OK, so is the Home Theater PC really ready for the Mainstream Consumer?

Up until now, I have tried to provide a high level overview of the hardware and software changes that have taken place over the past couple of years that are making the Home Theater PC an interesting platform. So, is the HTPC really ready for a larger audience?  It is difficult to say what makes a platform move from a niche segment to the mainstream consumer platform.  Certainly the degree of difficulty in setting up and using the product is one factor, while cost may be another.   However, I thought I would share a little of my personal experience with the HTPC as a user and not as an engineer.

In these trying economic times, consumers are carefully watching their expenditures and spending their money where they believe they can get the most bang for their buck.  Like the rest of you, I have taken a hard look at my own monthly expenditures trying to find some ways to save a little more ca$h.  This is where my HTPC comes into play. I have been working on these types of platforms for a couple of years now and I think technology and content are finally coming together to open this system up to a larger consumer audience. 

Jumping In

Now, I know that some of you may be thinking: “You’re an engineer. You can solve problems if something goes wrong with it, but the mainstream consumer may not be able to“.  Let me assure you, that while I may be more technical, my family is certainly less so.  Now, I may catch a little heat over this from my family (love you guys!), but they can be very vocal when things are not working quite right.  I do a fair amount of traveling internationally and therefore, I am not always around to fix things if something breaks. For example, while on business in Taiwan I’ve been awoken at 3 am by an upset voice on the other end telling me in a polite but exasperated manner that “The doohickey isn’t clicking the way it’s supposed to and instead it’s making a thumping/gurgling sound so I can’t watch what I wanted to and you need to fix it now!“.  So, I learned a while back that if I don’t want to sleep on the couch or get the evil eye from my children, I should probably not make my family test subjects and I should NEVER mess with their entertainment experience. 

However, with all the recent changes taking place in the industry, I finally felt sufficiently at peace that we could make some changes in how we consume content in the home.  About 3 months ago we took the steps to cancel our satellite service and get content strictly from over the air (OTA) broadcasts and through online content providers (see list here).  There was certainly a little concern expressed on behalf of my wife and kids, but we tried it anyway.  So far, things have been going pretty well.  We have not had any blue screens, lock ups, or major problems at all.

End Result

There was a little bit of a learning curve that was needed, but soon everyone started to get the hang of this new thing (affectionately called, “the box”).  Then as we discovered new sources of online content, I saw ever so slight smiles. Then those smiles grew as they started to realize the possibilities. No longer were they tied strictly to the time when a show was broadcast. No longer were they limited by the amount of DVR storage that our satellite provider gave us with their box. We now have more freedom to watch what we want, when we want.  They have come to not fear the new box under the TV, but instead are starting to embrace it. Well, they are not REALLY hugging it, but they are seeing that it is not all that hard to use and in many respects, operates in a similar manner to our previous satellite box. 

Sure there may be a few extra steps to get to the online content, but even that is starting to change.  The kicker here is that since I built the box from scratch, there was no instruction manual, yet my wife was able to quickly pick it up without much guidance from me. This was a big deal for me because my wife loves instruction manuals and micro organizing. We have a big binder full of instruction manuals (really, I’m not exaggerating). We even have one from an answering machine we had 15 years ago.  So, it was great to see her jump in and start using it (honey, I am so proud of you!).

Now, this did not all come without some sacrifice.  We don’t have access to all the exact same content we could get from our satellite provider.  There are some shows we just can’t get, at least not yet.  However, for all that we lost, we gained significantly more content.  Sure, this content was out there and we could always watch it on our desktop PC, but do you really want to crowd around a 19″ computer monitor sitting at your desk to watch your TV programming?  I know I don’t.  Our HTPC gives us access to all that content and that experience but from the comfort of my couch. In addition to all that, the HTPC is our:

• Blu-ray and DVD player
• Digital Video Recorder (DVR)
• Photo Library
• Music Library
• Internet Radio
• DVD Library
• Amplifier
• TV Tuner

Just one box and one remote — it works great for us.

Between the two ATI TV Wonder^TM HD 650 Combo PCI Express® tuners I installed, we can watch and record multiple programs at the same time. For shows we may miss or are not broadcast on OTA TV, we go online to watch.  To top it all off, we are saving about $100 per month by cutting the cord (or in our case, the satellite feed).

I can’t say if it is right for you or your family, or if you would save as much as we do, but perhaps it is time to take a look.  If you have an interesting story or thoughts about your HTPC experience, please leave a comment, we would love to hear what you have to say.  You can read about the steps I took to cut the cord here. Likewise, if you have a topic you would like to see covered in a future blog, let us know. 

Till next time, happy trails!

Jay Taylor is a Senior Developer Relations Engineer at AMD. His postings are his own opinions and may not represent AMD’s positions, strategies or opinions. Links to third party sites are provided for convenience and unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such linked sites and no endorsement is implied.