[nikko]

I just bought a new laptop, so the old desktop is just sitting around. The specs are borderline for use as a HTPC, so what do you guys think?


-Windows 98

-600Mhz P3

-384MB PC133 RAM

-20GB HD

-Creative Labs 3D Blaster TNT2 Ultra

-Creative Labs Live! Gamer sound card and Altec Lansing 5.1 speaker system

-Creative Labs DVD drive w/ hardware decoding


I am hoping to watch DVDs for output to a projector, hopefully deinterlacing and upscaling the video, with 5.1 audio.


I am dreaming when I say I want to record live TV and convert realtime to MPEG-2.


I don't have the projector yet, but I assume I will be outputting the video via VGA (if I want DVI, I will need a new graphics card).


Is the hardware good enough for DVDs? And should I get a new speaker system?


I am looking to spend no more than $300.

 

[olyar15]

get a newer ATI card, such as a Radeon 9000 or even a 7500. These have very good hardware-assisted MPEG-2 playback support, which should be enough for you to run DVD on that CPU. Then get a Hauppauge PVR250 tv tuner card. It has built-in MPEG2 encoder. Then get SageTV, which works with the Hauppauge card. One of the best PVR software available.


Soundcard should be OK for now, but I would definitely get an AV receiver and a set of real speakers. Check out the Paradigm line of speakers.