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PauloAmore Member Since: 27 Jan 2007 Location: Bonnie Scotland Posts: 1292 ![]() ![]() |
Handbrake is free.
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AndrewHG2 Member Since: 05 Sep 2008 Location: Harrogate Posts: 114 ![]() |
I`ve just had a look at a program I use for my system (not apple TV).
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npinks Site Moderator Member Since: 26 Nov 2007 Location: Watching Posts: 6716 ![]() ![]() |
what would you need to make a media centre |
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AndrewHG2 Member Since: 05 Sep 2008 Location: Harrogate Posts: 114 ![]() |
I cheated and bought a dell studio Hybrid. Works flawlessly with my 50" plasma http://www.dell.com/hybrid It seemed to have everything I needed in a small case. HD video is sorted by the onboard HDMI port and the audio with the digital out. Everything is top notch.
Any old PC would do really, dual core and above processor I guess would be preferable. (my hybrid has a pentium dual core 2.00ghz processor). Stick in a newish graphics card, one with an hdmi port, I think some can do audio through hdmi aswell, If not you`ll have to buy a sound card with optical/digital out. It all starts getting a bit more technical and the reason I went for a ready built system. Some nice cases here though if you fancy going the whole hog. http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/Kustom...es_96.html I had often dreamt about using this case before I saw the light and saved a lot of hair pulling! ![]() http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/info_1118.html Here is an article that seems to have better information for you. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/windows-7-htpc,2159.html Admin note: this post has had its images recovered from a money grabbing photo hosting site and reinstated ![]() |
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PJPR01 Member Since: 12 Mar 2006 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 355 ![]() ![]() ![]() |
That's a very nice piece of furniture with clean lines you have there...mind sharing the brand?
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scott7 Member Since: 20 Apr 2009 Location: Scotland Posts: 282 ![]() ![]() |
Thanks, the 1 click DVD convertor is what I'm looking for, I just want a setup that will allow me to download movies in HD or close to that quality,I've got a handfull of movies that I would watch again so want to store them on the apple for convenience, I'll try this software later, thanks again. |
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2nd Rower Member Since: 12 Nov 2007 Location: Upside Down Posts: 1382 ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Hi Andrew - I have just started looking at and playing with Windows Media Centre on my laptop ahead of building a PC.. What are the pro's (cons) of xbmc vs Windows Media Centre -The guy in the shop I went to was very pro of WMC??
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Kaine Member Since: 26 May 2006 Location: Hills of Shropshire Posts: 8902 ![]() ![]() |
xmbc is free - xpmce isn't
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Kaine Member Since: 26 May 2006 Location: Hills of Shropshire Posts: 8902 ![]() ![]() |
another nice feature of xbmc is the skin's you can use - you can have different skins on W7 however they don't integrate as nicely
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AndrewHG2 Member Since: 05 Sep 2008 Location: Harrogate Posts: 114 ![]() |
![]() http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40105707 Without the caster wheels ![]() Works very well, nice and deep for cable management, and holds approx 68 dvd`s in each drawer. |
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npinks Site Moderator Member Since: 26 Nov 2007 Location: Watching Posts: 6716 ![]() ![]() |
so I buy a Dell Hybrid (like the look/shape of that) and then i presume.....
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AndrewHG2 Member Since: 05 Sep 2008 Location: Harrogate Posts: 114 ![]() |
Think Kaine`s explained it well. XBMC has far more room for expansion, and there are many clever people out there tweaking and adding new features all the time. It does take a little more time to setup, and there`s still much I don`t understand/ or features I havent enabled. I can`t really comment on WMC, as haven`t really used it that much, I just had a look at the MCE on my Windows 7 pc. They`ve added a few more features, and it seems to work well. Just doesnt have the user experience I am after. A Pro for WMC is you can use the MC remote control (XBMC can use remotes too, just not out of the box), and you can use an Xbox 360 as a media center extender, running everything through the xbox. I found this to be a bit unreliable and a hassle to navigate around. XBMC pros for me are the fact that there`s a great community out there, continually adding new features to enhance an already slick customisable media center experience. It does take more time to setup, but looks and works so much better for it. Media companion is a very handy program that scans you files and collects a synopsis/info on the film for the information page, lets you choose which poster to use, and what fanart to have as the backdrop. Also works for TV shows (havent tried yet)
Apparently and MKV file is a multimedia container format. It is NOT a video or audio compression format (video codec). It is an envelope for which there can be many audio, video and subtitles streams, allowing the user to store a complete movie or CD in a single file ![]() http://www.matroska.org/technical/whatis/index.html
Looks great and works well too: A few videos I just found: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLzdLOO3sYI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3704o_3z8A another skin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-hn0ZIL-lg |
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AndrewHG2 Member Since: 05 Sep 2008 Location: Harrogate Posts: 114 ![]() |
Yeah I guess you could buy a hybrid ![]() yeah I tried to find the hybrid on the dell website and it seems to have been removed from uk stores ? I am sure there will be something much better out there now ? http://www.testfreaks.com/desktop-computer...pc-eb1012/ http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/12/lenovo-...inment-pc/ http://www.viewsoniceurope.com/uk/products/vmp72.htm Or if you`ve an old pc you could just upgrade to suitable graphics card in for £50 ! http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct....subcat=938 This one seems to do 7.1 through the hdmi port for one less worry. I tried to do the whole process on the hybrid once, but it wasn`t very quick. I normally use my main PC as it has a far better processor etc. Rip your dvd`s with something like MakeMKV or dvdfab/ dvd decrypter, stick em on an external HD large 500gig+ / 1 TB (I use 4 x 500gb so far and still have 200+ dvds to copy over ![]() Apparently xbmc does "scrape" the movie files and tries to locate posters etc, but I havent found that yet. So I just point media companion http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?t=33961 to the freshly filled HD and let it do its business. It will automatically choose the bits you need, but also offers you the ability to choose which posters you want, which I find more pleasing. Connect the completed HD to you media pc, load up xbmc, add the HD to the source list and it will spring into life. |
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PJPR01 Member Since: 12 Mar 2006 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 355 ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Thanks...good place to look then as we have IKEA here as well, I like the clean lines. Quality is OK, decent hardware on the slides etc.? Cheers. PJPR Cairns Blue HSE 180k Miles of Adventure |
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