I'm 21 and have always used my PC, ripping my physical media because I don't like subscription models. But my partner and I need a separate PC for the living room so this is a great video for that, thanks.
I had a htpc as well. Now I use a firestick that I sideloaded kodi onto. It can play back content from any other device that also runs kodi, so I have an old fanless pc serving up content to the firestick remotely over the network.
I used to have a NAS for my media but found it limiting in what I could do with it I bought a silverstone HTPC case from Ebay here in Australia pretty chaep at $70.00 and built myself a HTPC it has room for 5 3.5 HDD's and I ripped all my TV series DVD's and Blu Rays and I'm very happy with it and I also use it for a emulation as well
The point of htpc is an all in one where you can sit on the couch and play games like modded Skyrim that need a beefy GPU / CPU , watch movies streamed from your Plex Media Server, play your music collection, and also stream content from outside sources. it’s hard to do that in a single device. Right now I split between duties between my Nvidia Shield and PC, but I’m working my way towards my PC doing everything.
I have an Windows Media Remote Control that got for my Windows Vista Media Center in 2009. I wonder if it would still work even today with Windows 10, 11, and current Linux.
My first home theater pc was back in 2004. Got rid of HTPCs when I bought my first smart tv in 2018. Now I'm thinking of building a small htpc for all my 4k content
I thought about building a media center PC, but it is much cheaper to buy one of those Dell OptiPlex micro PC with 6th gen i5 for around 140 dollars. Works well, and can install various Linux distros, or Windows. Nice video, thanks for sharing!
I refurbished a Dell XE SFF I got from work. I installed a Core 2 Q9550s(the low power version of Q9550) along with an AMD HD7570 graphics card. I tried a RX 5500 but couldn't run it due to the DOS VESA 103 limitation of Dell's Q45 motherboard. The RX 5500 drivers wouldn't install because of the limitation. I understood the HD series to work and installed a AMD HD7570 and it confirmed to work. R5 240 was a consideration but it's a PCI 3.0 at 8x. I still need more performancec and I'm now looking at the HD8750 and it at least has the full 16 lanes even on PCI 2.0. I'm running Windows 10, but will later install Linux once it falls out of support. Aside. The HD7570 was herky jerky online streaming but working with the chrome flags I solved much of that issue.
Like you mentioned 10+ years ago win 7 with windows media center and HTPC was all the rage. And why not, it offered everything your cable box could do along with being a DVR and watch Blu ray movies if you like. At the time cablecard decoders with this made it all work. I had one in my system and I was a pig in slop with it. I could DVR all the shows I watched and didn't have to worry about it since the guide data came along with it. FF to today that HTPC is long gone. I had it in an earlier version of the Silverstone you had there. As much as i'd like another one I'm not sitting by my Big Screen Plasma long enough to justify it. Next up after I move in a few months will be the home NAS server with Plex running on it. Then I can send it to what ever screen I like. Thanks for doing this it brought back plenty of good memories.
Yes, I'm old school analog sound system Yamaha n Klipsch stacked to my celling. i finally finished installing my new custom game PC to my system and having a blast. Getting Analog to and or from Digital is the hardest part. ARCe HDMI is nice and all of todays mirroring screens is truly nice, I'm very happy and trying to keep it clean easy. I'm still looking for a good ARCe to Analog converter ... Thanks for the share its good info.
My gaming PCs end up there once their gaming abilities have been exhausted. One metric i consider when buying video cards is video codec. Support. I was going to buy RX 6000 series, but no native AVI support. So I shelled out more for the 7000 series. I would still install a RF and remote connection and install a home theater software. I had Windows Vista Media Center edition. That was great
I use a Rii X8 Mini Keyboard & an old laptop via hdmi cable lol ima upgrade to a intel mini pc tho soon so I can watch movies in 4K …… great video none the less
I've literally built thousands of them.. I still have a couple of them. I barely use them but I always upgrade the motherboards just in case I go back to the media center..
