From yourgreenfriend.com
The home theater PC, or “HTPC” as it is often called, has never really gained a lot of traction – it seems doomed to forever remain a niche product, especially as home video game consoles like Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s Playstation step up and become high-definition media devices.
Still, with streaming video Web sites like Hulu confined to PCs, the HTPC can still have a place under many TVs, and the low cost of decent computing equipment these days makes it more affordable than ever to put one together.
In this, the first post in a two part series, I’ll cover why Windows 7 is an ideal operating system to use in an HTPC – in the next post, I’ll show you what I used to put together my own HTPC and why.
The first question to ask when considering any HTPC: What kind of a computer does it need to be? The ideal HTPC should fit in a small amount of space, usually in one’s home entertainment center under one’s television, and it should be quiet – nothing will ruin a movie or TV show like the whir of one or more loud fans.
So, small and quiet. To keep things suitably inaudible, most people will need to use a slower processor that generates less heat – less heat means less fans means less noise. Unfortunately, this means the computer isn’t going to be breaking a lot of speed records.
This is where Windows 7 comes in – Windows XP will run well on low-end and low-power hardware, but it takes more time to setup. Installing Windows XP on a new PC nowadays involves hunting down a lot of drivers, downloading a lot of updates and doing a lot of fiddling with its rapidly-aging user interface. You’ll also need to find DVD codecs and, unless you happen to have the Media Center edition of the OS, some good third-party HTPC software. Also, let’s face it, XP is rapidly nearing the end of its useful life.
Windows Vista improves the situation somewhat – the Windows Media Center application is built-in to the Home Premium and Ultimate editions, DVD codecs are included, and it looks better on a wider variety of screens. Still, depending on your configuration, Vista might be too slow for your taste even after a couple of service packs and dozens of patches. Intel’s Atom processor is a great choice for an HTPC – it is generally fast enough for most applications, and it doesn’t generate a lot of heat. Vista just isn’t going to be happy on such a processor, however.
Windows 7 is great on an HTPC because it marries the look and functionality of Vista to the hardware requirements of XP (it gets pretty close, anyway). The Media Center application, which we’ve written about before, makes organizing, watching and listening to audio and video convenient, and Windows 7 handles larger fonts and icons better than the aging XP.
So, using Windows 7 as a base, I’ve put together a cheap, low-power, reasonably functional HTPC that wouldn’t have been nearly as good if I had built it before October 22. Tune in tomorrow, when I’ll let you know the particulars of the components I’ve picked. In the meantime, check out the Windows 7 Media Center PC Everton built for less than $300.
I agree with the point here but I’ve been having a lot of problems with MCE and large collections. It seems to get REAL laggy around 5000 mp3′s and no other processes running. I think browser based apps are the future of HTPC’s like netflix, hulu, allybox, boxee. The best Media Center out there is by far XBMC. I’ve tried em all and XBMC really is awesome. Boxee runs the same code and is quite nice too. I think MCE has a lot of shortfalls but is getting there very very slowly!
Hulu + any PC + PlayON (from themediamall) = streaming to xbox360/playstation3.
You don’t need a PC attached to your TV.
An HTPC is much more than just a streaming Hulu box. HTPCs provide a local way to access Movies (online, local or physical disc), Music, Photos, DVR applications (when tuners are installed), stream content to other PCs/extenders, and more.
Streaming boxes are fine and you can do that a lot cheaper than with a full blow PC. However, they are also limited in functionality. If you want full functionality, then having an HTPC under the TV is really the easiest solution.
Take your Hulu+PC+PlayOn for example. You still need an extender as well here. While this may give you access to content stored locally on your PC (which I can do to a certain extent with any PC + Extender anyway), you are limited to content stored on that PC. What if you want to play a DVD or Blu Ray? If your PC is in another room, you already have an inconvienence issue and while I am not fully familiar with PlayOn, I am not sure it will allow you local control of a phyisical disc on a remote machine. Perhaps it does, not sure, but it is already an inconvienent solution compared to a local box under the TV.
Furthermore, if I am going an extender route, then not sure why you would even need PlayOn to start with since the extender would give me access to just about all my media content on the PC.
Looks like PlayOn relies upon RSS feeds and Plug Ins to bring specific content to the extender via the PC. What about non plug in sites (say NBC for example)? The local HTPC can access any site/any content via a traditional browser as needed. While not the ideal option, it has significantly more flexibility to access content that any other platform.
Win 7 makes huge strides in making the HTPC more relevant and easy to use than ever before. If you are not a MS fan, then solutions like Sage TV, Myth TV, Boxee, XBMC and other solutions are also doing this.
Now, I personally feel that Win 7 is a big step forward. Still needs some work but even the latest Netflix/Internet TV update that came out last week increases the viability of this platform.
I agree with many of your comments and see on the horizon many streaming technologies are replacing relatively new trends. For instance; DVD/Blue Ray may well be outdated by Amazon / Netflix streaming but almost everyone has a physical collection Amazon are permitting vaults now which ensures access to your collection at any time. MP3′s can be stored on a home server and streamed very easily through WHS, winamp or xbmc for instance. I personally like Pandora to all those that live in the U.S. and its a matter of time for those outside. My dilemma was storage and set top box space. I find I use the hdd less for storage and would love micro ATX boxes to be integrated into TV’s with some open OS for people to tweak. Asus Nettop’s really are the future for this I feel. Slim profile and streaming ready.
MCE in the future will be used as an OS more so than a Media Center (I feel) unless they get codec fundamentals and broader take on of 3rd party apps together. At this stage there should be as many apps for it as there are for the iPhone.
To Java_jack:
I was not arguing that an HTPC isn’t useful. I’d like to have one myself.
I was only making the point that Hulu is not confined to ONLY playing back on a (HT)PC. The first paragraph says how the extenders (xbox/ps3) are getting more powerful, but the second paragraph claims they’re limited by not being able to deal with Hulu. I’m merely pointing out that they are not limited in that regard – if you buy PlayOn. The extender alone does NOT support Hulu.
PlayOn doesn’t allow streaming from an optical disk, but the game extenders themselves support optical discs (within their format limitations.)
The extenders also do a competent job of serving from a DNLA compatible NAS box, like an IOmega ix2 series.
Again, I’m not arguing that HTPCs are not great. Just that extenders are not as limited as the article asserts.
No HTPC? have ps3… use tversity. It supports hulu, and netflicks will be sending out (to account holders) a free CD that installs it’s little app onto a ps3. tversity runs on a pc, and then pulls down content from Hulu. you can then see it from your ps3 via dlna being served up by tversity.
Personally, I have win7 media center, a hulu app under extras, and netflicks. It’s all good. =)
Sorry if I came off that way. Not my intention.
Where the hell is part 2? Windows 7 must suck for a HTPC setup i’m guessing.
it’s on it’s way – you can read about my new HTPC here http://windows7news.com/2009/08/14/building-a-sub-300-windows-7-media-center-pc/ while you are waiting!
Looking for part II…
I like Windows 7.