AVS › AVS Forum › Video Components › Home Theater Computers › General Questions (Software, Remote, ect)
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

General Questions (Software, Remote, ect)

post #1 of 10
6/29/07 at 7:38pm
Thread Starter 
First off what is a good dvd software? Also is their a good dvd software that has a setting to zoom the dvd from wide screen to full screen? Would that software keep the picture from looking weird? I use to use a dvd player and then zoom from the tv, it would look weird though. Now I dont have that choice because I am using the DVI input on my tv.

Second is their any software perticular software that is recommending for archiving(for later playing) on the hard drive? Also I remember there was talk about a software that is good for cateloging the dvds. Just like itunes but for movies.

I plan to buy a Harmony remote. How would I pair it up with a sensor so I can use all the nessessary controls from it? This will be on Windows 2000.

Any specific case that is recommended for my HTPC (its in a tower case right now)? I am looking for the best bang for the buck $/quality. It has to be ATX and be able to take regular PSU's. Also the VFD's or cases with just a seasor, could I pair that with the harmony remote?

Thank You as this is my first htpc.
My setup is as the following:

Core 2 e2160
1950 Pro
2GB Ram
160gb SATA (will need upgrade later on)
Reply
Reply

AVS Top Picks

post #2 of 10
6/30/07 at 2:32am
Thread Starter 
Bump!

It seems dvd shrink is a good program for ripping DVDs to the hard drive, is that correct?
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 10
6/30/07 at 3:19am
Hi,
If you use the Search function and "search" for the questions you have, you will find that they have been asked many times.

There are a couple posts recently dealing with VFD's, Remotes, and even touch-screens on HTPC's.

And; as with almost any topic there are an infinite number of answers you will get in return. So my recommendation is to dig around and find the names of some of the products, then download and try them before making any purchases.

Oh yea...you may want to think about upgrading from Windows 2000.

Shawn
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 10
6/30/07 at 7:53pm
Thread Starter 
Reson behind getting an upgrade for Windows 2000?
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 10
7/1/07 at 3:12am
Quote:
Originally Posted by bob2300NX View Post

Reson behind getting an upgrade for Windows 2000?

I hope your kidding... Maybe not..

Anyhow, I don't think your going to find to much support for Win2k with respect to HTPC software and products. I checked quickly and MyMovies does not support it, a quick look at a couple HTPC cases with a VFD shows they are not compatible with Win2k, only Windows XP\\ MCE up.

In general many folks here use Windows MCE2005 or XP since it is the same basic platform for MCE. Now a good number are giving Vista a shot. Now, you are talking about building a new HTPC but starting out with a rather antiquated operating system that MS is no longer supporting. You might want to check with Microsoft and see if they even support SATA drives in Win2k.?.

If you continue to run with Win2k, make certain you check out any products you plan on purchasing to make certain they support Win2k. If you have issues there might be someone here that can assist you. Just make certain to do your research and make and "informed" decision on your OS\\software and hardware selections.

Shawn
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 10
7/1/07 at 3:26am
Thread Starter 
No I was not kidding. Like I said this is my first HTPC, and it should be pretty aperrent from my questions that I dont know the software commonly used as such.

Windows XP is pretty simular (other than the interface) to 2000.

It seems I should either install Vista (have a copy, was going to use on other computer) or I should buy MCE; i have seen MCE for like $40 used.
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 10
7/1/07 at 8:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by bob2300NX View Post

No I was not kidding. Like I said this is my first HTPC, and it should be pretty aperrent from my questions that I dont know the software commonly used as such.

Windows XP is pretty simular (other than the interface) to 2000.

It seems I should either install Vista (have a copy, was going to use on other computer) or I should buy MCE; i have seen MCE for like $40 used.

Hi,
Well I apologize for the comment then!

Again, if you research what folks are using and what companies are making products for, you will find that Windows XP, XP MCE, and Vista are the products supported.

Let me just say that there are many people out there that are using open source products as well and I would be remiss if I didn't at least mention Linux... I am more familiar with MS products so I cannot help you in this area.

