What is an HTPC?

[Asianboi105]

So this has been bugging me for a bit now but what is an HTPC?

 

I know it's a PC and it can do more than a T.V but is there a way to get channels onto your HTPC? If so how and is it going to be expensive?

 

Also is there some kind of criteria that a HTPC has to meet?

 

i want to know because I'm curious about it and I'm known as the computer guy among my friends. Someone came to me and asked me to build a HTPC for under 500 bucks and I'm going huh? I can definately do a gaming PC under that amount but a HTPC I'm a bit more lost lol.

[joelthezombie15]

My last one was dumb of me :)

 

home theater pc

[WhatARoaster]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_theater_PC

 

You could easily make a HTPC for £500.

People have made HTPCs out of Raspberry Pi's.

[Yashrocks9]

HTPCs dont have any guided specifications like an ultrabook but its good if it meets some requirements like able to play blu-ray or 3D blu-ray its totally up to u

they are usually small,sleek,silent and can also handle a little bit gaming

u can also get a sleek looking case for the pc to match the rest of the home theater products

try this out

http://www.newegg.com/HTPC-Media-Center-Cases/SubCategory/ID-690

also u can consider a mini pc like the zotac mini pc or the sapphire edge or the worst of all mac mini :P

 

HAPPY BUILDING :)  :)  :)

[Elbstrand]

HTPC basically just means, that you gonna build a PC specially for media in the living room. This can include things like Bluray/DVD Playback, Playback from Network, Remote Control (with a Harmony or a MCE) a decent Media Software like XBMC.

 

Also generally speaking you want it to be nice looking so its fits in a living/media room environment.

 

A silent system is recommended.

 

 

You should make a list (not necessarily in that order) before building:

 

1. What media do i want to be able to playback. (or maybe even record?)

2. Where do i want to put it. (Size, Looks etc)

3. What means of control do i need/want.

[Asianboi105]

What the record feature have to be paired with a cable box? Because the reason my friend wants it is that he can't really afford cable he only has basic and he wants to watch T.V shows that would normally cost a fee to have the channel to be able to watch it on his HTPC. An example would be Supernatural from the CW channel, would he have to go to the website to watch it or would he be able to install something hardware or softwre wise to be able to watch it?

[afa7336]

What the record feature have to be paired with a cable box? Because the reason my friend wants it is that he can't really afford cable he only has basic and he wants to watch T.V shows that would normally cost a fee to have the channel to be able to watch it on his HTPC. An example would be Supernatural from the CW channel, would he have to go to the website to watch it or would he be able to install something hardware or softwre wise to be able to watch it?

 

I won't touch getting online to watch it, other then if CW offers it he could watch it there or Hulu. The other option is this, a TV tuner card which can take an incoming OTA (Over The Air) signal and allow you to watch it on your computer. Bonus is, it acts like a DVR, where you can record it as well. That specific one, is top end, but just search TV Tuner on www.newegg.com and you will find tons of options. That just happens to be the one I have installed.

[virusal19]

A HTPC is a "Home Theater PC"

 

A "HTPC" is everything a normal PC is, but adds video, photo, audio playback and sometimes allows for recording. 

[Huntsman]

HTPC... basicly it's just a pc made for the living room media consumption. What it does is generally up to the user. It could be used for movies, tv shows, internet browsing, some gaming even or just for music. It's entirely up to the user how to use it.

 

The advantage of having a htpc is that you could have yourself a storage system(a home server or NAS) and stream movies that you have archived to it. Guides for these I think there are aplenty in the Storage section of the forum. Having movies archived in a NAS or home server meant that everything is stored in one central place and you can kiss goodbye to digging up DVDs you watched last night or scratched DVD won't play. Also, you could stream it to tablet or smartphone to be watched anywhere you want, not just on the htpc itself.

 

A htpc with a tv tuner card also allow you to watch normal tv but this requires you to set up the proper antenna and software. With those done you could record tv shows to aforementioned home server/NAS for later enjoyment. With good internet connection, you could also watch movies and tv shows online but some sites might need subscription fees and some might not.

 

Throw in a decent graphics card and you could have yourself a very capable gaming machine to play games on your big tv. It's a wonder why people even go for consoles when they could have a htpc, since it does everything a console does, if not better. My personal favorite is to run emulators on it to play my PS One games with friends.

