Blue Prints: HTPC part 1

Sorry for the lack of updates, but I've been busy with work and other Christmas events that have come up. In this section I would to just go into a brief explanation of a HTPC and explanation on why they are so cool. I will try to stick a specific format so my previous post may change appearance over the next little while while I experiment with different formats. The content will most likely remain the same. Anyways here's everything that you would like to know about HTPC's.

Well what exactly is a HTPC one would ask? Well like my previous post on building a NAS, an HTPC is a computer design with a specific role in mind. With the introduction of HDTV's over the past few years the line between the experience between TV and computers have start to blur. Any one can look only line for that latest TV episodes that they have missed. It's equally easy for anyone to play a video game on a PS3 or Xbox 360 against their friends on there PC's. The HTPC is just extension of the idea of combining the two experiences together.

In their simplest forms, an HTPC is a computer that connects to your Television to display content. With the relevantly new introduction of HD TV tuner available on the PC market, they can do so much more. A HTPC is very much like a personal video recording in that matter such as a TIVO. The difference is that HTPC's don't lack the features that many PVR's do and they come out at a lower price. A HTPC can store all your digital stored movies, such as downloaded movies or achieved DVD's, play anything from you movie collection, DVD's Blue Ray DVD's and even HDDVD's, as well as play your stored music collection.

There are a bunch of commercially available HTPC but I won't being going into much detail about these because I'd rather take the DIY-er approach. There are many different aspects of a HTPC that make it unique from a killer gaming rig, you have to remember that this PC will most likely remain in your family so you can use the latest graphics cards with insanely huge fans and heat sinks that sound like a jet-figther in your house. So there are some hardware issues that have to be looked into but also software issues. Should you use the two version's of windows vista that come with the latest version of windows media centre (Vista ultimate and Home Premium), Windows MCE ( a build based on windows XP), or do you go the adventurist way and try a Linux based build. Through out the next week post I will go into these different issues and hopefully you will understand why I have been so interested in making this build. But that's for another day.