My Console/HTPC

[Unidentified Assilant]

Yeah, every man and his dog on this forum is building a console/htpc/whatever, here is my idea and spec list

700mhz Pentium 2 presumably
RAM? dunno, gotta see what I have, over 128MB probably
Keyboard obviously, inbuilt? Amiga style model?
Games are controlled with a Power Glove & Soap Mouse, giving Wii a run for it's money , probable chance of a normal styled controller with a trackball.
Ubuntu 6.06 OS, cuz linux is the pwn
CD-Rom Drive? what type? I dunno, probably not DVD
120GB Hard Drive
NVidia Geforce FX4000 Graphics Card
Somewhat a sound card that plays sound
VGA/S-Video Out connection for monitor or TV, maybe even a laptop style with a 15" HDTV monitor on the back... possibly.

EDIT:
Updated spec list really... ok it's the same but easier to read.
Processor: 700mhz Pentium III PC
Memory: 128MB for now, will be upgraded
Case: Possibly amiga style in black colour, keyboard inbuilt
Operating System(s): Windows XP Pro, Ubuntu 6.06
Storage Media: CD-Rom (no DVD), Media Card Reader, USB Stick
Graphics: NVidia Geforce FX4000 Graphics Card
Soundcard: A Sound Card that plays Sound
Seeing Stuff: TV-Out & SVGA

[Rototiller]

Yeah, every man and his dog on this forum is building a console/htpc/whatever, here is my idea and spec list

Am I the dog part?

[teraflop122]

Oh for the love of you're god! Not another one!

Your spec list just seems a little ungainly to me. Why is everyone avoiding the simple Mini-ITX + slim CD drive? It could be a network booting frontend for videos and music, bring your internet to the TV, and emulate many systems. Alternatively you could boot from a flash drive or directly from CD. If I was compelled to make a console-pc, I'd go for the following specs:

Epia M10000 mini-ITX mobo (lower req for my Xvid's): ~$160
256MB Ram: what, 20 bucks?
Slimline optical drive: prob around 50 or 60.

And that is it...maybe a USB flash drive as well for booting linux. All the files for media and games would be stored throughout the home network.

[typamc95]

I'd like that, it sounds simple, works well and needs less that 200 Dollars.

[Reaperman@home]

$160 for mini ITX? good god.
why is 'building a HTPC' more involved than plugging your old 'PC' into the 'HT' and buying it a wireless desktop and network solution.

and what is a 'soap mouse?'
edit: nevermind, soap mouse. hope they work better than in the videos. The last generation of gyromouse ebays for only about $30.

[sameguy]

Good god why do all of you want to build your dream console on your veary first try, good you can copy and paste different desighns for grafics cards and mother boards and what not, but dude do you even know what that means. Allof you are expecting a console that can compete with all the current gen consoles that are out right now, but man where do you expect the programs and the games and everything els you want, to fall from the sky. No you will have to write them yourself and this will not happen like any of the others because none of you even give the littlest glance over to the programing aspect of computers. My console that Iam making might have given the atari 2600 a run for its money but thats it, and even it has an ever growing list of problems with the things Iam wanting to add on to it. but I will get better as I go along and eventually I will aquire the knowledge that is needed to build my dream console. Now what Iwant you to do is study up on just the most basic of basic computers and find out how they work. I suggest you buy a book called "The Black Art of Video Game Console desighn"it is a good read of about 950 pages but it will tell you everything you need to know to start, take my advise and start off small or you wont even end up starting at all

[bicostp]

Mini-ITX boards are ripoffs. Their size is their only advantage. They cost a lot for what you get (up to 1 gigahert VIA processor).

This may be really bad timing, but I'm building a HTPC too. However, I'm following the "Keep it simple" principle. It just has to have TV output built in, DVD-ROM, and a relatively compact case size (that can hold a Micro-ATX board).

Full write-up on my site soon. Hopefully before the year's over.

EDIT: Here it is.
http://bicostp.portablesofdoom.org/Articles/HTPC/

[teraflop122]

Mini-ITX boards are ripoffs. Their size is their only advantage.

So? I like my computers small Their other advantages include low heat and power draw, integrated TV out, hardware mpeg decoders....and I guess that's about it.

The thing I don't like about non-ITX motherboards is the widespread lack of integrated TV out. Then you have to add a video card, and the mystique of a single-board solution is forever lost!

