Suggestions on building a dedicated PC video player...

[shoozleboy]

I am toying with the idea of building a system that would soley be used for playing back DVD-R/W's, VCD's, SVCD's, MP3's, etc., etc..... as well as recording video off of my cable service... (TitanTV, or one of the tuner/capture software packages...)

I would hook this into my A/V system so that I can watch the playback on my tv or listen to the MP3's on the stereo in my rec room...

I am looking for suggestions on items such as the sound card and video card/capture devices that would be best suited for this task....

...has anyone else built a pc dedicated for something like this?

I'd like to hear the pro's and cons.... except the "just get a standalone DVD player...." ... I have several already, thanks.

[yg1968]

You don't necessarely need a dedicated PC for this. But anyways, you could get the following:

1) SoundBlaster Audigy sound card
2) ADVC-100 or a DV camcorder with a passthrough feature for DV capturing or a Hauppauge PVR250 or 350 for mpeg capturing
3) a TV out card. The AIW 7500 or something less expensive
4) a DVD burner: HP 300i, the Sony DRU500 or a Pioneer A05
5) Two hard disks: one for video capturing and editing, the other for the rest. HD speed of 7200.

[shoozleboy]

Thanks for the info... I'm not looking to build a system for the burning and editing as I already use a couple of others for that... I'm mainly interested in getting quality sound and video playback from the unit....

Are there any recommended video cards that offer good quality playback ?

How about the sound cards? I notice the Audigy2 down at CC for around $200 (I'm sure I can get it cheaper online, I was just impressed that it offered 6.1 surround sound)

One of my systems uses an ATI AIW 7500 for capture and it's ok for the quality, I can't stand the MMC software that comes with it... it's buggy, even with all the updates... Plus, I can't seem to get it to record into an mpg stream that I can edit on TMPG or Pinnacle... It appears to have some proprietary capture file type that you have to play back with MMC..

[lanwater]

Thanks for the info... I'm not looking to build a system for the burning and editing as I already use a couple of others for that... I'm mainly interested in getting quality sound and video playback from the unit....

Are there any recommended video cards that offer good quality playback ?

How about the sound cards? I notice the Audigy2 down at CC for around $200 (I'm sure I can get it cheaper online, I was just impressed that it offered 6.1 surround sound)

One of my systems uses an ATI AIW 7500 for capture and it's ok for the quality, I can't stand the MMC software that comes with it... it's buggy, even with all the updates... Plus, I can't seem to get it to record into an mpg stream that I can edit on TMPG or Pinnacle... It appears to have some proprietary capture file type that you have to play back with MMC..

you are looking for a home theater pc. there are alot of suggestions at:
http://www.avsforum.com

[shoozleboy]

schnikes batman!! What a resource !!

Thanks for the suggestion.... now my wife and child won't be seeing much of me while I read the threads over there....

If I'm not back in a week... send in the national guard....

[txpharoah]

I made one of these: http://www.junkmachine.com/nintendo/
Kinda cheesy, maybe, but it was fun. Had an unusable NES laying around.

You can make just any old Mini-ATX system. They are no bigger than a standalone DVD player. In fact, you wouldn't know it to be anything different by just glancing at it!

Add an external capture device if you need to capture (yes this is one of the few times I'd suggest anything external).