Buz word of the 2008’s - Media Center PC or Home Theatre PC (HTPC)

For those who havent partook of the greatness that is a HTPC here is a quick run down of all that you are missing out on, as well as the options that are available.

4-5 years ago now I started down this road it was a tricky thing that required either deep pockets for Microsoft Media Center or in-depth Linux knowledge for MythTV.

I opted for the Linux option and was banging my head against the wall for probably a year before I found my saviour, Knoppmyth.

Knoppmyth is a self contained single CD installer that is based on Knoppix Linux and tries its best to make the installation and running of MythTV as easy as possible. This is its only goal, and that is the strongpoint.

A relatively simple install process gives you a frontend/backend install on the one machine and takes ALL of the main out a MythTV install. Cecil and the Knoppmyth team do a wonderful job of ensuring that there are no nasty surprises in store for the Limux newbie by hiding MOST of the Linux woes from the user.

Because Knoppmyth is all pre-compiled you dont have to tinker with the system at all, just install it and you are ready to go. (nearly, there are a few things that need tweaking but there are pretty good how-to guides available on the Knoppmyth wiki)

Last year I decided to review my HTPC situation and went looking for what else was available in the MythTV based arena.
I had heard of Mythbuntu for a while but dismissed it as it is actually a full Ubuntu install with MythTV on top and I wanted the leanest install that I could get, so I hadnt really given it a thought.

Boy, was that a mistake! Mythbuntu is far and away my HTPC software of choice now.
It uses a Live CD, so if you already have a separate MythTV backend (as I do) you can try it out on your hardware without installing anything. A very handy feature here is that if you decide that the frontend works for you and you want to go for broke and install it permanently, you can save the existing settings that you used on the live cd onto a USB memory stick so that you dont have to re-configure.

The install process is an absolute breeze with graphical wizards for the whole install, meaning that you dont have to drop to Linux at all for a standard install.

I am now running Mythbuntu on 3 frontends, but have stuck to Centos 5 with a compiled MythTV on my backend due to my other uses of that machine, but I could relatively simply convert it to Mythbuntu if I was so inclined, due to the fact that Mythbuntu does have a full Linux OS under the hood.

OK, so you have your old surplus P4 low end machine all fired up with Mythbuntu and your DTV tuner card of choice, now what?

Well, hook it up to your plasma or LCD via either RGB or for best results, DVI (using a DVI to HDMI converter) and plug the audio in to your stereo or Surround Sound Amp.

You will also be needing a remote control and what I have found to be the best no brainer solution to this is to go down to your local Jaycar store and get their MCE Remote for $25.

This gives you a USB receiver as well as the Remote. Plug it in and you are away. You might want to remap the keys, but this remote is just a keyboard emulator so it is litterally as easy as going into the MythTV key mappings screen and push the remote button that you want for each function. Doesnt get easier than that.

Benefits of a HTPC.

OK so what can you do with it?

You can watch Live TV, Pause Live TV, Rewind Live TV, Schedule the recording of live TV and watch back recorded TV, so pretty much it is a PVR that you built yourself.

What I find the major benefit though is that it will play just about any video known to man. Rip a dvd to the hard disc and you have it available for watching anytime without the disc. Put all your home movies on there and you can see them. Put all your Photos on too. How about all your music collection? or, for all those movies and TV shows that you have downloaded, MythTV will play them all with ease.

I have a 1tb raid 5 array that I have used about 750gb of with all my music, photos, video, TV recordings and music and TV store, that I have access to in varous locations around the house.
So one big file store that has the tuner card and just lower spec frontends around the house.

It is easy enough that the kids can use it, so we have just about eliminated the need for the kids to have to touch DVDs.

Now if only I could find a solution that is similar for PC games I will be set.