George L. Schmauch Jr.

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I’m still researching the rest of the hardware, but I’m now in desperate need of a wireless keyboard for the HTPC.  I’ve gone through 2 of [url=http://www.nmediapc.com/RFKB3.htm]these[/url] and [url=http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002H0BOBA/]this one[/url] crapped out after about 6 weeks of usage.

Anyone have ideas?  We don’t have line of sight to the HTPC, so RF is a must, as is a trackball.  Also, it can’t be a mini like [url=http://www.amazon.com/SIIG-Wireless-Multimedia-Trackball-JK-WR0412-S1/dp/B003Y4B4H2]this[/url] because we use the kb for writing emails, editing Office docs, etc.

 

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[quote=oliverredfox]

Just be aware of how your current recordings are flagged.  I hadn’t upgraded in years, was still running an x2 4600+ and just upgraded to newer motherboard and CPU today (been playing LAN games with the GF and needed something with more kick for the 2nd computer).  Thankfully, I only upgraded to CableCard about a month ago, so I only lost a dozen or two recordings due to copy protection flags on them not allowing the new system to play them.  Just something to be aware of, didn’t cross my mind before I upgraded.

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Thanks for the tip (as it’s important for those affected), but that type of issue is precisely why I don’t use CableCard or any other form of DRM in my setup.

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[quote=babgvant]

[quote=skirge01]

Just to make sure I understand, though, my Harmony 890 will be able to send a command that the Inteset receiver will get and wake the computer up from S4 or S5?

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It should work that way yes. Give me a day (or two), and I can make sure it works properly on the RL.

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That’d be awesome.  Thanks!

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[quote=babgvant]

DH87RL has CIR and an Intel NIC. It’s very easy if your case has somewhere to put it. Just plug in the module to the header and install the drivers.

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Wow, they even linked to one of your articles, Andy!  Nice!  My USB-UIRT is currently hooked up to an internal USB header, so that’s nearly the same premise.  It’s almost as simple as oliverredfox’s idea (thanks to him for that link, too, BTW).  After going through your article, that definitely seems like the way to go.  Thanks for the link.  Just to make sure I understand, though, my Harmony 890 will be able to send a command that the Inteset receiver will get and wake the computer up from S4 or S5?

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[quote=babgvant]

You should be able to use a standard WMC IR receiver (or CIR of the motherboard has it) to receive + EventGhost, they will wake the PC.

Get a board with an Intel NIC. It will save you some headaches later.

 

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Any suggestions for Haswell mobo’s with CIR?  I just did some reading on CIR and my preliminary search seems to say that it’s not quite as simple as just getting a CIR header.  Are WMC IR receivers normally bundled or sold separately?  (The separate ones I found on Amazon look huge and I’d like to keep it internal like my USB-UIRT currently is.)

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Definitely not a serious gamer; no FPS games at all.  Now that you mention the USB-UIRT driver, I think I recall looking into it a couple of years ago and wakeup from S3 may very well have been an unsupported (or at least very hit-or-miss) feature in Windows 7.  I’ll have to take a look again to see if they finally decided to get it working.  In case it’s still not, is there something besides the USB-UIRT I could use with EventGhost, which definitely has the ability to wakeup from S3?

Budget usually isn’t a constraint when I start building things (thankfully).  The only cost I haven’t been able to justify yet is one of those fancy URC remotes.  Every time I look at them, I go, “Okay, HOW many Harmony remotes could I buy for that price?” and it never makes sense.

Thanks for the first steps…  I’ll start looking to the Haswell.  If there are any other things I should be considering or ensuring I have support for, throw them out.

[skirge01]

Your first problem will probably be your main obstacle, which I also cannot figure out how to overcome on DirecTV.  You can’t automate the menu navigation on the STB.  While you could certainly get it to tune the channel and begin recording, that’s where control would stop.  You’d need to use the STB remote to make any selections necessary to get the VOD stream to start.  I haven’t found an acceptable method to integrate that into my TV watching, but I’ll explain the roadblocks I found.

To make matters even worse, let’s say you did actually take note of all the menu navigation necessary in order to watch a show on VOD and input all those sequences into something like EventGhost or Girder, all to be sent via a single button on a Logitech Harmony remote.  You’re still guessing what messages your commands are responding to.  If the channel is tuned improperly, all other commands are wasted.  What happens if the STB’s software is updated and the sequence changes?  What if there’s an additional prompt for some reason?  What if it manages to tune a PPV channel and the sequence of commands you send actually wind up making a PPV purchase?

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Just an FYI that SirBrady was having issues with his replies being flagged as spam and was trying to get a response through, so that’s why he has several posted.  I cleaned up the duplicates and left the unique responses.

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I realize this is the RAID EDITION, but even at $149, I’d have a hard time buying this over the $164 price for the 3TB Seagate.

BTW, thanks to the Dynamite Deals plugin for Firefox, when I went to the Newegg site for that WD drive, I was notified of other stores and their prices.  It let me know that Provantage has the WD drive for just $126.71 with ~$10 in shipping.

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Down to $164.99 today.  I picked up two (more).  Looks like HDDs might be starting to return to pre-flood prices.

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I won’t get into a lengthy response here, but it all comes down to conscience.  Some people have one; others don’t.  Those who do can often convince themselves that they’re justified in whatever illegal activity they’re participating in.  The bottom line, though, is that the only legal AND “free” way to obtain content is OTA.  If you aren’t using that and you aren’t paying for your content, it’s illegal.  Right or wrong, that’s the law.  End of story.

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There’s plenty of security software out there (some are even free), but if you’re looking for actual integration with WMC, I’m not sure about that aspect.  I know a few people did this with SageTV by adding a channel to their EPG with a live feed from their cameras.  Again, no clue if that’s even possible with WMC.

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Since I started this thread, I better chime in.  I’ve got a Vertex 2 in my work laptop and it’s been running great for about 4 months now.  I figured the work computer would be a good place to “test” the reliability of these SSDs… on someone else’s dime.    I was so satisfied with it that I went ahead and ordered a bunch more for other laptops at the site and even bought a Vertex 3 for home.  I did ensure that all the drives had the latest firmware installed prior to using them, even though OCZ pretty much tells you NOT to do that and to instead only do it if you’re having problems.

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[quote=Aaron Ledger]

…which is why I like the lazy route of BDMV or ISO rips. Storage is (was and will be again) cheap (unless you are Michael and have to expand a RAID array to get a new controller ).

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True, but, in my mind, that’s still no reason to waste such space.  We’re talking up to 20+GB being saved per rip.  Rip 100 Blu-rays and you could have potentially “wasted” 2TB on menus, forced trailers and legal threats, interviews, commentary and other extras you’ll never watch.  I used to want the convenience of a quick rip, but realized how quickly it became so utterly wasteful.

[skirge01]

I use AnyDVD HD and Another EAC3toGUI to make my MKVs of Blu-rays.  The handful that I’ve ripped average about 18GB.  I only take the movie, the HD audio (if available), and both the forced and full subtitles.  It’s still quite tedious to do this, unfortunately, however.

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