Cutting the Cord -- Recommendations?

[echampio]

Newbie to this forum. We are going to cut the cord from DirecTV all the way back to a quality rooftop antenna and streaming video (Netflix, etc.). DirecTV has become too expensive, and neither of the cable companies offers an inexpensive, basic cable package (something in the $20 - $30 range). FiOS is not available, and probably never will be (and is also very expensive here).

Our current setup is 2 HDTV's; one is on a DirecTV "Whole House" HR24-100 HD DVR, and the other is on a DirecTV H24-200 HD receiver. I have a home network with both wifi and also cat 5 to the HDTV, A/V receiver, etc.

Keeping a "whole house" type system would be nice, but not essential. We have a Chromecast stick, and that could work for the second HDTV, though I recognize that wouldn't allow playback of recorded shows from the HTPC.

There are 2 people watching these HDTV''s. We tend to record quite a bit of stuff.

We aren't looking for a gaming system, just one that will be able to do the following:
• Watch OTA programming
• Record OTA programming
• Watch streaming video (Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, YouTube, etc.)
• Occasional internet surfing
• Watch Blu-Ray & DVD's
• Record Blu-Ray (or at least DVD's, if a Blu-Ray burner is too expensive).
• Play back on the 2nd HDTV, if possible and not too expensive.

I would like to have an A/V receiver-style case; the NMedia HTPC 5000 (http://www.nmediapc.com/htpc5000.htm) looks nice and is representative of what I want.
It doesn't have to be silent, but does have to be very quiet.
I intend to run Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit with Windows Media Center.

So, given all that, what do all y'all recommend? I've seen reference builds and recommendations all over the 'net, and they are all over the place in terms of components.

Oh yeah; budget: I'm thinking $500.00 - $750.00 for the HTPC is realistic. (The roof antenna is a separate issue)

Thanks in advance.

[soccerdad]

You should be able to do it for your budget. You actually have quite a few options. You can build the PC as you like, but for what you are doing, you don't need a powerhouse. I would plan on using the HTPC for the recorded and live TV stuff, and use a Roku for the streaming stuff. The interface on the Roku is much cleaner for streaming.

I think I would wait a little and get a micro motherboard like is discussed here http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/vie ... f=7&t=6684 . Since you are only using OTA signals, you do not have to worry about any copy protection stuff. Therefore, you do not need an "extender" (but certainly you could use one). An Xbox slim works well and you can get them pretty cheap. You could also perhaps build a micro client to view the recordings on the second TV over your network. As far as tuners go, I would look at a HD Homerun (not the Prime). It will give you a couple of tuners and sits on the network to give you more options. Lots of options, but that is where I would start.

[DigitechMediaTV]

Its late here and I just ran into your post. I dont post much but would like to start contributing regularly. I'll check back later if others don't beat me to the punch. I'm a cord cutter myself and have also installed many a system for folks also wanting to cut the cord.

[adam1991]

What soccerdad said: a simple PC for TV, could even be off the shelf for what you're doing, and a Roku for streaming stuff. Get an XBox slim as an extender for the remote TV (and maybe even as the interface for your main TV; see below).

Considerations for your PC:

* how will it hook to the TV? You can hook it directly, OR you could stick it away and simply access it via an extender at each TV. For a number of reasons, the extender concept is nice; for other reasons, hooking it directly is nice (most notably, Netflix access via WMC as well as access to a Blu-ray Disc player if you have it installed and set up on the WMC box itself).

* how much storage will you want?

* we all recommend having a separate hard drive for recorded TV. Don't use the OS drive.

XBox is your extender of choice.

[Embiggens]

My main additional recommendation would be to make sure you get a pc with plenty of horsepower if you plan to watch your ripped blu-rays at more than 1 TV.

I set my most recent system up a couple years ago, and the mistake I made was thinking future set-top boxes would have the ability to decode more and more codecs over time. Instead this ability has stagnated as manufacturers are really only interested in adding online content. It seems that the only really robust, future-proofed option for streaming local media is to have the ability to transcode at the PC using something like Plex or Media Browser.

[christoph86]

Get the roku 3 for the second tv, add in the mediabrowser 3 or plex plugin on the roku and you can access your recorded tv. This requires some initial setup with the above software. I use mediabrowser and it works great on my roku. Plus there is a fair amount of free content on the roku. Gives you netflix, Hulu plus and amazon instant acccess as well.

For blu ray, keep in mind that if you want to play the blu ray disc directly you will need playback software (total media theater,powerdvd). These you have to purchase. If you have a burner you can use makemkv (currently free) or dvdfab(fee) and rip the blu ray without the need for playback software. You just won't be able to play the disc directly without playback software. This is not the case for DVD.With the ripped files you can then use mediabrowser 3 or plex to stream movie to your roku on your second tv.

If you want a cheap processor look at the AMD APUs. Several different ones and you won't need a graphics card. If you will be doing heavy transcoding a quad core would be desirable.

For your tuner, base this on the number of tuners you think you will need. Do you record multiple shows at the same time while watching another channel or watching shows on both TVs? 3-4 tuners would probably be a good option.

[IownFIVEechos]

If you do the roku's look into this channel: aereo

It will allow you to DVR and watch live OTA tv. It has a monthly fee but it is small, and you will not need to mount an antenna. You do need to be in the area they serve. So take a peek at it. May be just what you need.

