(6 votes, average: 4.50 out of 5)
Loading ...Join AMD for an interactive webcast about HTPCs
You’re invited to join AMD for a webcast on Wednesday May 27 about the increasingly popular Home Theater PC (HTPC) platform, and how to achieve feature-rich television content directly on your home PCs. I will be discussing many of the issues covered in this blog, and there is opportunity for a Q&A afterwards. Please join AMD and get involved in the discussion. Full details below.
When: Wednesday, May 27; 12:00 p.m. ET/9:00 a.m. PT
#1 by wpeltola - May 25th, 2009 at 11:54
Jay, I would love to attend the webcast on the HTPC, but I will be working during that time. This is a topic that really does interest me and I hope that the webcast will be available for download after it is finished.
I’m still fairly new to the HTPC world, but it’s really a fun hobby to get into and good challenge to get everything to work right together. I’m still working on integrating my Comcast HD box into the mix, but for the time being, Hulu.com amd various other streaming services are providing the shows and playback that I desire. I’m even contemplating giving up cable TV altogether and just watching everything via the web. Saving over $50 a month should like a welcome change in my monthly bills…but I still have to sell the idea to me wife
A few questions I would ask during the webcast are::
1) What are some of the online media streaming services out there that can provide folks with their favorite shows? (ala Hulu.com, MSNBC, ect)
2) What are some of the different TV tuners available to the public AND which ones would you recommend?
3) What are some of the basic hardware requirements for an HTPC? More memory as opposed to more CPU? Windows Vista Ultimate or Windows 7?
4) Can you talk about some of the different front-ends available for the HTPC? i.e MS Media Center, Media Portal, Myth TV, ect.
Thanks again for covering the HTPC topic and I look forward to seeing a recording of your webcast! Here are my puny HTPC specs:
::Antec Veris Fusion Black 420:: ::AMD Athlon 64 5400+ x2:: ::ATI HD2600 Pro:: ::WD 1TB SATA 3.0:: ::LG Blue Ray internal SATA drive:: ::Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-1600:: ::48″ LG Plasma TV::
#2 by Jay Taylor - May 27th, 2009 at 12:32
@wpeltola, I am sorry we did not get to all your questions in the Webcast.
1) See my “Give Me Online Video or Give Me Death!” blog for a list of sources for online content.
2) Lot of different tuner options, I am using our TV Wonder 650 card and it works great. However, you can also find cards from Visiontek, Avermedia, Hauphauge, and more that are also good solutions.
3) It is really about building a balanced solution, not necessarily the most powerful. Tough to answer in a short reply.
4) I myself am using MS, Win 7 RC candidate and Vista’s Media Center interface. Both work great for my home. However, there are also good solutions from Sage TV, XBMC, Media Portal, Myth TV, etc. However, some can be more complex to set up and run than others.
#3 by wpeltola - May 27th, 2009 at 13:11
@Jay Taylor,
Thanks for the replies! You answered some of these questions for me today in your webcast, but it’s great to see them here as well. I was thinking about giving Win 7 a shot on my HTPC because I have been hearing such great things about it’s multimedia capabilities. Right now, Vista Ultimate has been working well for me, but I do like how Win 7 is working on my test server.
My Hauppauge card seems buggy at times. I’m using the latest driver for it, so I’m not totally sure. I’m still looking into it.
Thanks for everything!
#4 by Frank L - May 27th, 2009 at 12:42
don’t know why, but i couldn’t watch it… the feed would cut off every 7 seconds for aoubr 3 seconds…. maybe next time
#5 by Jay Taylor - May 27th, 2009 at 16:34
@Frank L, Thanks for the comments. The webcast should also be available for replay shortly. You can find the link in the blog I posted today.