 

HTPC is a pc too. Normal web surfing and word processing could also be done here(although the latter is not very recommended due to the distance between couch and tv). Another thing is to thrown in a decent sound card and a home theater system, you got yourself a decent(not audiophile grade yet) sound for music and movies.

 

On the hardware side, it doesn't have to be anything fancy if you're on a budget or not playing very demanding games. An APU would do the job best if you don't want to put in a graphics card or want to save the slot for a sound card or tv tuner card. The motherboard has to be either mitx or matx though, since you will want to fit it into a small casing. And it is going to be in the living room, get a nice looking and small casing to put the system in.

 

Well, that's my opinion on HTPCs. Have fun making them and don't hestitate to try out new options. I think it's best to pair them with a home server/NAS so that you don't have to get a big enough case to stuff all the hard drives in there. Have fun!

[Asianboi105]

HTPC... basicly it's just a pc made for the living room media consumption. What it does is generally up to the user. It could be used for movies, tv shows, internet browsing, some gaming even or just for music. It's entirely up to the user how to use it.

 

The advantage of having a htpc is that you could have yourself a storage system(a home server or NAS) and stream movies that you have archived to it. Guides for these I think there are aplenty in the Storage section of the forum. Having movies archived in a NAS or home server meant that everything is stored in one central place and you can kiss goodbye to digging up DVDs you watched last night or scratched DVD won't play. Also, you could stream it to tablet or smartphone to be watched anywhere you want, not just on the htpc itself.

 

A htpc with a tv tuner card also allow you to watch normal tv but this requires you to set up the proper antenna and software. With those done you could record tv shows to aforementioned home server/NAS for later enjoyment. With good internet connection, you could also watch movies and tv shows online but some sites might need subscription fees and some might not.

 

Throw in a decent graphics card and you could have yourself a very capable gaming machine to play games on your big tv. It's a wonder why people even go for consoles when they could have a htpc, since it does everything a console does, if not better. My personal favorite is to run emulators on it to play my PS One games with friends.

 

HTPC is a pc too. Normal web surfing and word processing could also be done here(although the latter is not very recommended due to the distance between couch and tv). Another thing is to thrown in a decent sound card and a home theater system, you got yourself a decent(not audiophile grade yet) sound for music and movies.

 

On the hardware side, it doesn't have to be anything fancy if you're on a budget or not playing very demanding games. An APU would do the job best if you don't want to put in a graphics card or want to save the slot for a sound card or tv tuner card. The motherboard has to be either mitx or matx though, since you will want to fit it into a small casing. And it is going to be in the living room, get a nice looking and small casing to put the system in.

 

Well, that's my opinion on HTPCs. Have fun making them and don't hestitate to try out new options. I think it's best to pair them with a home server/NAS so that you don't have to get a big enough case to stuff all the hard drives in there. Have fun!

Thank you for the great amount of information! and sorry for the reply =P But would you have a reccomendation of a $500 build for my friend? I'm not really hardware savvy outside of $1000 builds for gaming at a desktop. I don't think he really plans on doing much gaming but I think playing emulators on it would be a great option for him since he usually lives paycheck to paycheck.

[Huntsman]

Thank you for the great amount of information! and sorry for the reply =P But would you have a reccomendation of a $500 build for my friend? I'm not really hardware savvy outside of $1000 builds for gaming at a desktop. I don't think he really plans on doing much gaming but I think playing emulators on it would be a great option for him since he usually lives paycheck to paycheck.

 

Going through pcpartpicker i managed to squeeze everything into about 400 bucks excluding shipping and OS. Also, I left out the TV tuner card in case you didn't want it. Here you go.

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/YgU5

 

You can add or minus anything you want but the basics are there. And really, a HTPC is really defined by the software side, not much by hardware. Good luck!

[NewHopeTech]

Just make sure to go with the latest series of APUs. I would wait for Richland to roll out for desktops before building the HTPC if you can wait.

[Elbstrand]

I will probably build a HTPC in a Fractal Design Node 605 soon

[silencerbob]

I bought an Xbox(back in the day), modded it specifically so it could be a htpc. There was free software u could get your hands on called Xbox media player (open source non-microsoft program). Later Xbox media centre was born. You can get XBMC for PC now. Personally, I currently use MediaPortal, which was founded by the same developers. Purely in their own spare time and the love for programming, all these programs have continued development for around 10 years.

WWW.team-mediaportal.com

I've got some YouTube videos that explain the config and recent features.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-za4HUo1snc