Home Theater PCs/Microsoft Media Center

[TMAC]

Hi all,

We're starting from scratch here in HK and are considering getting a home theater PC as opposed to TV/DVD/DVR/hifi etc.

Does anyone out there use a PC to watch TV in Hong Kong? Does PCCW provide tv listings for download?

Thanks!

[KnowItAll]

TMAC : I'd recommend against using a PC to watch TV. Most of the folks I know watch free over the air TV for news and switch to NowBroadband TV (IPTV) for entertainment.

PCCW's listings are not downloadable .. atleast not a PC where you can then program your software to record from now broadband.

I am pretty keen on adding a HTPC .. simply because most of the TV program we watch are US / UK downloads on bittorrent.

[deleteduser]

The best way is definitely downloading using bit torrent, and even better, newsgroups. I wrote a bit about where to download shows, and how to play them the best on an HTPC.

Unfortunately, I can't access my blog right now, so I can't give you the links to the articles. You can check it out and maybe do a search for "HTPC" and "HDTV"

A tip if you're using HDTV: The video card makes a HUGE difference. Simply having RGB or DVI or HDMI is not the most relevant part. I switched from my PC's onboard GeForce 6150 to a GeForce 7600 GT, and it has improved dramatically; you'll notice it even when just browsing Windows. And when watching HDTV, the video card's MPEG-2 acceleration kicks in and it's even better. Anyway, too much to write here. Just read my blog if you can access it

[jayinhongkong]

Newsgroups huh? I wish I could access your blog for that info. I guess I have to wait the 5 days or so they estimate it will take for the internet to come back. I use a Media Center equipped Dell laptop with a 17" widescreen and a GeForce GO 7800. I've never connected it to a TV or larger monitor though. I download lots of TV shows myself and I plug my laptop into a 5.1 home theater system when I watch Prison Break/Desperate Housewives/Weeds.

[deleteduser]

I was amazed at how superior newsgroups are. Good ones aren't free, but if you want to put good use to the 6-8 mbps Netvigator gives you, and not worry about uploading, Newsgroups are the way to go.

Typical movies I download are in the 8-10 GB range. And they look great

[TMAC]

Thanks, everyone.

1. I used newsgroups all the time in NY. Does PCCW provide access to good ones (alt.binaries.multimedia ...)? How fast can you download an hour-long show at normal compression?

2. On the HTPC, I was thinking of piping in Now Broadband into the TV tuner and out onto a standard television. Not having downloadable listings is a real drawback, though. How do DVRs work out here if you don't have downloadable listings?

I'll check out your blog as soon as I get a chance!

Thanks again.

[jayinhongkong]

I haven't really used newsgroups since I was about 16, which was a good 10 years ago! There are a number of private boards out there that offer pretty good downloads too.

[deleteduser]

Thanks, everyone.

1. I used newsgroups all the time in NY. Does PCCW provide access to good ones (alt.binaries.multimedia ...)? How fast can you download an hour-long show at normal compression?

2. On the HTPC, I was thinking of piping in Now Broadband into the TV tuner and out onto a standard television. Not having downloadable listings is a real drawback, though. How do DVRs work out here if you don't have downloadable listings?

I'll check out your blog as soon as I get a chance!

Thanks again.

1. ISP newsgroups are useless. So don't even bother considering them. Instead, sign up with Giganews. For $20 USD a month, you get unlimited bandwidth usage, and up to 10 connections. I am able to saturate my 6.5 mbps from here (goes down to 1 mbps when Now TV is being used). 'normal compression' you will want to forget about once you're on Newsgroups. Instead of watching ugly quality 350 MB shows, grab the 700MB version, or even 1.2GB version instead Download time at 6.5 mbps, you do the math.

2) Now TV is a total waste of time, money, and effort. A waste of electricity, a waste of plastic used to house the crappy tuner they give you. Do not waste your time even considering it for 1 second. Forget DVR, forget Now TV. Just download your shows and watch them that way. Best quality, no commercials, and using your bandwidth to its full proper potential.

[sailor86]

TMAC : I'd recommend against using a PC to watch TV. Most of the folks I know watch free over the air TV for news and switch to NowBroadband TV (IPTV) for entertainment.

PCCW's listings are not downloadable .. atleast not a PC where you can then program your software to record from now broadband.

I am pretty keen on adding a HTPC .. simply because most of the TV program we watch are US / UK downloads on bittorrent.

Take a look at http://www.tvxb.com/ for an alternative way to get listings loaded into a PC based PVR software like Windows Media Centre. This program basically goes to the channels homepages and searches for listings there. There is a preconfigured .ini file for Hong Kong that I started out with and modified a bit (basically cutting away the channels I have not got to speed up download times) and it works fine, just make sure you do not download the listings between 6-11pm as it takes much longer time. You also need an IR blaster if you want to connect to Nowbroadband-TV set top box.

Only downside is that my TV-Capture Card has not got component in so I have to use the S-video in which reduces the picture quality a bit. OTA channels should be as good as normal though but I have not bothered with those as Windowns Media Centre can not handle analogues signals at the same time as it takes the S-video feed in without hacking in the registry.