[mdavej]

You also can do most of this with a stand-alone DVR (or two) and a cheap streaming blu-ray player. The simplest and cheapest OTA DVR would be an iView or Homeworx ($40). As others have said, you can play discs and stream with a cheap blu-ray player. Those players even have a web browser, albeit a poor one. So web browsing is really the only thing you need a PC for.

[IownFIVEechos]

You also can do most of this with a stand-alone DVR (or two) and a cheap streaming blu-ray player. The simplest and cheapest OTA DVR would be an iView or Homeworx ($40). As others have said, you can play discs and stream with a cheap blu-ray player. Those players even have a web browser, albeit a poor one. So web browsing is really the only thing you need a PC for.

And even that can be overcome with the ChromeCast.

[Mike88]

I use my HTPC like you might use your satellite DVR. IOW record, watch, & delete. I'm presuming you're not storing or archiving a lot of programs due to the limited HDD capacity, but I'm not familiar with DirecTV's limitations.

The HTPC is using an Intel G620 dual core Pentium, 4GB RAM & Windows 7. I use Windows Media Center because it works for me. As others have said you need additional software to play Blu-ray. I use a stand alone Blu-ray player which also streams Netfix.

The HTPC is used for Hulu when needed. My understanding is that a PC can access the basic Hulu and Hulu Plus, but streaming devices such as Roku can only stream Hulu Plus, however someone else will have to confirm that. I can also watch You Tube and do some occasional Internet surfing.

I use a single 1.5TB HDD. I don't store a lot of programs because I rarely watch the same movie twice. I find the single drive quite responsive because when not recording or playing it is in the Sleep mode. And it only takes a few seconds to wake up when I want to use it.

WMC will convert an OTA HD recording to DVD format & record it to a DVD.

I'm only using the HTPC for a single TV so cannot comment on using it for more than one TV, but an extender seems to be the recommended way to go.

I am using 2 - dual tuner OTA cards because I wanted everything in a single case, vs a network tuner card. And used an old Dell mini-tower case & stuck it in the corner & out of sight.

You don't need a lot of processing power to record OTA HDTV. I can record 4 HD programs at the same time while watching a different 5th recording.

When selecting a motherboard one of the requirements was having the proper PCI-e slots to add the tuner cards & a video card if needed. A lot of mATX boards at the time had too many older slots & therefore not enough of the newer ones. Just something to consider if you decide to use internal OTA tuner cards.

[blueiedgod]

The HTPC is used for Hulu when needed. My understanding is that a PC can access the basic Hulu and Hulu Plus, but streaming devices such as Roku can only stream Hulu Plus, however someone else will have to confirm that. I can also watch You Tube and do some occasional Internet surfing.

It may be a premature conclusion on my part, but free HULU may be dead. I was invited to test drive the new HULU program, where you log in with your Cable TV provider credentials to receive HULU Plus for free.

If it flies, there will be no more free HULU, or very limited free HULU. It will be either you pay for cable, or you pay for HULU, Netflix... and when you add them all up, and figure that they don't cover half the stuff that is available on Cable, you are better off keeping cable, and it may actually be more cost effective that way.

And what you would get on HULU may only be what you can get with an Antenna over the air without having to wait 8-10 days.

[Mike88]

I realize Hulu Plus provides content that is not available on the free Hulu. But I thought I read somewhere that Plus does not provide everything that is available on the free version. IOW you would need to use both versions in order to get everything. Is this correct or did I misinterpret what I read?

[jjwatmyself]

I'm a big fan of using an Xbox for every display where you are using from a sofa, as you can use the Microsoft Video store more easily with a remote than is the case on a PC as well as any other features designed for the living room. Add a PS3 and you have blue ray. And finally a Logitech harmony remote to integrate onto a single remote. I don't like needing a keyboard or mouse in a living room.

My PC is an Intel q6600 8 GB ram, lots of storage. Extender(s) with wired connections.

[mistarick]

I built my first htpc a year ago and am looking to build another soon. My first htpc I built with a microatx board, used an AMD a6processor and the onboard hdmi graphics. Popped in a haupage TV tuner card 8gb of ddr3 and a 500gb had I had laying around. Running win 7 with wmc and a list of add ins such as recorded tvhd , media center master, cetons my media center app for my tablet, and different themes. I also have an mce ir remote control that works great. I also have a music and movie library on a network connected hdd. The setup might not be top of the line but, ill tell you, I love it! Can record live TV, watch Netflix, play DVD and blueray, play all of my media and set to record remotely from an app. Above that with the add ins, it makes for a pretty sweet wmc experience! My next htpc will probably be a mninitx build for the bedroom. Cut that cord!

[mistarick]

I built my first HTPC a year ago and am looking to build another soon. My first HTPC I built with a microatx board, used an AMD a6processor and the onboard hdmi graphics. Popped in a haupage TV tuner card 8gb of ddr3 and a 500gb had I had laying around. Running win 7 with WMC and a list of add ins such as recorded tvhd , media center master, cetons my media center app for my tablet, and different themes. I also have an mce ir remote control that works great. I also have a music and movie library on a network connected hdd. The setup might not be top of the line but, ill tell you, I love it! Can record live TV, watch Netflix, play DVD and blueray, play all of my media and set to record remotely from an app. Above that with the add ins, it makes for a pretty sweet WMC experience! My next HTPC will probably be a mninitx build for the bedroom. Cut that cord!

Oh it all cost me about 300 bucks not including the win 7license..