HTPC — Freakin Way!
p2pnet news | TV:- “Dump cable TV for a PC? No freakin Way!” – posted catflap.
He was quoting a PC World story by Dan Tynan who responded in a Reader’s Write >>>
seems I touched a nerve. who knew that dissing cable and satellite would make people so cranky?
first: lost was great the first season and has sucked hard ever since. sorry, just my opinion. and grey’s anatomy has always sucked.
second: who said anything about sitting in front of a PC? I connect a laptop to my projector, watch 100 inch video on my wall.
finally: I never actually said I abandoned cable/satellite for webcasters, only that there are now reasons to do so. (I also said some were not ready for prime time, and they aren’t — but they might be one day.) mostly we watch DVDs on the big screen (including tv episodes — higher res, no commercials) and netflix watch now using the roku (which rocks, by the way).
happy couch potatoing
Gryphon also had a few thoughts on the subject, to wit >>>
“and still, no-one has yet explained the appeal – or point – of connecting a pc or laptop to a tv when very cheap stand-alone avi/dvd players are available.”
I used to think that as well, until I built my first HTPC and abandoned single-use DVD players.
Reason 1: Standalone AVI players play DivX (and Xvid, usually) stuff only. That is, Regular profile, MP3 sound, typically no enhancements. Got an AVI encoded GMC or QPEL? Negative. OGM? Sorry. MKV? Nope. WMV? Forget it. Anything more exotic? Don’t make me laugh.
Reason 2: I Have a Philips DVP-642. It plays DivX 5 material. I want to play DivX 6 material. Sorry. Throw it away. You can’t upgrade it with newer/different codecs. What do you mean you bought it 6 months ago? Who cares?
Reason 3: Games. Lots of emulated console games!
Reason 4: Firmware bugs seem to be rampant in newer consumer devices. My aforementioned DVP-642 used to shut itself off sometimes. Usually when you hit play after sitting through the PUOs.
Reason 5: PUOs. The HTPC can skip all that.
Reason 6: Storage. I can keep a LOT of video on the HTPC. The DVD player has a one-disc capacity.
Reason 7: Can your DVD player connect to IMDB? No!
Reason 8: My previously mentioned DVP-642 has trouble playing some discs. Every standalone player I’ve tried has trouble playing some discs. The HTPC plays them all, and will rip them down to boot.
Reason 9: Compact Flash, SD, Memory Stick (Pro,) can all be easily accessed.
Reason 10: I can capture, process, and spit out a DVD all on the same machine as I can play it on.
Reason 11: NTFS external hard drives are usable. No FAT32 here. If you can even find a DVD player with an external USB port that can run at more than 1.1.
Reason 12: New devices, codecs, ports, cards, storage, etc, etc, etc, can be added as it becomes available. No funky ports, locked-out features, or ‘Sorry, we don’t support that format’ here.
Reason 13: Sweet gloss black Antec HTPC computer cases.
14: The HTPC acts like a DVR with no skip or don’t-record restrictions.
et al.
Admittedly, the HTPC is a little more work, but the benefits of having a single connected device that can retrieve, play, store, and share across a home network far outweighs the minuscule learning curve.
If you’re happy with your single use device, so be it. Don’t go complaining that there isn’t any compelling reasons to change.
Not all of us are happy with being locked into a device that you can’t change.
Stay tuned 
JN
[PS - We borrowed the great catatoe pic from Funnyhub. Unfortunately, it doesn't give the name of the photographer.]
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June 30th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
Dont forget a htpc(a computer connected to a big screen/tv/projector) can use applications like bbc iplayer, hulu.com etc… and if you wanted subscription music services.
June 30th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
re Reason 1:
before you buy any electronic equipment – especially dvd players – do research on them and try them out in store. bring several discs with files you know should play, and discs with files you’re not sure will play.
find out if there are any software updates that might be needed. go to the manufacturer’s website. see if they have a message board or free online help contacts.
a very reliable source for info is videohelp.com.
don’t buy the first one you see on sale. buy one that fits your needs. many new dvd players and recorder come with card slots and USB connections for flash drives. look for them.
do all this before you decide to buy anything. it’s that simple. and if the store won’t let you try the machine in store, simple – don’t give them any money and then find a store that’ll let you try the machine there.
re Reason 2:
see above.
or you can easily convert “unplayable” formats on your pc, if you have a conversion program. plus, it’s not difficult to find free online video/audio converters which will convert your “unplayable” files to the format you need or desire.
re Reason 3:
you want games and are willing to pay out lots of cash for unnecessary extras? buy yourself a game console.
re Reason 4:
firmware bugs? see “Re Reason 1″ above.
re Reason 5:
no PUOs in avi files.
re Reason 6:
and if your pc crashes, you lose everything, and you haven’t backed up a thing? sorry, charlie. no one to blame but yourself.
re Reason 7:
why the hell would i want my dvd player to connect to imdb? i have a computer that can do that without any unnecessary add-on equipment.
re Reason 6:
see “re Reason 1″ and “re Reason 2″ above.
