ejm_110

Just a suggestion, make a thread for your question 🙂 

THIS:
 
 
Browse youtube on your phone, tap share, click "Send to XBMC". Every day, I just fire up my htpc, browse my subscriptions on my phone then tada~!!

THIS:
 
 
Browse youtube on your phone, tap share, click "Send to XBMC". Every day, I just fire up my htpc, browse my subscriptions on my phone then tada~!!

Ignore. You built your rig to enjoy games on high detail and smooth gameplay not to prove something.

Ignore. You built your rig to enjoy games on high detail and smooth gameplay not to prove something.

Ignore. You built your rig to enjoy games on high detail and smooth gameplay not to prove something.

QNAP
Synology if money is no object
 
NAS is not a backup solution, it is an uptime solution. I suggest to still do the external HDD stack method he is using or online like crashplan.

The reason most enthusiast build their own computer has nothing to do with saving money.

Well, aside from the "re-allocated sector" count being at 120, it hasn't "failed" but it's been maybe only 5 months?
Checking for errors now after I've completely (long) formatted the drive... Will be checking with seatools as soon as I can find a working USB drive or a blank cd...

For Phone reviews, try MKBHD.

afterparty

2012 ver is 720p
2013 ver is 1080p
 
Depends on the quality of videos you will watch. Personally I would pick 2013v because I love pixels.

TK version please.

Funny timing for this. I'm working on a PFsense deployment right now.

For Xmas my Fiancée bought me my very first Lego kit 
 


 
 
Even though kids do this I feel like its out of my league lol  :unsure:

Android smartphone + Yatse

Warning: Debian 8 just rolled out with systemd. Because of this, there may be stuff in this guide which doesn't work as described. This guide was written for Debian 7. Most of it should still work though...
 
As promised before to a few forum members. This will be my beginner's howto about creating your own home server. This howto is supposed to be understandle by non-linux users and beginners. You will have to have a basic knowledge of what a computer is, what files and folders/directories are. You'll need basic knowledge of networking (knowing how to connect computers to a router and knowing what an IP-address is, is enough). You also need to be aware of the difference between a GUI (e.g. windows) and a CLI (e.g. MSDOS). If you don't know the last one: try the following. Press windowsflag+r, this should open a screen which lets you enter a command. In this screen, type 'cmd' without quotes and click OK. This will open a command prompt. That a Command Line Interface (CLI), there are no windows, there is no cursor, there is only text :D

I'll be covering and explaining everything I do on my server. Because my server will have to be in a different place as yours and will have different name, you should always substitute the following:
simon, with your own user name brol3, with your own server name 192.168.1.150 with the IP-address of your server  
This will be a howto for a headless server, meaning that no monitor, nor a keyboard will be connected to the server during normal operation. Only during installation you'll need a monitor and keyboard. Because of this, I chose a CLI installation of Debian, I don't need any GUI (graphical user interface).

I'll be putting the topics I'll be covering into different posts (comments) and linking to those in the list below, that way this doesn't turn into a MASSIVE single post.
Installing base system Logging in for the first time Linux basics Setting console resolution Setting up a static IP Installing SSH and other handy dandy utilities Creating a RAID volume Creating (+formatting) regular partitions Creating (+formatting) encrypted partitions Mount a partition at boot Set up a file server (windows shares) Installing a web server Making your webserver secure (HTTPS) Installing phpsysinfo Setting up personal cloud storage Setting up Webmin Setting up SABnzbd+ (usenet client) Setting up Virtual Machines (Virtualbox + phpVirtualBox) Setting up a torrent client (Transmission) Keep in mind that I'm NOT an expert, I'm simply a very interested guy that did a lot of googling and fiddling since he was 12. If anything isn't clear, or if you feel like there's something wrong with what I'm doing/explaining, please feel free to tell me and I'll do my best to simplify/correct/adapt what I've written.

I hope this helps someone.

PS: this is a work in continuous construction. The topic list above may always expand and my howto below may always change as I find other ways to do things.If you feel like something is missing, feel free to post suggestions.
PPS: for those interested, you can find the build log of this server here

I have been there and opted to custom HTPC itx build (build log coming soon!) installed with openelec (stripped down linux with xbmc installed)
 
I streamed from my NAS to RPi before. My RPi was installed with OpenElec, another option aside from Raspbmc. Audio is your worst enemy. About playback, SD resolutions are fine but 720p and 1080p are no go. It is not also fast or snappy enough for menu browsing even if the openelec files are on USB flash drive not SD card. In the end, I failed and somehow regretted it but I learned a lot from that experiment.
 
