Ultra Cheap HTPC

[Chitamacha]

Hi,
I have two options here to build my own Home Theater system. First I have my old PC which I can upgrade and create my own HTPC. But there I doubt weather everything will work on it or not. The second way is buying a completely new system will all the new stuff. I need some information on buying a cheap HTPC for my home. I am looking for some ultra cheap system. Thanks in advance.

[Erubiel]

I have a Antec system. It is called as the Fusion.The Fusion uses, too, a unique structure has three compartments to isolate heat and noise. Comes with a diet extremely quiet and equipped with Antec Quiet Computing technology makes the Fusion an ideal case for the living room PC. But the Fusion is not just pure technology reducing heat and noise is also and above all a sleek designed case (aluminum siding) and multimedia features: LCD display, volume control on the front.

[Felix46]

That is right. I too use Fusion Black which is the latest in the line Antec VERIS Media Components. It is a perfect home theater equipment. Fusion Black has many strengths: a 430 Watt power supply, an infrared receiver compatible with Windows Vista and MCE, LCD, or a button for volume control. Fusion allows you full control of your multimedia applications.

[Filiberto]

Lian Li PC-V352 is one more solution for the same. It is a nice enclosure for HTPC system where you want to add your own stuff. It has enough room to accommodate a format motherboard mini-ITX (17 x 17 cm) or micro-ATX (24.4 x 24.4 inches) with up to four expansion cards in length maximum of 28 cm, and two external 5.25-inch units (convertible into a 3.5-inch bay) and three internal 3.5-inch units.

[Aandaleeb]

It is quiet possible to make your system a Media Center PC. You can use Media Portal for that. Once installed on your system it offers you the menus of the program like MyPhoto, My Videos, etc. Are all managed by sub-programs independent. These subsystems are also known as plug-ins. Standard, MediaPortal loads many plug-ins and thus will be able to offer many possibilities.

[Rawko]

Media Portal different playback video files and that of DVDs. The first tab you can use to view all existing major video formats like AVI, MPEG, MOV, etc. These files can be found on the hard drive of your computer, a scanner or a network resource. There is no need to install any codec pack, Media Portal integrates naively many video decompression support decompression of DVDs is also present.

[T.J.]

Sesam TV Media Center is an excellent mediacenter. Previously, this application was distributed under commercial license but now the program is offered free as part of a personal use. In terms of interface, you will find the organization of menus that characterizes this type of software. Domotix Media Center is a free high quality. Compared with MediaPortal, the main strength of the program is to provide a hand-made especially easy.

[daffyduck06]

This is my first message ! HTPCs - Does anyone have any ideas for a relatively cheap builds, and what is the best way to have a display (for movies etc) on the 32" TV (with HDMI/VGA etc) and a simple monitor display at the same time. I know a bit about computers and we have Dual screens at work, but is this possible with different resolution TV and Monitor?? I want a relatively decent PC that I can use as both a HTPC and Home PC with Internet and Basic applications. So i can watch movies whilst shes surfin . I know I can get a bog standard setup for dirt cheap but I dont want it to be slow. Budget around £300-£400 (including monitor), plenty of Hard Drive Space too!

Thanks Guys
Mark

[Erubiel]

Usually it is not easy to find a cheap HTPC in that rate. You might get a low hard ware support on the same. It is better if you go for manual configuration instead of a branded pc. You will need to buy a case, cooling system, Motherboard , processor , Memory, GPU, the TV card, sound card, remotes, etc. Usually the CPU, GPU, TV Tuner card, monitor and media center software cost quiet high.

[daffyduck06]

Thanks for the reply. I understand that, can I do all this with a Motherboard with integrated HDMI or would I need another GPU also to have dual screen (with different resolutions). I can build it myself so was looking for a Upgradable system that isnt overkill ie- RAM processor, but would work well for my needs initially.

Thanks
Mark