Okay, epic home theater project. help please.

Cam42 · 11-09-2009, 05:48 PM

So, as I'm moving to a completely new state here in a few weeks, and a new house (duh), me and my dad are definitely going to create a home theater room, which seems to be quite popular in Denver (where we're moving to)
~~Couple~~ a lot of questions. First few are about the TV, and the rest are about the htpc we're setting up.
TV:

We're looking for a TV around 50", and that's all we know. We've seen a few models from Samsung that we liked, but what other brands out there are good/not too expensive?
Plasma? LCD? What type of TV should we go for? ups and downs of both types?

HTPC: I've been looking at Engadget's guide here How-to: Build a Blu-ray / TV tuner-equipped HTPC for under $1,000 although it's pretty old, and a lot of things have changed since then. What I'd like to know is

I've been looking at TUAW's guide here TUAW Guide: Setting up the Ultimate Mac mini Home Theater on the Mac mini home theater pc, how would that compare to Engadget's htpc, price/specs wise.
If I went the Mac mini route, I'd be upgrading the hard drive, with a less expensive upgrade than the one from the apple store. I found one on newegg for just under a hundred. Does replacing the mini's hard drive void any sort of warranty?
Does the mini come with iLife discs? I'd definitely want to keep iLife, and with the upgraded drive, how would that work? Could I do a Time Machine restore?
How would I connect the mini to the TV? Preferably via HDMI...

I'll post more questions as I think of them.

Bryan · 11-10-2009, 02:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cam42

So, as I'm moving to a completely new state here in a few weeks, and a new house (duh), me and my dad are definitely going to create a home theater room, which seems to be quite popular in Denver (where we're moving to)
~~Couple~~ a lot of questions. First few are about the TV, and the rest are about the htpc we're setting up.
TV:

We're looking for a TV around 50", and that's all we know. We've seen a few models from Samsung that we liked, but what other brands out there are good/not too expensive?
Plasma? LCD? What type of TV should we go for? ups and downs of both types?

HTPC: I've been looking at Engadget's guide here How-to: Build a Blu-ray / TV tuner-equipped HTPC for under $1,000 although it's pretty old, and a lot of things have changed since then. What I'd like to know is

I've been looking at TUAW's guide here TUAW Guide: Setting up the Ultimate Mac mini Home Theater on the Mac mini home theater pc, how would that compare to Engadget's htpc, price/specs wise.
If I went the Mac mini route, I'd be upgrading the hard drive, with a less expensive upgrade than the one from the apple store. I found one on newegg for just under a hundred. Does replacing the mini's hard drive void any sort of warranty?
Does the mini come with iLife discs? I'd definitely want to keep iLife, and with the upgraded drive, how would that work? Could I do a Time Machine restore?
How would I connect the mini to the TV? Preferably via HDMI...

I'll post more questions as I think of them.

Pretty much any new TV you get will be good. I have both a 52" LG LCD 1080p TV and a 42" Vizio 1080p LCD TV. Really, I'd just look for the TV that has the price and features you want. Personally, I don't like the Mac Mini for a HTPC. It doesn't have bluray and can't connect to cable. Here's the setup I have.

LG Scarlet 52" 1080p LCD TV 120hz (fabulous TV)
Onkyo TR605 Receiver (I'd like to upgrade to the 607 because it has more HDMI ports)
Samsung BluRay Player (I honestly don't like this player, wish I had a different brand)
Tivo HD - Modified with a larger harddrive but you can get the Western Digitial MyTivo ESata Harddrive if you need more space without voiding your warranty.
XboX 360
Apple TV
Toshiba HD DVD player (I should probably sell this on ebay along with all my HD DVDs)
Polk Audio Tower and Center channel speakers
Monoprice surround-sound in-ceiling speakers

I have a gigabit switch that sits in my TV console and everything is connected to it for internet connectivity.

I also have a Logitech Harmony XboX 360 Universal remote. This is great, because I can just push a single button to switch between xbox, apple tv, blu ray, tivo. I love it.

There are many TVs and BluRay players that have Netflix Instant Streaming built-in. It is also available on the XboX 360 (and PS3 when you put the Instant Streaming disc in... so gay). The Tivo HD also has Netflix Instant Streaming as well.

I've also found as I've looked around that the software available to setup a HTPC and record TV shows is always terrible. I love my TIVO and will never get anything else.

Cam42 · 11-10-2009, 02:21 PM

I also saw the AppleTV. I liked that, it looked pretty cool. But I'm wanting to be able to have web browsing, etc from my TV.

And I probably should've mentioned that I'll be using Boxee.

Bryan · 11-10-2009, 02:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cam42

I also saw the AppleTV. I liked that, it looked pretty cool. But I'm wanting to be able to have web browsing, etc from my TV.

And I probably should've mentioned that I'll be using Boxee.

ah, well if you want web browsing, then def go w/ MacMini. though I find that I'd rather have a laptop to surf the web while I watch TV.

Bryan · 11-10-2009, 02:40 PM

oh and good luck. building a new home theatre is lots of fun. I know I enjoyed putting mine together. Get all your cables form Monoprice.com

Cam42 · 11-10-2009, 03:01 PM

Yeah , I saw monoprice.
And no, I will not be using Monster Cables. I read Engadget too much to do that.

Bryan · 11-12-2009, 12:22 PM

you might find this interesting.

Yes, it's coming: The Boxee Box | Crave - CNET

Cam42 · 11-12-2009, 12:28 PM

Yeah, I saw that. Looks pretty sweet.
I also found the Dell ZinoHD, and I think I might be going with that.

***BillSPrestonEsq*** · 11-12-2009, 01:00 PM

I use a pc for my home theater basis. Works well. If you are not a mac fan, it could be another way to do it.DVRing is not the most fun, but of all the pc software, I think Windows Media Center is pretty decent.

I used an emachine as a starting point. Through a capture card in it, a good graphics card and I could add a blueray drive in it. Has worked well for almost a year so far. I record hdtv with ease.

I find blueray gives me headaches. (don't ask me why, I wish I knew) So I do not have blueray, something about the extra sharpness bothers my eyes.

Cam42 · 11-12-2009, 01:14 PM

I think I'll wait until the ZinoHD gets a TV tuner option, which, according to Gizmodo, it should be soon.

On second thought, is there any good USB TV Tuners out there for Windows?

***BillSPrestonEsq*** · 11-12-2009, 01:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cam42

I think I'll wait until the ZinoHD gets a TV tuner option, which, according to Gizmodo, it should be soon.

On second thought, is there any good USB TV Tuners out there for Windows?

The hauppage ones are not bad. I do prefer the internal models though.

Cam42 · 11-12-2009, 01:21 PM

I really don't think installing something internal is such a great idea when the box is just a bit bigger than a mac mini.

***BillSPrestonEsq*** · 11-12-2009, 01:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cam42

I really don't think installing something internal is such a great idea when the box is just a bit bigger than a mac mini.

well it depends. I went bigger intentionally.