HP Pavilion Slimline s3330f, is it a good prebuilt htpc? - Page 6

Originally Posted by Itsdon

Nope, tried it tonight with PowerDVD Ultra 7.3 ...

Originally Posted by JMGNYC

I'd like to be able to also play back DVDs backed up to the internal hard drive. Unfortunately, when I click the little "Select Source" icon in the "DVD Play" control panel the only choice it gives me is the Optical Drive.

Is there a way around this? Am I missing something obvious? Is there some setting in the registry or .ini file that will allow for selection from the "C:" drive? Thanks.

Originally Posted by KensingtonPark

I suppose it depends upon how you've backed it up to the hard drive. There are a lot of options, but if you've actually backed it up to constituent files (.vob, VIDEO_TS, etc.) you should be able to double-click on the file from the menu, windows explorer, even Media Center.

Kensington

Originally Posted by JMGNYC

They are in VIDEO_TS ripped with DVDShrink. They play fine from Media Center. I happen to use MyMovies. The problem is I'd like to play them in HPs DVD Play BD/HD-DVD as I think the picture quality is better. Brining up HPs DVD Play doesn't seem to have an option to access the C: drive. It just seems crazy there is an option for that within HPs DVD Play so I figure I must be missing something obvious.

Originally Posted by KensingtonPark

When I play the files from "inside" Media Center, HP DVD Play is the application that actually plays the files. What's the application that plays the files in your case? Windows Media Player?

Originally Posted by rkhobbit

FYI... Last night the HP Update program popped up and asked if I want to check HP for any new updates on my PC... it came back and had three updates:

- Basic security update
- Updated a new driver for the BD/HD DVD Player
- Complete update of the OEM BD/HD DVD program (85 mB download).

Originally Posted by Varnadoe

I've found the s3330f for 925 at circuit city. Is this the best price going right now? Has anybody found it for any less in the last few days? I was planning on waiting a month or 2. What is the best way to find the best deal, other than googling it everyday?

Varnadoe - If you're anywhere near a Fry's store, the s3330f was on sale last week and looks like into this week for 799. No need to wait a month or 2.

Originally Posted by Herve

With those last two updates, is there any noticeable change in playback, or options for playback?

Thanks.

Originally Posted by dgarner

Hi, I just bought an s3330f but I am unable to get it to "see" my tv. I have a Sony KV-34XBR800. The nvidia control panel will not recognize that the tv is connected when either the DVI or HDMI ports are used, only the s-video. I know the DVI port on the tv and the cable are good as I normally use them attached to my DVD player. Another option is to use a component connection, but the s3330f doesn't seem to have one. So, will a DVI to component conversion cable work with this system? Does anybody have advice regarding getting my tv to be recognized when connected to the DVI port? I have loaded the most recent nvidia drivers. HP didn't know why this was happening. Thanks.

Originally Posted by bkslim

Please read post #94 on this thread. That is how I got the slimline to connect to my TV by HDMI.

Originally Posted by dgarner

Thanks for the suggestion. I tried the steps you used in post #94 but in my case I got stuck on the one to chose to clone the display. I never got that option. Nvidia just doesn't realize I've connected the tv no matter what I try using the latest drivers. I spent a lot of time trying different combinations and got the tv to display once but not that well. Here's what I did...

1. Restore nvidia drivers that came with the machine.
2. Connect pc monitor to dvi port using vga converter
3. Connect tv to hdmi port using hdmi->dvi converter on tv side
4. Turn on tv, then boot computer, login, turn tv off/on
5. Start nvidia control panel, choose multiple displays running seperately
6. Set tv (digital monitor now) resolution to 480p (only resolution available) under tv modes

This allows me to see an extension of my desktop on the tv. I tried making the tv the primary display but nvidia wouldn't let this happen, after blanking the displays briefly the pc monitor would return but the tv goes blank and I have to start the process over again to get it to display. If I restart the system all settings are lost and I have to go through all this again. I tried running media center on the tv, I was able to see the menus but all video display was black.

Conclusion... The problem is not with the pc, probably not even the video card. I believe it's my tv not responding to a software request from the video card to either identify itself or its capablities. Too bad the nvidia drivers don't allow manual override and just output signals of our choosing. Lesson learned: Just because an hdtv has dvi input and works perfectly with a dvd player or atsc hd tuner doesn't mean it will work with a computer.

Sadly I may have to return this nice little computer unless there's some way to get this to work on my tv since that was the main reason I bought it. Does anybody know if the s3330f can be connected to the component input on the tv? This is how I got my old computer with an nvidia xfx 7600gt and a special component dongle to connect with this tv.

Originally Posted by raidbuck

Just me with my problems again.

I have to go through the following steps to watch a BluRay on my plasma:

1. Switch my HDMI switch to my plasma (only one HDMI port) to PC
2. Go to Control Panel - Sound and show disabled devices.
Enable HDMI and disable PC speakers
3. Go to Realtek HD Audio and select HD Audio
4. Go to nVidia Control Panel and configure the Plasma (Panasonic) as either a dual device or sole console.
5. Select HD DVD player and then I can watch.

However, when finished and after I've changed everything to go back to PC using my VGA monitor, I can no longer get the nVidia to recognize my plasma the next time I go through the above process. The only way is to reboot the PC and then nVidia finds the plasma and I can watch HD DVDs.

Is there an easier way? I'm not familiar with HP Media player, so would that be an easier path?

Thanks,

Rich N.

Originally Posted by Herve

I think this is an HDCP issue. The fact that the card will output only 480p to the TV I think reinforces this theory.

Does your dvd player output 1080i to the TV via dvi, or 480p? Does your hd tuner have HDCP enabled?

Have you tried connecting the card to the TV via the supplied DVI-VGA converter? If you haven't, that's the easiest thing to try first.

If necessary, there are devices availible that convert DVI to component or VGA. A simple cable alone will not do the job.

Here's a link to an HDCP-compatible, DVI-to-VGA converter that I use to get our Starchoice dvi output to our CRT front projector (part of the chain, anyway):

In your case, you would connect the HDFury directly to your Sony TV's VGA input, then the DVI cable to the HDFury's input. It will make the TV look to the computer like a more modern, HDCP-compatible TV.

Good luck.

Originally Posted by southy1978

I was hoping to connect my 3330f to two panasonic plasma televisions (one uses HDMI inputs, the other component)

a couple of questions:

1.) Can you connect this PC to a display via component outputs ?
2.) Can you play Blue-ray ir HD-DVDs at full resolution via component ?
3.) Can both the component and HDMI outputs be used simultaneously ?
4.) Dual outputs, while watching HD media ?

Thanks,

S

Originally Posted by Itsdon

Nope, tried it tonight with PowerDVD Ultra 7.3, HDMI 1.3 cable and an Onkyo 605. No TrueHD at all, it simply dumbs it down to the worst possible sound - 2 channel PCM. I have updated everything I can think of and simply can not find a way for this thing to output decent sound, it just shouldn't be this hard!

The exact same is true ove SPDIF, I plugged in my Digital Coax cable and got the exact same experience as HDMI.

Perhaps a call to HP is in order. I believe the problem lies with the ALC888s HD Audio Chipset. When I look at the "Supported Formats" my only options are DTS, Dolby Digital, Microsoft Pro Audio WMA. If this card is supporting 7.1, and everything I've read about it says it does, then where are the 7.1 formats it supports?

BTW when it does play Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 it compresses it down to 640kbs, why? HDMI certainly has the capacity, I've bitstreamed TrueHD to my Onkyo from my Toshiba XA2. Seeing TreuHD light up on the display is pretty awesome