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Building a HTPC that - Your thoughts on these parts?
upprc04:
Amazon will do that. Are all of the parts from Amazon or a third party through Amazon? I think Amazon is good about price matching, so when you do buy it keep an eye on it for 30 days to see if it drops. It may only be a couple of dollars but usually just have to go through Amazon chat and they will credit your account.
shmokes:
Don't forget a media center remote. You can forgo the remote if you have a Harmony remote and the case has an integrated IR receiver that's compatible with the Microsoft one. Also something like this would be cool. Lenovo is just releasing one that looks good. I have the previous version that had an actual trackball on it instead of a little trackpad. It's pretty great, but it lacks backlit keys which is a pretty serious problem since movies are typically watched in dim light or darkness. Also when moving the remote the trackball, being a mechanical part, will shift on its own ever so slightly, but the resulting slight cursor movement causes the on-screen display in any media playing application to spring onto the screen. It's a minor annoyance. Both issues appear to be addressed in the new version, though.
But p.s., you'll want both a standard remote and a remote with a keypad, though. Generally speaking you don't need to type on your media center. For regular applications you just want a typical style remote with arrow buttons and a select button, as well as a few others like Back and Guide, etc.. There are some remotes that combine the two into an acceptable package, like the awesome new Tivo bluetooth remote, and Boxee's remote that has a keypad on the back. But if you don't get one like that, you'll want both.
shateredsoul1979:
I just bought the backlit lenovo one for $40, and I already have a windows media center remote and receiver. I used that on my cab though (mostly to adjust volume on the fly).
It doesn't look like the tivo or boxee remotes have touch pads, now if they had that I'd be in on one. I also have a wireless receiver for the xbox 360 stuff, now i'm starting to worry about having enough usb ports =/ I think I need 4. 1 for the xbox 360 receiver, one for the Lenovo keyboard receiver, 1 for an external, and 1 for a media center remote. =/ I won't have any plugs leftover, but I don't think I need anymore.
--- Quote from: shmokes on October 28, 2011, 09:47:24 am ---Don't forget a media center remote. You can forgo the remote if you have a Harmony remote and the case has an integrated IR receiver that's compatible with the Microsoft one. Also something like this would be cool. Lenovo is just releasing one that looks good. I have the previous version that had an actual trackball on it instead of a little trackpad. It's pretty great, but it lacks backlit keys which is a pretty serious problem since movies are typically watched in dim light or darkness. Also when moving the remote the trackball, being a mechanical part, will shift on its own ever so slightly, but the resulting slight cursor movement causes the on-screen display in any media playing application to spring onto the screen. It's a minor annoyance. Both issues appear to be addressed in the new version, though.
But p.s., you'll want both a standard remote and a remote with a keypad, though. Generally speaking you don't need to type on your media center. For regular applications you just want a typical style remote with arrow buttons and a select button, as well as a few others like Back and Guide, etc.. There are some remotes that combine the two into an acceptable package, like the awesome new Tivo bluetooth remote, and Boxee's remote that has a keypad on the back. But if you don't get one like that, you'll want both.
--- End quote ---
Dexter:
The nwe AMD fusion CPU and boards might save you a few dollars if its just for HTPC use, but if you can see yourself running emulators from said HTPC stickwith the I3 setup as recommended.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/2637
gaijinking:
I've had my htpc running XBMC for a year now, and was just using a standard mouse on my couch cushion attached to a long usb extension cable.
So I finally splurged and bought the Logitech diNovo Edge for a decent price at amazon. I actually do use my keyboard quite a bit since I also use the same system to seed posts on a few trackers.
The diNovo keyboard is fantastic, and the trackpad is adequate, however, the size and position of the tiny little mouse buttons just didn't do it for me. And it seemed like the left mouse button sunk down below the case level after only a few clicks! So after sending it back I stumbled across this on from Logitech : http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Wireless-Touch-Keyboard-920-003070/dp/B005DKZTMG/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1319991061&sr=1-1 I didn't even know it existed since it's hard to find in stores, maybe it's an online offering only.
And it's only $36 Sure it's a bit larger than a remote sized keyboard, and it's smaller than a laptop key spacing, but the trackpad is really nice, and it nice large buttons that fit my thumb.
I played with the Lenovo one, and while it is fairly high quality, I think if you do any kind of typing at all, or are accustomed to using a trackpad, the Logitech k400 is a more comfortable choice. I highly recommend it.
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