.)
• A way to display our photos on the TV.

Hardware

In the fall of 2008, picking and choosing from several online guides, such as ACS Forum, I arrived at the following list of computer parts:

• AMD Phenom 8750 Toliman (three low-power 2.4GHz cores; factory cooler and fan).
• Motherboard Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H with onboard video, HDMI, and HD sound.
• 2GB DDR2-800 memory, A-Data.
• WinTV-HVR-2250 tuner (record two shows at the same time).
• Antec Fusion Black Remote case (low-profile, LCD, remote control; two silent 120mm case fans).
• Corsair CMPSU-450VX silent power supply.
• SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD103UJ 1TB 7200 RPM disk (very quiet.)
• Blu-Ray drive LITE-ON DH-4O1S-08 (black, 4X).
• WiFi Linksys Ultra RangePlus Dual-Band Wireless-N USB adapter.
• Adesso wired mini keyboard, with trackpad.

The case came with a remote, which has a nice "mouse" feature, but has the ergonomic problem of being too easy to press the incorrect button; so, I looked for a replacement. One remote I tried but wasn't happy with was the Gyration Media Center Remote (remote and inertial mouse). It was very prone to radio interference, and, thus, it lost range very easily. Almost a year after I first put the HTPC together I finally found something that works fine: Logitech Harmony 880, an activity-based universal remote that controls not only the HTPC, but also the TV, the receiver, and even the lights in the room.

Software

For the operating sytem, initially I bought Vista (Home Premium). With Windows comes the my main piece of HTPC software: the Media Center. It offers, in a very attractive package, live TV, DVR, DVD player, downloaded video player, and photo slideshows.

Eventually I upgraded to Windows 7. Compared to Vista, its Media Center is much improved in many areas. For me the best reasons to upgrade were the new TV guide and a native Netflix feature.

Unfortunately Media Center in Windows 7 still doesn't provide support for Blu-Ray. At first I tried Power DVD, which comes with the LITE-ON drive, but there were a few Blu-Ray movies it was not compatible with. I then bought ArcSoft TotalMedia Theater and not only does it play every Blu-Ray movie I tried, but it also integrates well with Media Center.

Outside of Media Center, the only other "mouse-free" and "remote-oriented" piece of software I use is Hulu Desktop. And, with the trackpad on the mini keyboard I sometimes simply use the browser to check something on Youtube, for example.

Final thoughts

Here's the top 3 reasons I am happy with my HTPC and recommend it to everyone else:

• A single box replaces both the Blu-Ray player and the DVR.
• I can watch Internet video (most notably "Netflix Play Instantly") on the big screen and controle it with a remote.
• I can watch HD TV stations without having to pay the cable or satellite company.