Mike Garcen

[Mike Garcen]

wow, that’s nuts! 

[Mike Garcen]

yeah, both my systems are just HTPCs. I honestly don’t mind having to reinstall OSes, at this point in my life it’s a fairly straight through process. I still remember how to do hidden OS recovery partitions from my OEM days if i really felt like it, but honestly my HTPCs have been pretty stable so the few and far between doesn’t bother me.

And with the data duplication from Synctoy that’s the main concern I have is my important data. I forgot to mention, but with this setup I could probably take an SSD from my other system and put it in this now new Win7 box which should make performance pretty darned nice 🙂

[Mike Garcen]

well, the obvious answer is because I already have the Veebeam 🙂 Plus, the lack of surround sound or the 2 second delay won’t bother me since I won’t be looking at the original content anyways. In both scenarios however I’d still need to figure out the connection piece of how to control the HTPC.

I suppose I could use the Veebeam from my main HTPC, but occasionally my gf will be in the bedroom while i’m in the living room, so i like the flexibility of having a second system.

Not to mention…again…one way or another there’s going to be another system running 24/7–whether it be a standalone WHS2011 or something else 🙂 So why NOT use that one 🙂

[Mike Garcen]

[quote=skirge01]

Why not use extenders?  Oh yeah… you don’t use SageTV.  😉

Back to basics with rule #1:  A server is NOT to be used as an “every-day” PC.  Shame on you for even suggesting such a thing!

[/quote]

ROFL!!! Normally i would 10000% agree. But it’s not, it would be an “Every 4 or 5 days” type of deal 🙂 Plus it would basically be an extender, so chances of anything corrupting or hurting it would be minimal.

[Mike Garcen]

i hear what you’re saying, and i agree if i had users to worry about and permissions and what not, but it’s basically just me & my gf, so it’s pretty simple. So i would basically keep the hard drives as they are now and just move em into Win7 once setup, and then basically share the folders the same way WHS does it.

So…what else? What about the setup, Veebeam idea good or bad? or would u go the extended cables route?

[Mike Garcen]

I leave it on 24/7 because A) I don’t pay electricity and B) I’ve had awful experience in the past with Standby. But mainly it’s “A” 🙂

For your other point…I can live without system backups. I can easily share my folders myself. I’m using SyncToy in WHS anyways to backup my important data. And I use RDP whenever I need to login. Only thing I’ll miss is the File Sharing, but I can setup a Filezilla server quite easily. What else could I be missing?

And you’re right, if it’s just a WHS, then Core i3 is overkill…but i can justify that if i’m dual-purposing it in the bedroom 😉

[Mike Garcen]

Yeah, something like Winamp might be just the ticket. Essentially you just need an app that can support video+audio in a single playlist, WITH a visualization plugin. Has to be something out there for free 🙂

[Mike Garcen]

i’ve seen this type of setup at some clubs/bars with a DJ, so I’m sure there has to be something out there…where sometimes the song they’re playing doesn’t have a video so it reverts to some other video….never bothered to ask though.

[Mike Garcen]

Both those boards will do you great, I’m a fan of intel boards for their stability and reliability especially in a HTPC setup.

And sure, 1 stick of RAM is fine, as long as it’s a 4GB stick…that should be the minimum, and if you can splurge go with 8GB total 🙂

[Mike Garcen]

I’m using Netflix via MCE and my HDMI Onkyo receiver which supports everything, and I can confirm my Netflix streaming is NOT in 5.1 audio. Now this is NOT in the browser, but via the MCE Silverlight app…but i don’t think it makes a difference.

[Mike Garcen]

Zygmunt, is there any chance you can put a familiar object next to the chassis? Something like a dollar bill or a coke can? It’s very difficult to evaluate the actual size of a chassis without a familiar object.

Still loving that AppleTV-like one. I can picture it now. “Hey mike, is that an ollllld apple tv? Get with the times! Oh…it’s a full blown HTPC, DAMMMMMN that’s sexy” 🙂

[Mike Garcen]

If you missed this (and the Hitachi 2TB deal) the first time around, it’s back on.

Via Newegg as usual and use coupon code EMCKEHC22 to take an additional $10 off for $70 with free shipping +tax. This price for 2TB is quickly becoming common place as you may have noticed.

[Mike Garcen]

[quote=PHT]

Guys, what do you think about these designs?
The one on the left it is new design, testing market. No ODD.
On the right – with passive cooling – it will be in the USA in the fall.

[/quote]

I like the one on the left! Looks to be the size of the original AppleTV, very slick! Would be perfect in my bedroom where i don’t need ODD

[Mike Garcen]

nope, only the IR is affected (it’s internal, not an external receiver)

i couldn’t see anything in event viewer, any idea where it might be?

[Mike Garcen]

i use the default codecs, and remember, the exact same system with just the different user, and TV works perfect. I did use the MCE Decoder Checkup Tool and it’s set correctly there too.

No restore point. Only part that changed was switching to WHS2011, but everything was working at one point (for my blog)…but i checked on another system that was working before the switch, and all that data is still working…

[Author]

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