I can recommend to try KODI sideloaded on a Amazon Fire TV stick; much better than Roku. KODI streams from a NAS video/dvdISO/MP3 file server as well as a TVHeadend DVB-T server both ESXi VM's. Yes, you can do DVB-T tuner passthru to an Esxi VM running TVHeadend
@@UnkyjoesPlayhouse Hi Joe, I'm a HTPC fan myself, I do the same; the Amazon Sticks are for the wife but it works fine even streaming from the UK to Spain
I prefer Jellyfin server running in a docker container and the Jellyfin running on a firestick. I also stream with a rpi3 running libreelec. But the 4k fire stick is nice and easy to use though, and Jellyfin is rather nice and seems stable enough.
Do you tweak Win 10 for a "10 foot interface" ? Or do you use it stock? I wish someone could make a skin for Win 10 that would give it a polished set top box like clean interface...
@@UnkyjoesPlayhouse I see so many show the hardware of their builds but very few discuss the software and tweaks to the UI for living room use. Sure most will use Plex but navigating around the desktop and launching other apps still makes it look like a regular PC and isn't always easy to read what's on the screen.
My old eyes can see the screen pretty well at about 10ft, however you have made me curious about a better interface, the beauty of the HTPC is it can be added to, you know new features, interfaces, keyboards etc.
@@UnkyjoesPlayhouse Yeah for me its not so much not being able to see things but more having a clean "non-Windows desktop" like interface w/o losing the ability to launch/use windows apps. I'd love to see what you find and do a video on it.
@@neccros007 i use an old samsung phone setup in Dex mode on my 55" TV and its extremely easy to read and use to go between apps. I even sit in my living room and write emails to people on it using the same bluetooth keyboard he displayed in this video..
I remember those htpc days. I still have my old case because I paid $400 for it and can’t bring myself to toss it. Now that the built in Android in my Sony TVs around the house can direct play 4K just fine I’m keeping it simple although I do have an Apple TV on the projector and a shield on the non Sony tv outside.
Does this keyboard use the same Unifying receiver as their mice? I have this keyboard but lost the dongle. I could swear its not the same dongle. What does yours look like? Thanks!
@@UnkyjoesPlayhouse Odd... I swear it was a different receiver... it sucks because I been looking for it for months and have no idea where it went.... Lost it between my old place and my current place...
That has a lot to with 1) the sound processor on your motherboard or add in card. I have an AMD HD7570 and didn't figure until later that the HDMI carried sound. I was using the 3.5mm blue jack for sound. 2) the receiving equipment, TV or sound system must also be compatible. Obviously a surround system that carries it would be best. And may need to get an add in sound card that carries it.
Love the videos I finally figured out to sign into my Apple TV ID account when I came to my childhood city for Christmas I can watch my digital copy movies through my Dads ROKU through my Apple ID account that’s cool didn’t know I could do that
this has come at a bad time for me.... spent most of the week with the famous LGTV not working DNLA on Synology..... Famous caching issue where old films dont disappear, new titles dont appear. Tired everything ive read on line.... So after the new year going back to my netgear nas it just worked then.
I'm 21 and have always used my PC, ripping my physical media because I don't like subscription models. But my partner and I need a separate PC for the living room so this is a great video for that, thanks.
Thanks for sharing!
Absolutely loving your videos UnkyJoe! Very interesting. Glad to see you are a fellow big bang theory fan, LOL.
All you need is a mouse. Go to apps, accessibility, on screen keyboard. And ya an HTPC is he best for music and concerts
Is there a PC that has apps you can get on it like RUclips TV or whatever
I had a htpc as well. Now I use a firestick that I sideloaded kodi onto. It can play back content from any other device that also runs kodi, so I have an old fanless pc serving up content to the firestick remotely over the network.
I used to have a NAS for my media but found it limiting in what I could do with it
I bought a silverstone HTPC case from Ebay here in Australia pretty chaep at $70.00 and built myself a HTPC it has room for 5 3.5 HDD's and I ripped all my TV series DVD's and Blu Rays and I'm very happy with it and I also use it for a emulation as well
The point of htpc is an all in one where you can sit on the couch and play games like modded Skyrim that need a beefy GPU / CPU , watch movies streamed from your Plex Media Server, play your music collection, and also stream content from outside sources.
it’s hard to do that in a single device. Right now I split between duties between my Nvidia Shield and PC, but I’m working my way towards my PC doing everything.