As far as your last comment about the "used" software - Cannot help you there either. I don't even think that buying someone else's disks like this is legal and if someone else has already registered it and you again try to activate it (which you must do for it to work) you may get an on-screen notification followed up by a knock at the door...

I also would not use the same OS license on another machine as you mentioned about the Vista product you already own for another machine. Again you will have to try and activate it and if it is already associated with another PC you might find yourself with problems...

My recommendations with regards to software:
Windows XP MCE w\\SP2 and the Roll-up packages - Purchased Retail
TheaterTek for playing back DVD's
MyMovies for management of you DVD collection (www.mymovies.name)

As far as Vista is concerned; personally I would wait until the first service pack is out and then I would run the compatibility tool from MS to ensure your system is OK with it.

Good Luck,
Shawn
Reply
Reply
post #8 of 10
7/1/07 at 11:19am
Quote:
Originally Posted by bob2300NX View Post

First off what is a good dvd software? Also is their a good dvd software that has a setting to zoom the dvd from wide screen to full screen? Would that software keep the picture from looking weird? I use to use a dvd player and then zoom from the tv, it would look weird though. Now I dont have that choice because I am using the DVI input on my tv.

Well is your display wide screen? If so, why would you want to zoom? If not, then you are either going to letterbox or you're going to pan and scan. You need to spend some time understanding aspect ratios. If you have a 4:3 tv, well then you need a new TV

Quote:



Second is their any software perticular software that is recommending for archiving(for later playing) on the hard drive? Also I remember there was talk about a software that is good for cateloging the dvds. Just like itunes but for movies.


I'm still searching for a good front end. I haven't found anything yet in over 3 years of doing HTPC that fits my needs. Meedio was closest, but took too much to keep going. Probably the easiest is a combination of XP MCE and Mymovies but that won't work on win2K.


Quote:


I plan to buy a Harmony remote. How would I pair it up with a sensor so I can use all the nessessary controls from it? This will be on Windows 2000.

Again MCE will make things easier. Otherwise you're probably going to have to use something like girder.
Reply
Reply
post #9 of 10
7/1/07 at 4:39pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for all the helpfull replies...

As far as the vista is concerned, I can instal it on other computer as long as I uninstall it from my old one (its a retail copy not OEM; ie you can upgrade your mobo with retail legitly). Then I will have to call them and they will reactivate it. Yeah Iv been though that its not fun but it works.

I appreciate the feedback on it being easier to use MCE with the remote.

On the aspect ratios. I understand them pretty well. I have a 42" widescreen tv (16:9). It seems for plasma displays it is generally the opinon that if you play content upevenly (ie, widescreen dvd-->black bars) over long periods of time the screen can have brightness differences in the picture. Plus I hate the black bars. I know that their was a program. It was like a free version of MCE. I am sure there are many programs like I am discribing. Anyways it had a setting that would even fill the screen when using Star Wars Episond 1 (2.35:1); and it look very normal. The only problem was that the decoder was acting weird (very dark); I never had time to work on it before my computer died. And now I dont know what it was. I think it had weather and some other features.

I know some tv's have a setting for different zoom modes (vertical+horizontal, horizontal, ect); mine only has a Zoom 1 and Zoom 2 (while using Component or VGA cables). I am using DVI so I have no option of any zoom on the tv, inless I switch back to vga; but still I only have those two zoom modes.

So is their any software which can achive what I need for DVD playback; or am I dreaming? I know I will lose some picture; but on the software I used (again cant remember name) the screen fitted pretty well.
Reply
Reply
post #10 of 10
7/1/07 at 10:12pm
Quote:
On the aspect ratios. I understand them pretty well. I have a 42" widescreen tv (16:9). It seems for plasma displays it is generally the opinon that if you play content upevenly (ie, widescreen dvd-->black bars) over long periods of time the screen can have brightness differences in the picture. Plus I hate the black bars.

Plasmas shouldnt have that problem anymore. You do realize that by zooming you are cropping the movie, and you are not seeing the whole movie? Black bars are your friend.
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Home Theater Computers

AVS Top Picks

AVS › AVS Forum › Video Components › Home Theater Computers › General Questions (Software, Remote, ect)