I will discourage you on pursuing that. You can go on with Intel NUC or custom htpc builds. It seems you are not familiar with xbmc, I suggest that you try that first. Others use plex or mediaportal.
 
if you want to save your time from ripping and just play your bluray discs on xbmc. You must have windows and software that supports bluray playback. There are many guides out there. Good luck on your project!

Take a look at Gunpla (if you are mecha anime fan). Comic Books.

Take a look at Gunpla (if you are mecha anime fan). Comic Books.

Given that most users here are tech and PC savvy, thought I would start my first post with some tips for putting together a home theater.
 
Home theaters mean different things to different people. Some may only consider it a true home theater when there is a 120 inch projector screen and $10K worth of equipment to shake the house, crack drywall and flex the concrete in your foundation. These days, it's not unheard of to enjoy a very modest set up in your living room for games, movies, music and even cable TV. Let's get started.
 
IMPORTANT: Most people think home theaters mean high quality sound and audio. As someone who has been a long time hobbyist in the audio / video arena, I tend to associate home theater with a fun experience... for you and whoever gets to come and enjoy your setup.
 
Given that we are looking to achieve a fun experience, here is what I would do if I was to start to build a modest home theater.
 
Look to slowly add to your gear over time. Unless you have a big enough budget to pick up all your gear right away. A home theater for movies, music and gaming, you will need a TV - personally, I stay away from 3D TV's as I don't enjoy it You will need an A/V receiver to power your speakers, accept all input (probably HDMI these days) and send video signal to TV. Most of the brand names like Denon, Yamaha, Pioneer will do a similar job in the entry to mid level price range. I prefer Denon as I know their audio calibration system, audyssey, does a good job right out of the box. If budget allows, I would start with a 5.1 setup ie. 5 speakers and 1 sub. If not, consider saving up enough for 2.1 (2 speakers + sub). Contrary to popular belief, 2.1 almost always beats out on 3 speakers for a starter system Most people think floor standing speakers are better than bookshelves. This may or may not be true. A $500 pair of Paradigms may sound better than a $700-$900 pair of floor standing speakers (less the bass). But don't let the "less bass" fool you. That is where you .1 comes in. You want a good sub so your can dial your A/V receiver to dish out all low end bass to your sub. More on this later. Center channel and sub woofer are the 2 most important speakers in your set up. Speaker brands sound different to different people. Some may prefer the warmer / more neutral sound of Paradigms and others may prefer the crips high and sound stage of Klipsche horn speakers. Go listen and compare how you like each brand versus the price you have to pay. Stay away from home theater in a box where possible. More often than not, most people with this will end up spending more money to upgrade at a later date. Speakers is where you should spend most of your budget. Computers, servers, electronics, A/V receivers have a short life cycle when compared to a good set of speakers. Most home theater buffs will keep their good speakers for 10+ years and still enjoy them after that. Save up as much money as possible for the sub. To enjoy movies and booming music with the family once a month, a $500 sub will be fun. To enjoy moves often, really feel the pipe organ rumble your sofa, you will need to spend $1000 (in Canada, less from the US). Unless you follow a specific retailer where they blow out a particular Klipsch sub for $299 but this is not the norm. To scare your house mates or family when they are not in the same room, and to feel the sub-sonic (not hear) frequencies between 10-20 Hz, you will need to spend $1500-$2000 (Canada and US). Beyond that, most enthusiast will run dual subs to even out the frequency response in a room. And anyone who runs more than 2 subs are just bass heads... we have love for you too! Funny how users who spend an enormous amount of money to get high fidelity music are called audiophiles where users who spend crazy money to feel sub sonic bass (less than 20 HZ) are called bass heads. Once you have a good sub, you should crossover on your receiver to 80Hz. This will send the bass from your speakers to your sub. Even if you have floor standing, you may want to consider this. It will free up your receiver power to push clean power to your speakers and let the sub do the heavy lifting. It is VERY taxing on a receiver to output 60Hz of bass to your speakers. The biggest take away is that the home theater should be fun. The more money you spend, normally the better the quality of gear and the more fun you will have. But, there is a diminishing rate of return. You will see a huge jump in fun factor from a $500 system to a $1000 system. Then another from $1000 to $2000. Then from $2000 - $3000. Anything beyond this, you are probably a hobbyist already.
 