Thanks for watching :)
A DDR3 motherboard... a generation behind. And a huge case for an ITX form factor Mother Board!
I have an Windows Media Remote Control that got for my Windows Vista Media Center in 2009. I wonder if it would still work even today with Windows 10, 11, and current Linux.
Give it a try.
I have the same keyboard and mouse Logitech K400r very good battery life i use it on a Android TV Box
My first home theater pc was back in 2004. Got rid of HTPCs when I bought my first smart tv in 2018. Now I'm thinking of building a small htpc for all my 4k content
I thought about building a media center PC, but it is much cheaper to buy one of those Dell OptiPlex micro PC with 6th gen i5 for around 140 dollars. Works well, and can install various Linux distros, or Windows. Nice video, thanks for sharing!
Not a bad idea
I had the same idea, refurbished OptiPlex sff with stremio. Absolute win
I refurbished a Dell XE SFF I got from work. I installed a Core 2 Q9550s(the low power version of Q9550) along with an AMD HD7570 graphics card. I tried a RX 5500 but couldn't run it due to the DOS VESA 103 limitation of Dell's Q45 motherboard. The RX 5500 drivers wouldn't install because of the limitation. I understood the HD series to work and installed a AMD HD7570 and it confirmed to work. R5 240 was a consideration but it's a PCI 3.0 at 8x. I still need more performancec and I'm now looking at the HD8750 and it at least has the full 16 lanes even on PCI 2.0. I'm running Windows 10, but will later install Linux once it falls out of support.
Aside. The HD7570 was herky jerky online streaming but working with the chrome flags I solved much of that issue.
Like you mentioned 10+ years ago win 7 with windows media center and HTPC was all the rage. And why not, it offered everything your cable box could do along with being a DVR and watch Blu ray movies if you like. At the time cablecard decoders with this made it all work. I had one in my system and I was a pig in slop with it. I could DVR all the shows I watched and didn't have to worry about it since the guide data came along with it. FF to today that HTPC is long gone. I had it in an earlier version of the Silverstone you had there. As much as i'd like another one I'm not sitting by my Big Screen Plasma long enough to justify it. Next up after I move in a few months will be the home NAS server with Plex running on it. Then I can send it to what ever screen I like. Thanks for doing this it brought back plenty of good memories.
Yes, I'm old school analog sound system Yamaha n Klipsch stacked to my celling.
i finally finished installing my new custom game PC to my system and having a blast.
Getting Analog to and or from Digital is the hardest part. ARCe HDMI is nice and all of todays mirroring screens is truly nice, I'm very happy and trying to keep it clean easy. I'm still looking for a good ARCe to Analog converter ... Thanks for the share its good info.
Rock on!
My gaming PCs end up there once their gaming abilities have been exhausted. One metric i consider when buying video cards is video codec. Support. I was going to buy RX 6000 series, but no native AVI support. So I shelled out more for the 7000 series. I would still install a RF and remote connection and install a home theater software. I had Windows Vista Media Center edition. That was great
Thanks for sharing!
happy new year unkyjoe \m/ thinking about building home theater pc for my parents
I use a Rii X8 Mini Keyboard & an old laptop via hdmi cable lol ima upgrade to a intel mini pc tho soon so I can watch movies in 4K …… great video none the less
Thank you, and thanks for watching :)
I've literally built thousands of them.. I still have a couple of them. I barely use them but I always upgrade the motherboards just in case I go back to the media center..
The sound meter makes a debut.
This is the 2nd video it has been used in :)
is there a roku remote with a keyboard? I hate the pop up keyboard - it takes me forever to do searches
Have you checked Amazon? I know they have a voice remote that works well. Thanks for watching :)
i couldn't find anything...but maybe someone here has found something that works.
