Hi I'm a total HTPC newb who just recently got into the swing of things. Let me start by posting my system specs Toshiba 62" DLP tv Pentium 4 2.4 ghz, 512mb ram, ati 9200se vid card a fat hard drive will be put into it later this is my question I want to build a HTPC for my tv but i'm not looking for any of those super crazy custom designed cases and all the bells and whistles basically what i want from my htpc is to be able to record, and playback HDTV on the tv i want a pvr with time shifting (if possible not a requirement) but the things i will require are to be able to record shows in HDTV and play back shows in HDTV mostly i will be downloading things to play on the tv but on the odd occasion i will want to record a tv show for later playback. Now I know the system i have now isn't set up for that but i'm wondering if anyone can help me with how to set this up. What hardware would i need to do this? And what's the best (cheapest) way to do this and still get fairly decent quality. From what i've been reading on the forums there's an ATI HDTV card that allows most of the functions but is this enough to do what i need? i've also been scouring for guides and they are all either really really advanced or really really basic. if anyone has any advice to give me on how to build a decent HTPC i would be greatly appreciative thanks in advance
you dont need anything spectacular for a htpc pretty much any half decent system can be converted into one. your pc looks like it would be ok. that graphics card of yours has tv out so your okay for displaying to the tv. for recording your going to need either a tv card. or you could replace your graphics card for one that has tv in and out. that ati tv card you mentioned should do the trick though. theres really not a lot to it
For a dedicated PVR, the software you're going to use should be the deciding factor in which card you buy. It's what's going to be on the screen, with your menus and options, as the interface to the hardware. Once you've decided on which PVR software you want, then you would purchase the appropriate card to go with it. What is your TV source? Regular cable, satellite (with a set top box), digital cable (set top box), antenna on the roof, or???