Don't worry about needing $2K - $3K to build your theater. This is NOT a PC build where you need all the up front money now. Most users build their theaters over time.
 
This is off the top of my head. If you have any questions, just ask on this thread. Or, if you are a super enthusiast looking to re-model your basement to build a large scale home theater, still ask. If I can help, I will. If you want to see pics of how people crack their stairs and drywall from running 8+ subs in the theaters, then search that on the Internet
 
Edit: Thanks to @knight_40k for taking the time to write up some good tips. Initially, I was going to merge our posts but I have not heard back from our admins as to how I can edit his post. In addition, setting up a home theater is often times not black or white. In the hopes of helping as many people as possible, I have decided to not merge any tips provided in this thread. It's already clear that suggestions may differ and we should respect and debate the issues at hand. I see lots of good advice here already. keep them coming.

Check the humble bundle today.

I currently live here in Japan.
 
For Japanese people.. manga, anime, gaming(pc,console,handheld) are only for kids. When they become adults, they would only care about work. A kid/teen would not be able to build a proper gaming pc for just relying on part time jobs because the prices here are expensive. So console would be their choice. Japanese people tend to support their own products, they would prefer sony over microsoft(or any non Japanese brand for a pc part) because it is their own. Because console/handheld gaming is much more popular here and no to little piracy over it, many Japanese developers are still developing good quality games for console but only intended for Japanese market. PS Vita may not be a hit worldwide but it is successful here in Japan, that is why they are delaying PS4 here until Feb 2014 because of the success of Vita. Even PSP is still used in here.
 
For the past year I am planning to build my gaming PC here but most of the brands are not sold here, prices are too high and seriously the space required.

I might as well weigh in on this since I tweeted this as a discussion topic:
 
Mantle:
- Unproven
- Requires no new hardware if you already have a GCN (7000+) card
- Requires developer support (but we know that at least some is coming)
- Unknown performance improvement over non-Mantle
- Takes time to implement, limited compatibility with existing hardware and fragments market, which will be a major barrier
- No support for existing titles unless ported in after the fact
- Potentially makes Linux gaming more feasible
 
G-Sync:
- Requires Kepler GPU (600 series or better)
- Requires new hardware on monitor side of things (but not that expensive to implement compared to existing scaler hardware)
- Does not require developer support & supports pretty much your entire existing library of games.
- Proven performance. Holy crap does it ever make a big difference. I'd rather play 50FPS with G-Sync than 80FPS with tearing from what I saw. Seriously..
- Requires hardware manufacturer support (at least some is coming, but not from A+ players like Samsung. I saw Philips, ASUS, BenQ, and Viewsonic on the list...)-
 
I'll discuss this more on the WAN Show this week, but let me put it this way. To all of the folks saying any of the following about G-Sync:
- a useless features
- can't convince me that lower framerates can look better
- snake oil
 
You just don't understand the technology here fully. This is ABSOLUTELY game-changing. It makes a HUGE difference. Enormous. Earth-shattering. Not open for debate. End of discussion. Unless you've tried it, (I have, you haven't at this point unless you're another journalist that was at the event) then it's best to say nothing before you make yourself look like a fool.
 
The challenges for G-Sync have to do with adoption by monitor makers, NOT to do with whether it's a GREAT technology that ideally EVERY gamer would have. For me a key factor here is going to be the availability of monitors with G-Sync that don't suck. If you can't buy an IPS panel with G-Sync, you're going to have a hard time selling someone like me who games very little compared to doing real work on his PC on it.
 
Mantle has the capability to dramatically improve performance in the traditional sense, but doesn't address the same issues that every card has the way the G-Sync does. Mantle's success rides on the implementations we see from devs like DICE with BF4. If it's awesome, then it will drive more developers to embrace it. If it sucks and it turns out to be really hard to work with, it won't.
 
So here's the summary in my mind. They're both potentially incredible. The only difference is right now we KNOW that G-Sync is incredible, and Mantle has the POTENTIAL to be incredible. We still need more information about BOTH of them before I'd be willing to drop real money on either of them, though.

I like Linus because he knows what a consumer wants/thinks. Dat charisma!
Dmitri and Anand for very very in depth.
MKBHD for phones/android.