Dennis-hp

Home Theater PC question

I want to build a small HT PC... starting with a barebones AMD based MB, Shuttle case and PSU. I want to be able to record HD content from my Dish receiver to a hard drive I'd install in my HTPC. I'd like the capability of recording Hi Def movies and watching them later. The MB that comes with this barebones system has an HDMI output and will display Hi Def content to a HD Set....but my question is how to get the Dish signal into my HTPC. I've seen Video cards...but all have outputs. I need something that has a Hi Def input that is PCI based. Either HDMI or DVI based (as I can always get adapters). I planned on adding either a Blu Ray Player or Player/burner and a wireless modem to add some more flexibilty to my system.

I've been looking around and have seen anything that has a Hi Def input for a computer (HTPC).

I'd appreciate any help.

Regards

I once asked this literary agent, uh, what kind of writing paid the best... he said, \"Ransom notes.\"

Harry Zimm

Robert_J

Re: Home Theater PC question

Hauppauge has a component video capture card that does HD. But I think you can only get stereo audio with the capture though.

There is also a company that will mod an HD receiver to use firewire output and send it to a firewire card on a PC. The last time I looked, the mod was $1,000+. There is an HT PC section at AVS Forums.

Why don't you use an HD DVR with a very large hard drive?

-Robert

Dennis-hp

Re: Home Theater PC question

I had thought about a DVR...and a Blu-Ray player...but I figured if I could build something that could do it all..I'd rather go that route.

I've also been playing around with my laptop using it's wireless modem and stream Internet video to my TV...pretty nice as there are plenty of sources to watch old TV series and also repeats of current series episodes too. That's something else the HTPC can do.

I'll check out Hauppauge and see what they have to offer. If I can find a capture card that will let me input my Dish HD signal...I'll build the HTPC.

Regards

I once asked this literary agent, uh, what kind of writing paid the best... he said, \"Ransom notes.\"

Harry Zimm

Dennis-hp

Re: Home Theater PC question

I've been looking everywhere, and it appears there isn't anything reasonably priced that will do what I'm hoping to do. Apparently there isn't a big enough market or someone isn't wanting the consumer to be able to record HD Sat content to a HD or to a Blu-Ray disk.

I really wanted to have the ability to time shift HD content for later and repeated viewing......and, if the price of Blu-ray blank disks would come down...install a burner to record some stuff too. As it is, you can almost buy movies for the price of the blanks.

Seems like we are stuck with a DVR to time shift (haven't checked..but wondering if you can buy a HD DVR that will work with Dish and not have to get one of theirs and pay another additional monthly fee...I'm paying for 4 receivers now). I just want to add a HD Disk recorder in place of one of my Lite-On DVD hard-disk/DVD recorders.

Nothing appears to be easy anymore.

I once asked this literary agent, uh, what kind of writing paid the best... he said, \"Ransom notes.\"

Harry Zimm

jamminsport16

Re: Home Theater PC question

i feel the same way