I can recommend to try KODI sideloaded on a Amazon Fire TV stick; much better than Roku. KODI streams from a NAS video/dvdISO/MP3 file server as well as a TVHeadend DVB-T server both ESXi VM's. Yes, you can do DVB-T tuner passthru to an Esxi VM running TVHeadend
I have Kodi loaded on this HTPC, not a big fan, the Roku's are for the spouse and ease of use, this box is my toy :)
@@UnkyjoesPlayhouse Hi Joe, I'm a HTPC fan myself, I do the same; the Amazon Sticks are for the wife but it works fine even streaming from the UK to Spain
I prefer Jellyfin server running in a docker container and the Jellyfin running on a firestick. I also stream with a rpi3 running libreelec. But the 4k fire stick is nice and easy to use though, and Jellyfin is rather nice and seems stable enough.
Do you tweak Win 10 for a "10 foot interface" ? Or do you use it stock? I wish someone could make a skin for Win 10 that would give it a polished set top box like clean interface...
I will have to look into that.
@@UnkyjoesPlayhouse I see so many show the hardware of their builds but very few discuss the software and tweaks to the UI for living room use. Sure most will use Plex but navigating around the desktop and launching other apps still makes it look like a regular PC and isn't always easy to read what's on the screen.
My old eyes can see the screen pretty well at about 10ft, however you have made me curious about a better interface, the beauty of the HTPC is it can be added to, you know new features, interfaces, keyboards etc.
@@UnkyjoesPlayhouse Yeah for me its not so much not being able to see things but more having a clean "non-Windows desktop" like interface w/o losing the ability to launch/use windows apps. I'd love to see what you find and do a video on it.
@@neccros007 i use an old samsung phone setup in Dex mode on my 55" TV and its extremely easy to read and use to go between apps. I even sit in my living room and write emails to people on it using the same bluetooth keyboard he displayed in this video..
I remember those htpc days. I still have my old case because I paid $400 for it and can’t bring myself to toss it. Now that the built in Android in my Sony TVs around the house can direct play 4K just fine I’m keeping it simple although I do have an Apple TV on the projector and a shield on the non Sony tv outside.
Thanks for watching :)
Does this keyboard use the same Unifying receiver as their mice? I have this keyboard but lost the dongle. I could swear its not the same dongle. What does yours look like? Thanks!
I believe so
@@UnkyjoesPlayhouse Odd... I swear it was a different receiver... it sucks because I been looking for it for months and have no idea where it went.... Lost it between my old place and my current place...
I miss Windows Media Center soooo much!
Same here, simple-fast-worked :)
uhh completely forgot about that.
I have the same Logitech keyboard, I use it with my HP8200 ultra slim pc I use in my living room, I run Linux on mine and use kodi to watch my videos
cool
Does that HP thin client not have enough cpu power to work ?
no way, the video card is the problem.
you carnt best the htpc better then any streaming box and dose more then your cheap streaming box
Hi, how do you connect audio out HDMI for Dolby Atmos. Please reply
That has a lot to with 1) the sound processor on your motherboard or add in card. I have an AMD HD7570 and didn't figure until later that the HDMI carried sound. I was using the 3.5mm blue jack for sound. 2) the receiving equipment, TV or sound system must also be compatible. Obviously a surround system that carries it would be best. And may need to get an add in sound card that carries it.
lets see put a micro atx instead of a mini-itx and add a gt1030 and that a good enough pc to play games at medium setting.
Love the videos I finally figured out to sign into my Apple TV ID account when I came to my childhood city for Christmas I can watch my digital copy movies through my Dads ROKU through my Apple ID account that’s cool didn’t know I could do that
Windows media center 👍 today emby on Windows 10.
Your wife doesn't like it but you still went a head and built a pc with a keyboard..UNKIEjoe you are such a dictator.
Nothing can replace the comfort of a classic keyboard, mouse as soon as you type
Lol
You dont need a keyboard and mouse to operate a HTPC.
You don't say :)
this has come at a bad time for me.... spent most of the week with the famous LGTV not working DNLA on Synology..... Famous caching issue where old films dont disappear, new titles dont appear. Tired everything ive read on line.... So after the new year going back to my netgear nas it just worked then.
Who even uses Windows Media Center now?
I love htpc I hate smart tvs and I'm here to build an htpc build ideas
Thanks for watching :)
Forget Big Bang. Young Sheldon much better.
check paypal lol
ay matey, why would ya wanna have htpc, hmmm I wonder yo hoo yo hoo. argh matey, me wonder why