CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

draganm · Joined: 08 Mar 2006 Posts: 8990 Location: Colorado

from 2003, Holy sh*t where did the time go : O. AMD athalon 1.92 Ghz CPU with 512mb RAM, (this was pretty cutting edge 10 years ago. Anyway, added a wireless card to it last night and it went pretty smoothly, so I'm actually typing this in my HT : O . Card reports signal strength as "excellent" ,well worth 20 bucks.

gonna try some netflix streaming just as soon as I battle my way thru 900 Microsoft updates and service packs LOL. I'm pretty sure I need to add another stick of Ram for a full Gig, Hopefully I can still find old DDR ram on the net.Actually, I have 2 open slots, should I cram in as much Ram as possible?

Anything else the PC folks here would recommend in addition to RAM for streaming purposes?

**AnalogRocks** · Posted: Sun Nov 24, 2013 7:26 pm Post subject:

What video card?

draganm · Joined: 08 Mar 2006 Posts: 8990 Location: Colorado

Radeon 9600 in an AGP slot, member those ? : )

draganm · Joined: 08 Mar 2006 Posts: 8990 Location: Colorado

GDM'it! bulging caps on Mobo after only 10 years, that's pathetic. Mobo is Albatron KX400

you just HAD to make me look inside didn'tya? : )

**AnalogRocks** · Posted: Sun Nov 24, 2013 11:32 pm Post subject:

**AnalogRocks** · Posted: Sun Nov 24, 2013 11:34 pm Post subject:

draganm · Joined: 08 Mar 2006 Posts: 8990 Location: Colorado

**AnalogRocks** · Posted: Mon Nov 25, 2013 2:19 am Post subject:

nathan · Joined: 21 Jan 2007 Posts: 56 Location: Utah

I've still got my SN45G shuttle box that was my first HTPC. The frame is crushed, so the case doesn't quite fit properly. I just leave it off and carry it around by the top inside frame strut. I'm on my 3rd Radeon AGP card in the thing and the fan on the latest is on it's way out. I think the battery is dying so I lose my BIOS settings and I can't quite make the CPU clock where it is supposed to, so it thinks is a 1700Mz. But it always starts up. I use it whenever I'm not sure if something is working and I need a second video source to plug in to some display.

Poor old thing deserves better.

edit: oh, and definitely a Tom Baker fan here. Kind of lost interest when the next blonde guy showed up. Haven't watched it since, although my sister is a huge fan of the current show.

draganm · Joined: 08 Mar 2006 Posts: 8990 Location: Colorado

ok so it was rough going at first and Netflix would automatically reduce my buffering speed to 256, forcing it higher would cause lots of Audio synch issues and stuttering.
I've added 2 gigs of 333Mghz Ram for 30 bucks and increased the AGP aperture in BIOS to the max setting of 256mgs, this allows the GPU to access system RAM directly for more memory, but still leaves me with only 512mgs total GPU memory = 256 on the Radeon 9600 and another 256 it can pull from the RAM.
Playback streaming is ALMOST perfect at 1024 x 768 which I think is best for my 8500. It will stutter a little, but mostly audio synch issues for the first 5 minutes, then plays perfectly for the remainder. I have a Barton 2600 2-Gig CPU so I think that's fine. Mobo is an Albatron KX400-8X , so the 8X AGP port should be able to process up to 2gbps video? ( I think), or at least 1 Gig per second

Any suggestions to squeeze a little more out of it? I know they made much better AGP cards before the format died. There's an AGP version Radeon 4650 on flea-bay for 100 bucks. Will this work with my Mobo? Good buy or waste of money?
I really don't want to spend 500+ bucks for new Mobo, CPU, new RAM, new GPU, etc. Sad

http://www.ebay.com/itm/XFX-ATI-Radeon-HD-4650-AGP-Video-Graphics-Card-1GB-GDDR2-/291033059494?pt=PCC_Video_TV_Cards&hash=item43c2ec10a6

ecrabb · Posted: Tue Dec 10, 2013 8:34 pm Post subject:

For God's sake, why would you even consider building another HTPC just to watch Netflix!??!?

