Aaron Ledger

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OK, cancel your order and get the 8GB G.Skill from Newegg for $40 with a 4GB Flash drive!

That pesky Newegg. My 8GB already shipped!

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• If the Colossus is only a temporary item in your HTPC, you could still get the ML03 it seems and use an extension cable since the chassis has a full-size slot. Just double check the dimensions.
• You could save a few bucks and get the i3-2100 instead of 2100T. You shouldn’t have many concerns with cooling and it should still be very efficient with power in real-world use.
• Chosen memory will be just fine
• Looks like the Lite-on drive will come with OEM PDVD software. I’m sure it will not support 3D BD playback. You could go with PDVD 11 (review) and CyberLink will probably sell it to you at some reduced upgrade price. You could also go with ArcSoft TMT5 (review) or Corel WinDVD even. My personal preference is TMT5. Each vendor gives a trial copy so you can give them a try yourself before spending the cash.
• I think something like this remote might suit you much better. The one you linked doesn’t seem like the typical ehome remote

While you could probably get away with the single hard drive, I do not recommend it. You will be much better off with a second hard drive to house the operating system separate from the recording drive, especially since your current drive is a Green drive. If you could swing the extra money for an SSD to store the OS, that would be ideal (though it is totally not required and is a luxury item).

In a PC, everything is scaled to the output resolution.

You don’t have to run the box 24/7. It can go to standby when not in use and will wake automatically when it is time to record.

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Cox San Diego has now deployed the 1402 update to my TAs. Hooray! Now I can disconnect them 🙂

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You could get 8GB of this Corsair memory for $45 after $10 rebate. I actually had it on order until this G.Skill w/o rebate came along 🙂

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You do not need a Blu-ray Disc (BD) writer. 3D will work from any BD reader. You will be able to rip the BD content using any BD reader.  You will need the appropriate software package to play 3D Blu-ray content back as well as a newer GPU that supports frame-sequential 3D (see our GPU comparison).

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[quote=SpacemanSpiff2000]

But maybe I can shortcut it with this question. I’m not up on codecs and file formats. What are the best file formats for this stuff today? I take it from above that mpeg-2 is older.  If the 1414 does make this smaller by doing some work for me, I have little time and am already running out of space (due to my HD camcorder and a 18mo old), so that might be worth it. But I would need to know what file formats to look for.

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You could get an older tuner that also includes a composite and/or S-video input with analog audio. The card will encode the video at MPEG-2 most likely. There is nothing inherently wrong with MPEG-2, it is just not typically as efficient as H.264 aka AVC (aka MPEG-4, Part 10) so MPEG-2 will take a larger file size to get the same quality as H.264.

One issue you will run into is software. You will need to obtain capture software that can interface to those cards which may be an additional expense if it isn’t included.

Another issue you may have is that the video quality may vary depending on how the card front-end filters were designed and the encoder quality.

Personally, if I were dealing with precious home videos and memories, I would just go with the Colossus unless you are on a tight budget. It has excellent quality, encodes to H.264 and includes capture software that is very easy to use.

[quote=SpacemanSpiff2000]

Sacrificing a PVR also begs these questions: If I get the Ceton sooner than later, when I record the HD versions of the cooking shows to my HTPC, could there be issues with moving/using them? Something that could also be solved by re-recording via PVR?  I also figure if I don’t get a Ceton sooner (and this answer might influence that), if I start re-obtaining the cooking shows in HD on the DVR, I’ll need the PVR for those also.

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FiOS is typically Copy Freely from what I understand. Maybe you can ask the question to other FiOS subscribers in your area to verify. With Copy Freely, there will be no problem using the recordings from a Ceton DCT on other PCs.

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[quote=SpacemanSpiff2000]

So I’m thinking 1414 also due to price (even though the 1414 seems to get few, and sometimes convincingly bad, user reviews on Amazon & Newegg). Makes me nervous but y’all sound convinced. 

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My experience with the Colossus is that it performs very well as a pure capture device. The only issues I have experienced came when I attempted to use the Colossus as a capture device for DVR functionality which you do not plan to do.

[quote=SpacemanSpiff2000]

Still wondering, though, if it’s better to build a smaller, component-looking unit in the TV stand now and go with an extender later … or just build it bigger in the office and go extender immediately.  I only have this 1 family room TV being used for the next year/s or so. (The tube TV is still on the kitchen bar, but that’s probably hopeless, beyond maybe getting an OTA converter just because we have it sitting there.)

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I have used both models in the past and much prefer having a HTPC connected to my display instead of an extender because it is much more flexible and can be built to suit my needs. With an extender, you are completely locked into what the device/model can and can’t do which is okay if it suits your use case.

When you are ready, come back with your Blu-ray questions and we’ll see if we can help.

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Me too!

8GB is becoming my new minimum . It is definitely useful for machines doing a lot of multi-tasking with a lot of browser tabs open.

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FYI, Amazon now has the Silverstone TJ08-E chassis for sale so I placed my order so it comes when they get them in stock. I am excited to get my hands on this one. It is hard to find a smaller mini-ATX tower that has the shallow depth but can fit some awesome discrete GPUs and is a modern, refined chassis with cable management and good cooling.

Newegg also has it in stock now, but it is more expensive with shipping.

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Another option then could be to find a piece of black plastic and replace the 3.5″ aluminum cover and drill that. If you could find a piece of smoked black plastic that was mostly opaque but allowed IR through or some black mesh, you wouldn’t need to drill.

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[quote=umdivx]

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2) digitize my kids’ 14yr old videos from VHS[/quote]

Any analog capture card can accomplish this. Again might be better off purchaing the DVD’s for those VHS’s and then digitizing, you will get much better quality as a DVD is already getting you the digital format.

Going from Analog to digital is time consuming and the quality is extremely poor.

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I was assuming that the VHS videos were home videos, if not, I agree that purchasing the DVD or BD of that content is a better solution.

If these are home videos, another option besides purchasing something like the Colossus is to find a service that will capture and digitize them to DVD. Depending on the amount of video though, this may be more expensive than purchasing a Colossus which you could also use for liberating your FIOS DVR content.

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I agree with Michael’s suggestion. You could also go with the Sandy Bridge-based Pentiums which will feel amazingly powerful compared to your Atom. By end of Sept. we should see the sub-$50 G530T or if you want to buy now, you can get a G620/G620T.

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That’s interesting, I’m planning to purchase that exact case for a desktop when it is in stock on Newegg or Amazon.

I don’t believe IR through a fan will be reliable, but it’s worth a try. If you don’t mind a little modding, you could drill a hole through the 3.5″ bay cover.

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Here’s another idea for you. Sell your display on Craigslist and step up to an ST30 at least 

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How about this? When my plasma was shipped to me, the box was also strapped to a small pallet to keep it from moving. If you can get your plasma in a box like the one linked, fill with packing bubbles and then strap to a pallet or somehow place it (upright on the stand it came with) such that it can’t move and other boxes won’t be sliding around and hitting the box, you should be good.

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