re Reason 9:
see “re Reason 1″ above.
re Reason 10:
you can do the same thing with a dvd recorder. and it has all of your channels programmed in it, too. you can “process” (maybe you mean ‘convert’?) and make a dvd in any format if you see “re Reason2 above.
re Reason 11:
you already have a pc. see “re Reason 1″ above. and “re Reason 6″ above.
re Reason 12:
see all relevent replies above.
re Reason 13:
who cares what color it is?
re Reason 14:
buy a very good dvd recorder with 250 GB-320 GB HDD that plays divx and xvid (don’t forget the lesson is “re Reason 1″ above). for formats like x264, quicktime, wmv, and other poor quality unpopular formats and codecs, convert them yourselve. it’s very easy, costs next to nothing, and while your pc is busy doing that, you can pop a dvd-r with six full-length divx/xvid films into the dvd player or dvd recorder you purchased ONLY after having researched many different machines and tried each one out in store before handing over your hard-earned.
my dvd players and recorders aren’t single-use devices. they are multi-use, with HDDs, USB, and other built-in extras. i’m not “locked into” anything. i’ve found the easiest, cheapest ways to unlock those previously locked doors (see above). and if my pc crashes, i’m safe in the knowledge that i’ve backed everything up. no “sorry, charlie’s” here.
i genuinely feel sad for people who splash out on so much unnecessary equipment, spend a lot of time building all of it, and then realising it would have been much cheaper and easier and less time-consuming to follow the points i laid out above. all because the lamescream media says one must wifi and connect everything. in my life i will never have my fridge or oven or any other household appliance (including my dvd players and tv) connected to the internet.
as for giving up my tv and devoting my video entertainment hours to watching crap on Goo-Tube and the like, forget it. whether it’s on my pc monitor or wi-fi’d throughout my entire home or neighbourhood in an intranet (as someone here mentioned they have), it’s not interesting watching boring video diaries, or gang-related videos, or happy-slap phone videos, or amateur porn, etc. who cares? there are much much better things on real tv.
so again, my main point is: i have a pc that can do all an HTPC can – and more – while i spend a considerably less amount of time and bother connecting routers and cable and lord knows what else to my tv when it isn’t necessary. and you can bet if the lamescream media tell me i “must” or “should” do it, then i definitely won’t do it.
July 1st, 2008 at 1:02 am
catflap
A HTPC is not for every one but a HD tv card(cable/satalight/terrestrial) + computer + linux/freeBSD = i can do what i want not what people to me i can do with my hardware.
A dvd player/PVR is basically a computer with a custom operating system based on x86. If it has a hard disk or usb then this almost definitely the case.
point 2
So when setting up my first house you want me to buy a computer and a dvd player when just a computer will do?
my dad’s expensive dvd player jumps to the end of the current chapter when playing scratched dvd’s my mac mini just jumps to the end of the scratch(jumps may be 0.5 seconds) yes the dvds are backups and i can burn another but a who done it film/ tv series is ruined if it jumps anywhere up to 20 minuets forward in time.
“as for giving up my tv and devoting my video entertainment hours to watching crap on Goo-Tube and the like, forget it” BBC iplayer is dvd quality (if you have windows OS) and is whats on TV!
Why would you lose everything if a computer crashes? you have the original dvd/music cd right
and you can back up just like a regular computer.
July 1st, 2008 at 1:59 am
bbc won’t allow the “iplayer” (and itv’s version, as well) to be accessible outside of the uk – even though i pay my tv license fee and my cable subscription, and my cable company then pays the bbc and itv for the stream.
but i would never use it anyway because i don’t want to watch tv on a computer. i have a 52-inch full HD LCD tv and several dvd players/recorders. my pc is not a tv. i don’t believe the iplayer and various other online services from other networks are as popular as they claim, and i don’t believe they ever will be. it’s a lot of hype for something i believe the majority don’t want to use. it was kinda cool in the early days of the internet, but not anymore.
and just because the lamescream media tell me to do it, i won’t do it. it’s silly and unnecessary.
they want us to send them our videos, allow them to own it and do whatever they like with/to it without us being compensated? and then watch it on a pc? no way. at least itv’s “You’ve Been Framed” pays £250 for each clip they show. cnn and other news outlets pay nothing while they make a mint from ads on the net or by showing the clip on tv.
Danty Nan of PC World wants us to dispose of our tvs and dvd players and watch crap online. no matter what he claims, his article’s title, sub-heading and content clearly tell us to do just that. (btw, Danty Nan’s reply to my p2pnet article was a cut/paste job of his reply to a reader on PC World, and was largely irrelevant to the p2pnet piece.)
i’ll watch my free downloaded avi files (i have thousands and thousands-exact amount unknown) on my big screen via my dvd players and if needed i’ll convert “unplayable” formats into the ones i need. i’ll have spent less time, money and bother. my computer is a computer – not a tv -and i won’t be bullied into doing what they want me to do.
as p2pnet has proved time and again, they need us much more than we need them, and ’twill ever be so.