If all you're going to use the HTPC for is Netflix, a Roku or Apple TV could do it for $50-90, plus a lot more stuff that you might actually use: 1080p Rentals, first-run movies, Vimeo, flickr, and the list goes on… All stuff that just doesn't work as nicely on an HTPC unless you spend a lot of time configuring XBMC or something. Oh, and both come with a remote, HDMI, no drivers to break, no audio to get out of sync, no tearing, no system updates that break functionality. Just turn it on and watch. End of story.

SC

winny · Posted: Tue Dec 10, 2013 9:22 pm Post subject:

draganm · Joined: 08 Mar 2006 Posts: 8990 Location: Colorado

ecrabb · Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2013 1:11 am Post subject:

Nashou66 · Joined: 12 Jan 2007 Posts: 16171 Location: West Seneca NY

Get the Oppo and be done with it drags. it has 2 HDMI ins as well do you can run your Sat/Cable box to it and gain its superior scaling and features. Also it has analog outs. it is a no brainer even for 500 bucks and I bet used it be even a better deal.

http://www.oppodigital.com/blu-ray-bdp-103/blu-ray-BDP-103-Features.aspx

Nashou

ecrabb · Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2013 6:46 am Post subject:

draganm · Joined: 08 Mar 2006 Posts: 8990 Location: Colorado

draganm · Joined: 08 Mar 2006 Posts: 8990 Location: Colorado

Tried to buy an Apple TV from Apple, had to create an account, err OK. Then it goes on to ask for all sorts of info that is none of their F-IN business, like my date of birth.
So I can buy the box from Target for a few bucks more. Do I still have to supply apple all that info and create and account in order to use the box?
Do I need auxiliary devices like an I-phone or I-pad to do basic streaming with the box?

ecrabb · Posted: Thu Dec 12, 2013 3:49 am Post subject:

The only reason they were asking you for your DOB was to create your iTunes account. It is their business because they want to make sure you're not a kid, downloading inappropriate content. It's just your DOB - all kinds of websites ask for your DOB.

Yes, you can buy from Target or Best Buy and just take it home. Shouldn't cost any more than buying from Apple, either. Both should be right at $100.

I don't think you need an iTunes account to use the Apple TV if all you want to do is Netflix, YouTube, etc. I'm not 100% sure since I've always had an iTunes account, but I think your'e fine without. You just wouldn't be able to rent or purchase any content from iTunes, which IMHO would be missing out on some great functionality. With an iTunes account, you can rent and purchase movies, but you can also use Apple's free iTunes Radio service, which is like Pandora.

Seriously, I wouldn't worry about giving Apple your CC and DOB info… They have an excellent record of security, and they've never sold or rented their database to third parties. They're sort of known in the industry for being extremely stringent with their customer info. They don't even give your info to a third-party developer when you buy the developer's app from the App Store - there was a big dustup about it when Apple introduced iBooks. Publishers wanted purchasers' identities so they could market and promote, and Apple said, 'Nuh uh - our customer, our store, our rules'. I'd trust Apple more than almost any other internet company.

No, you don't need any other devices to run the box. It comes with a very nice aluminum IR remote that most programmable remotes will Harmony or URC will emulate.

SC

ecrabb · Posted: Thu Dec 12, 2013 4:04 am Post subject:

Oh, Apple just added four new apps (channels), too… Watch ABC, Crackle, Bloomberg, and KORTV (Korean?). Crackle is cool because it has Seinfeld's Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee - which is a blast.

Oh, and in my experience, the quality of the streaming video with iTunes downloads is far superior to what you get with satellite or cable. Noticeably, significantly, better than DirecTV for instance. I'm working on my wife and old man… I'm about ready to cut the cord. The major networks I can get OTA. The wife and I are news hounds, though. Politics, current events… We just like keeping up, and I get tired of surfing web sites… I like to work with TV sort of as 'background'… There are also a couple of TV shows we like, like Sons of Anarchy. If I could conveniently watch the news networks and a couple of other channels, I would drop DirecTV. So tired of spending $1000 a year on TV.

SC