mikeg Posted August 18, 2005 Report Share Posted August 18, 2005 Hello all: I'm new here. Have Dell Dimension 8200 desktop, 2.26 GHz which makes DVD+RW discs. Have Windows XP Home and superfast DSL, nominal downloads @ 2.9 Mbps. Am contemplating buying a laptop and creating a Linksys network. Would appreciate any advice on hookups with cable TV/stereo system, probably with portable keyboard with a view toward management of TV and stereo from the laptop as well as recording TV programs. I know I can buy a DVD recorder and do pretty much the same things but why have 3 DVD recorders? Would gratefully receive suggestions from those with similar setups. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
murtu52 Posted August 18, 2005 Report Share Posted August 18, 2005 Well, having me explain you won't do you any good--i'm trying the same thing at my house.However, some time ago a show called "Systm" released an episode on "MythTV". MythTV is a program (that runs on linux) that is basically a free version of Tivo. Although it only runs on Linux, there are many forums of linux that ONLY run the program--they were made specifically for running MythTV. In this episode of systm, they'll show you through the whole process, and hopefully you can apply it at your house...Or, you can try doing it yourself with hardware and software from AverMedia. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16815116616. Whichever route you take, good luck! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mikeg Posted August 18, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 18, 2005 Thank you. I'll check it out further. I wonder whether that setup requires Windows Media Center. I expect to have Windows XP on both computers.Well, having me explain you won't do you any good--i'm trying the same thing at my house.However, some time ago a show called "Systm" released an episode on "MythTV". MythTV is a program (that runs on linux) that is basically a free version of Tivo. Although it only runs on Linux, there are many forums of linux that ONLY run the program--they were made specifically for running MythTV. In this episode of systm, they'll show you through the whole process, and hopefully you can apply it at your house...Or, you can try doing it yourself with hardware and software from AverMedia. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16815116616. Whichever route you take, good luck!<{POST_SNAPBACK}> Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TheLetterK Posted August 18, 2005 Report Share Posted August 18, 2005 Hello all: I'm new here. Have Dell Dimension 8200 desktop, 2.26 GHz which makes DVD+RW discs. Have Windows XP Home and superfast DSL, nominal downloads @ 2.9 Mbps. Am contemplating buying a laptop and creating a Linksys network. Would appreciate any advice on hookups with cable TV/stereo system, probably with portable keyboard with a view toward management of TV and stereo from the laptop as well as recording TV programs. I know I can buy a DVD recorder and do pretty much the same things but why have 3 DVD recorders? Would gratefully receive suggestions from those with similar setups.<{POST_SNAPBACK}>I've been tinkering with one lately. I use a Windows 2000 box running SageTV and PowerDVD (No DVD burning though). What you need is a video capture card (and I would suggest a hardware encoding card--a Hauppauge PVR-150 or PVR-250 (use the 250 if you would ever be interested in using Linux) would be a good choice), a sound card wth line-out, and a video card with TV-out capability (if your trying to do this on the cheap, I would suggest an XGI Volari V3--there was a sale not long ago where you could pick one up for $15), a TV that can accept composite or S-video output, and maybe an IR blaster (if you want to use a remote or need to control a non-DCT2000 cable box). If you use Windows, you'll want SageTV or BeyondTV (I prefer SageTV, but YMMV). You'll also need DVD decoding software (PowerDVD, Nvidia's DVD decoder, etc), and some sort of DVD authoring suite.If you want Linux, buy an Nvidia card (XGI driver support for Linux is very lacking) and use MythTV. You'll have to use libdvdcss to decrypt almost all commercial DVDs (this is probably not legal in the US, though I doubt anyone would ever go after you for it). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mikeg Posted August 18, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 18, 2005 Thank you. Am I correct in thinking that the new laptop will not accommodate all those cards: video capture card, sound card with line-out, and video card with TV-out.My desktop Dell is supposed to have NVidia GE Force 4 Ti 4200 with TV out but I was told to install a newer, updated driver and the system no longer mentions TV out as it did before I updated the driver. Is the PVR-150 a video capture card? I do expect to network the desktop and laptop.The whole thing sounds quite complicated and problem prone, but I could be wrong about this. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TheLetterK Posted August 18, 2005 Report Share Posted August 18, 2005 Thank you. Am I correct in thinking that the new laptop will not accommodate all those cards: video capture card, sound card with line-out, and video card with TV-out.My desktop Dell is supposed to have NVidia GE Force 4 Ti 4200 with TV out but I was told to install a newer, updated driver and the system no longer mentions TV out as it did before I updated the driver. Is the PVR-150 a video capture card? I do expect to network the desktop and laptop.The whole thing sounds quite complicated and problem prone, but I could be wrong about this.<{POST_SNAPBACK}>Your standard laptop won't work, but there are some that include the hardware needed. This is naturally extraordinarily expensive, and not cost-effective.Your video card should support TV-out then. No need to buy another. A Hauppauge PVR-150 is both a TV capture card and a hardware encoding card. The PVR-250 works well with both Windows and Linux, the PVR-150 doesn't work very well with Linux but supports Windows just fine. You do *not* want a PVR-150-MCE, unless you plan on using Windows Media Center.It sounds complicated because it is. But it's not impossible, and well within the technical skill of your average user. People make plug-and-play options, that cost a lot more (but don't require you to manually setup anything). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mikeg Posted August 19, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 19, 2005 Thank all of you who responded. You have been most helpful. It looks as though the TV-out is the most dispensable part of the setup since DVDs can be created for playback and I already have 2 DVD players, one a standard stand-alone and the other in a computer. I see little advantage in playing videos stored on the hard drive on a TV screen. Everything looks, as you say, quite doable, at least from the desktop which will be wirelessly networked with the laptop. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.