[Electric Rain]

Good god why do all of you want to build your dream console on your veary first try, good you can copy and paste different desighns for grafics cards and mother boards and what not, but dude do you even know what that means. Allof you are expecting a console that can compete with all the current gen consoles that are out right now, but man where do you expect the programs and the games and everything els you want, to fall from the sky. No you will have to write them yourself and this will not happen like any of the others because none of you even give the littlest glance over to the programing aspect of computers. My console that Iam making might have given the atari 2600 a run for its money but thats it, and even it has an ever growing list of problems with the things Iam wanting to add on to it. but I will get better as I go along and eventually I will aquire the knowledge that is needed to build my dream console. Now what Iwant you to do is study up on just the most basic of basic computers and find out how they work. I suggest you buy a book called "The Black Art of Video Game Console desighn"it is a good read of about 950 pages but it will tell you everything you need to know to start, take my advise and start off small or you wont even end up starting at all

That post was barely coherent. Try using more punctuation, then try separating that post into multiple paragraphs. A spell checker wouldn't hurt either.

Normally I don't pick apart peoples' posts like this, but I kinda actually wanted to understand what you were trying to say. This was difficult to do with that kind of grammar, making your post quite pointless... You don't want your posts to be pointless, do you?

Edit: Something tells me I'm about to have someone tell me how pointless my post just was... oh well. It made me feel better. *shrug*

[Gump-in-space]

Good god why do all of you want to build your dream console on your veary first try, good you can copy and paste different desighns for grafics cards and mother boards and what not, but dude do you even know what that means. Allof you are expecting a console that can compete with all the current gen consoles that are out right now, but man where do you expect the programs and the games and everything els you want, to fall from the sky. No you will have to write them yourself and this will not happen like any of the others because none of you even give the littlest glance over to the programing aspect of computers. My console that Iam making might have given the atari 2600 a run for its money but thats it, and even it has an ever growing list of problems with the things Iam wanting to add on to it. but I will get better as I go along and eventually I will aquire the knowledge that is needed to build my dream console. Now what Iwant you to do is study up on just the most basic of basic computers and find out how they work. I suggest you buy a book called "The Black Art of Video Game Console desighn"it is a good read of about 950 pages but it will tell you everything you need to know to start, take my advise and start off small or you wont even end up starting at all

That post was barely coherent. Try using more punctuation, then try separating that post into multiple paragraphs. A spell checker wouldn't hurt either.

Normally I don't pick apart peoples posts like this, but I kinda actually wanted to understand what you were trying to say. This was difficult to do with that kind of grammar, making your post quite pointless... You don't want your posts to be pointless, do you?

Lol, owned. good luck on your console/htpc/whatever Unidentified Assilant.

[sameguy]

Granted I missed a couple of spaces and might have spelt a couple of words wrong, but anybody with a slightly sophisticated reading level will be able to understand that, just make sure you sound it out and read slowly if it helps you, but then again I wouldent expect someone to understand that when they have a reading level that is obviosly as low as yours is. Just saying

[Gump-in-space]

That was a run-on sentance and you missed the period at the end of your last sentance. But seriously, just because you can put a couple big words togather to form a sixth grade level post doesn't mean squat when all your babbling on about is how (supposedly) nobody knows jack about computers but you. Don't you get mad at someone who is trying to get you to make your posts better.

[Electric Rain]

Granted I missed a couple of spaces and might have spelt a couple of words wrong, but anybody with a slightly sophisticated reading level will be able to understand that, just make sure you sound it out and read slowly if it helps you, but then again I wouldent expect someone to understand that when they have a reading level that is obviosly as low as yours is. Just saying

Yeah, whatever. I'm not in the mood to continue this discussion. You win. Is that what you want to hear?

[sameguy]

No but I am glad that you were the better man on this. Need more people like you on this thread.

[usbcd36]

I prefer to keep things simple. I have two RCA cables that run between my computer and the family room stereo. When I need to watch something on the TV from the computer (I usually don't set it up for myself, since watching it on the computer screen is easier), I string a third cable around the corner for video. I plan to install it eventually, but I use it for other things as well, so I want to make sure I have a replacement cable first.

To control it, I eventually plan to run a CAT5 cable alongside the AV stuff (and use one of those USB extenders), but in the meantime, it's simple enough to just walk over to the computer and hit the spacebar.

Overall, I've spent about $25 on this project, including the $18 DVI to composite video adapter. It's not the easiest solution to install, but in my opinion, it's easier to string 4 cables through the basement than to put together another computer. Even after the CAT5 extenders and cable, it'll still amount to less than $75.

Though this may be regarded as an undesirable solution by some of you, it is definitely one to consider if your home will allow for it.