Build Your Own Pc Home Entertainment System

by Brian Underdahl

Overview

Who needs the movies? Now, you can achieve stunning audio and top quality video results through your PC. This book shows you how to build your own home entertainment center using an ordinary PC. Watch and record TV shows and movies, put your entire CD collection on hard drive, and listen to radio stations from around the world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780072227697
Publisher:	McGraw-Hill/OsborneMedia
Publication date:	02/13/2003
Pages:	228
Product dimensions:	8.25(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.48(d)

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgments	xi
	Introduction	xiii
Part I	Assembling Your PC Home Entertainment System
Chapter 1	The Advantages of Building	3
	Get Just What You Want	3
	Personal Video Recorder	4
	Audio Jukebox	5
	DVD Player and Recorder	6
	Custom Appearance	7
	Ultimate Game System	8
	Internet Radio	8
	Saving Money	9
	Customizing a PC You Already Own	10
Chapter 2	Choosing Basic Components	11
	Choosing Your Case	12
	Case Styles	13
	Power Supply Considerations	16
	Selecting a Motherboard	18
	Motherboard Form Factors	18
	The Project Motherboard	19
	Processor Realities	20
	Intel or AMD?	20
	Minimum Speeds	21
	The Project Processor	21
	Memory Minimums	22
	How Much Is Enough?	22
	What Kind of Memory Should You Buy?	23
	The Project Memory	23
	The Operating System: Windows XP	24
	Basic Options for Upgraders	25
	Assembling the Basic Components	26
	Installing the Motherboard	27
	Installing the Processor	34
	Installing the Memory	39
Chapter 3	Selecting a Video System	43
	Choosing a Video Adapter	44
	AGP vs. PCI Video Adapters	44
	Video Capture	45
	TV Out	47
	Digital Video Output	48
	Choosing a TV Tuner Card	49
	Stand-alone TV Tuner Cards	49
	Integrated TV Tuner/Video Cards	50
	External TV Tuners	52
	Installing the Project Video Card	53
	Some Video Extras	54
	An Amplified Antenna	54
	An Audio and Video Broadcast System	55
	Large LCD Display	56
	A Video Card for Upgraders	57
Chapter 4	Choosing Your Audio System	59
	Selecting Sound Output Options	60
	Features to Look For	60
	Installing Your Sound Options	66
	Audio Amplification Recommendations	66
	Connecting to Your Existing Audio System	66
	Buying a New Amplifier	67
	Speaker System Options	68
	Understanding Speaker Systems and Sounds	68
	Powered Speaker Systems	69
	Audiophile Speaker Systems	71
Chapter 5	Getting the Right Storage Systems	73
	Choosing a Hard Drive	74
	A/V Content Burns Space	74
	Disk Performance Equals Playback Quality	75
	Using RAID for Higher Performance	76
	The Home Entertainment System PC Hard Drive	78
	Adding a Floppy Disk Drive	79
	Choosing a Floppy Disk Drive	79
	Painting the Floppy Disk Drive	79
	Installing the Floppy Disk Drive	82
	Choosing a DVD Drive	87
	Playing Movies	87
	Playing Audio CDs	88
	Painting the DVD Drive	88
	Installing the DVD Drive	88
	Installing the Hard Drive	93
	Mounting and Connecting the Hard Drive	93
	Partitioning and Formatting the Hard Drive	95
	Installing the Operating System	98
Chapter 6	Distributing Your Content	103
	Networking Your Content	104
	Wireless Networking Options	104
	Ethernet Networking	108
	Other Types of Networking	113
	The Bottom Line on Networking	114
	Adding a DVD Burner	114
	Which DVD Format?	115
	Burning Your Own Mix	116
	Creating DVD Movies	116
	Audio and Video Signal Sharing	117
	Wireless Audio and Video Signal Sharing	117
	Wired Audio and Video Signal Sharing	119
	Streaming Your Content	120
	Adding a Second DVD Drive	121
Part II	Getting More from Your PC Home Entertainment System
Chapter 7	Accessing New Content	125
	Internet Access	126
	Internet Connection Options	128
	DSL and Cable	128
	Other Connection Options	130
	Finding Your Web Content	133
	The Issues of Online Content Distribution	133
	Finding the Legal Sites	133
	TV Signals	135
	Over-the-Air TV	135
	TV Signals from Your Satellite Receiver	136
	Cable TV	137
	Recorded Content from Your VCR	137
Chapter 8	Nice Extras You'll Want to Have	139
	Wireless Input	139
	Wireless Keyboard	140
	Wireless Mouse	141
	Wireless Trackball	142
	Remote Controls	143
	RF Remote Controls	143
	Infrared Remote Controls	145
	Partnering with Your Pocket PC	146
	Streaming Video on Your Pocket PC	146
	Wireless Pocket PC	147
	NetOp Remote Control	149
	UPS	151
	Game Controllers	152
Chapter 9	Software to Make It All Work	155
	Configuring the Audio Settings	156
	Installing the Audio Drivers	156
	Using the Audio Configuration Panel	157
	Correcting Audio Stuttering	162
	Configuring the ATI Video Options	163
	Installing the ATI Drivers	163
	Configuring the Video Display	163
	Configuring the ATI Multimedia Center	166
	Installing the MSI DVD Player	172
	Using the MSI DVD Player	172
	Configuring the MSI DVD Player	173
	Using the TV Application	177
	Understanding the TV Modes	177
	Using TV-On-Demand	179
	Scheduling TV Player Events	180
	Using the Guide Plus+ TV Listings	182
	Recording Directly to DVD	183
	Using Windows Media Player	183
	Ripping Content with the Windows Media Player	183
	Creating Playlists	185
	Recording Audio CDs with the Windows Media Player	186
	Creating DVD Movies	187
	The Conclusion	188
Appendix	A Shopping List	191
	The Basics	191
	Optional Add-Ons	196
	Online Sources	201
	Index	203

Editorial Reviews

The Barnes & Noble Review
A PC would make the perfect home entertainment system: TiVo-like personal video recorder, networked MP3 jukebox, six-speaker Dolby 5.1 sound, all rolled into one. But it isn't easy to find a system like that off the shelf, and it’s been way too hard to put one together. Until now. Brian Underdahl shows you how, one tiny step at a time.

Underdahl begins by selecting components for your underlying PC and then walking you through assembly -- with plenty of photos for critical steps like installing your processor's heatsink. We've seen lots of walkthroughs of PC building over the years, and this is among the better ones.

You'll walk through installing your AGP video card and TV tuner (Underdahl recomments the ATI All-inWonder Radeon 8500 DV, which does both jobs, but suggests the XFX FeForce4 Ti4200 if you prefer to keep video and TV separate). There's a full chapter on sound, and another on storage (everything from ATA/133 hard drives and RAID options to painting your floppy drive to match the beautiful silver case Underdahl has spec'd).

Underdahl also shows you how to configure your media software (including the nifty SnapStream, which can even send video to your Pocket PC via wireless), finding and playing content, adding goodies like game controllers, and more. Best of all, he's selected components and software that will definitely work together -- which isn't always the case when you're talking about this stuff. You won't have to bury yourself in support newsgroups for the next six months to get the darned thing working. Bill Camarda

Bill Camarda is a consultant, writer, and web/multimedia content developer. His 15 books include Special Edition Using Word 2000 and Upgrading & Fixing Networks for Dummies, Second Edition.

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