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Building an HTPC--Suggestions? (Completed Build)


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#46
iammykyl

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Test the bare bones setup, outside of the case.

CPU install Intel video, > http://www.intel.com...wapkw=cs-034816


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#47
mclimbin

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OK, just got word that they approved replacement. Yay! :spoton:

More waiting for it to arrive. Boo! :upset:


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#48
iammykyl

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Who's a lucky Geek,  :thumbsup:  :rockon:


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#49
mclimbin

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Woohoo!

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#50
iammykyl

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Fantastic.

 


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#51
iammykyl

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Let us know what you think about the performance.


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#52
mclimbin

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Seems good so far. The keyboard sometimes lags, but that is probably the keyboard.
I'm currently trying to figure out how to make the stuff on the screen bigger without changing the resolution. I was able to do this in the Metro interface but not on the desktop.
The system is working smoothly so far, though.
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#53
terry1966

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think but not sure when on the desktop, hold down the control (Ctrl) key and either scroll the mouse wheel or tap the + or - key will change the desktop icon sizes, if your talking about just the letter size i think you can change those by changing the dpi, see if this link helps you. :-  http://www.eightforu...dows-8-1-a.html

 

glad to see it's up and running, hope it gives you many hours of enjoyment, you might want to look into running kodi (used to be called xbmc) as the best way to access/control your media content. :- http://kodi.wiki/

 

:popcorn:


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#54
mclimbin

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It's working great.

Kodi is awesome. I was disappointed with it at first, because most of the stuff I have downloaded is from iTunes and can't be played in Kodi without it being ripped, but I am having a great time with all the add-ons that allow streaming from the internet.

 

Windows 8 is a little of a disappointment, because in the "metro" or whatever interface, I can't pin websites in Chrome (It will do so in Explorer, but I don't like to use Explorer). As a result, my traditional desktop looks like a static version of the metro space--large, easily clickable shortcuts to netflix, amazon, iTunes, and Kodi. It would be nice to be able to do that in the metro interface, but oh well.

 

Using the iPhone as a remote for Kodi and as a mouse has been fun too. By the way, the keyboard has worked out really well too.

 

I'm enjoying the super fast start up times and reboot times. It's one place that 8 is clearly superior to 7.

 

I have not had any problems with the processor being anemic or weak. Like i said, I'm mostly streaming stuff, so it is plenty powerful enough. The user experience is about 1000 times better than the beat up antiquated laptop that I had wired to the TV before the HTPC. It's been super fun!

 

Thanks again, iammykyl and terry1966. I really appreciate your help.


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#55
iammykyl

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Good to hear the CPU is powerful enough for you.

Some tips,

Pin Web pages, > http://www.oxhow.com...8-start-screen/

Pin Chrome Web Apps to Desktop > http://www.chromesto...8-metro-screen/

Group shortcuts on the Desktop, > http://www.7tutorial...n-and-name-them

 

Consider upgrading to 8.1, free,  > http://windows.micro...dows-8-tutorial


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#56
Alan1998

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8.1 doesn't load to the Metro screen, which is REALLY nice :-).

 

Still the same boot times (Mostly), cleaner, better and more awesome. 8.1 was worth the upgrade for me, and completely free.


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#57
iammykyl

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I did hear many reports of 8 not being the best, so missed it and installed 8.1. 

With a new install it should be lightening fast so I think a Clean Boot should be the first step, then post back the results,

http://winaero.com/b...iagnose-issues/


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#58
terry1966

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yes it's always the software that makes using a pc that extra little bit special when it comes to htpc and am happy kodi worked out for you.

never used it myself but knew it as the old xmbc and it was always highly rated, personally i use mythtv on linux in my htpc (at least 5 years now.) and is another program i highly recommend but don't think mythtv does a windows backend (may be wrong about this.) even tho i have used mythtv frontends on windows pc in the past to access the backend media content on my linux pc and why i recommended kobi to you instead.

 

glad your enjoying the fruits of your labour finally and have no regrets about your choice of hardware or software.

 

htpc's are great.  :spoton:

 

:popcorn:  

 

don't use itunes and never have so no idea if there are any easier ways of integrating your itunes stuff into kodi or any other htpc software other than re-coding/ripping it (probably a drm issue.), but did a quick search and see if this topic helps you :- http://forum.kodi.tv....php?tid=195786

 

or this :- http://forum.kodi.tv....php?tid=158949

 

Hi folks,

It's kind of clunky, but I configured XBMC to use Quicktime as an external player for iTunes content. The same DRM in iTunes works in Quicktime as well, so it can play movies/music just fine. For the actual media files, I copied the content I wanted to a separate drive, and renamed the directories/files so they would work for the XBMC scrapers.

It's less than ideal; even if you're used to using external players, you have to manually set quicktime into full screen mode each and every play, since there is no command line option to set it that way when spawned by XBMC ... now if only Apple would add that feature, this whole method would basically be equivalent to any other external player setup.


Edited by terry1966, 20 February 2015 - 10:01 AM.

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