evaluate your need and scenario.

for me why i chose htpc over notebook is :

1. cost price vs performance is much better than laptop.
2.discreet gpu and upgradeable.
3. can opt to install dvd rom or blu ray afterwards.
4. can let it on 24/7 for downloading.
5. easier to fix or troubleshoot. can DIY.

i think the best thing about htpc is flexibility. yeah you can play 1080p file in notebook these days,
but when the fan starts whirring, automatically you'll check the heat and afterwards you are not comfortable
anymore though actually its not posing any problem.

for me, I don't think I gonna get notebook for htpc purpose. my htpc is my movie hub or center collection. sharing for other computers and download and it's never shut down. I don't think there is a notebook tahan lasak enough to replace it for long run.
my notebook is for mobility when I need to go meeting or working travel surfing net at hot-spot or public.

djlah & lightastral, pts noted, thks 4 enlightening. just tempted by sandy spec n need some mobility at times; if study room's tv occupied by kids for wii playing, i can move to living room's tv for movie watching

ic.. difference scenario. I only have 1 place for watching and it's my downloading rig too at permanent location.
for your case, you have two places, i guess notebook it's your need so no need to spend 2 htpc for 2 locations.
assume you did not use for downloading stuff..

Intel just agreed pay the loss sue by NVIDIA. and NVIDIA close the case and both agreed on NVIDIA Optimus. so we will see even more model in market offer Optimus. I really like this feature in notebook. it's really help in power saving. but sadly, it's not gonna happen on latest processor and chipset for Desktop from Intel. other chipset maker like NVIDIA & ATI have this features offer for desktop but no more upgrade since NVIDIA Hybrid Power with 9300 and ATI Hybrid CrossFire X with Radeon HD 2400.

Hi guys I think this is suitable thread to ask my question..

I want to know what is the minimum specs to build HTPC which have ability playing FullHD movies..??

We have lot of processors in market..Can DualCore processors(E5400,E5500.........) able to handle FullHD movies using onboard graphic..?

If we compare media player with the above mentioned HTPC , which one have better performance in terms of picture quality and ability to handle FullHD movies..

To make it simple :

HTPC with DualCore Processor with on board graphic vs Media Player (Xtreamer Pro,Eaget,WDTV)

Sorry for the noob question..

if you are on a budget,

cheap amd with cheap ati 5450 is suffice. gpu will do all the decoding and stuff. google up on 1080p hardware acceleration.

indeed, if a dedicated graphic card exists you don't need a super power CPU..
look at my tiny Intel SU9400 plays a 1080 movie with little impact on the CPU utilization (see the bottom righthand corner CPU U% icon).. And mind you there are other background program running at the same time (ie. uTorrent, share trading platform, etc.)



This post has been edited by numbertwo: Jan 18 2011, 02:48 PM

Thanks for the comments..
Actually I was thinking to get a media player but now changed my mind..
Wanna build my own HTPC..I'll choose i3 with a decent motherboard..
Probably Asus..Still surveying the motherboard..

what about the amd 785 motherboards?

it has Radeon 4250HD, does it come with 7.1 channel?

if you refer to analog, no problem.
if HDMI connect to your avr, only possible to PCM 7.1 but unable to do HD Bitstream.

i got problem.my ati 5850 suddenly have problem.suddenly it says ccc stop working.anyone got this problem before?

guys, would like to ask if upgrading my graphic card to ati 5450.
Will I play 1080p movie without problem with my ancient rig?

my pc:
pentium d
4gb ddr2 ram
ati 3870

im going to use HDMI

what is PCM 7.1 and HD bitstream?

which one is more common in Bluray, DVD, and/or acquired MKV files?

pls try mpc-hc + haali mkv splitter + coreavc with your current rig first to see if it can playback 1080p smoothly

i want to ask instead of outputing HD video to the AVR/HDTV has anyone successfully turned the HTPC to a HD video recorder capability?

So that able to record anything from Astro Byond/TV/PS3 etc.

guys, do we have online TV guides that can be integrated to the HTPC?

i want to schedule recording astro or over-the-air tv shows.

Can anyone here output LPCM using TMT5/TMT3?? I have problem with LPCM, it will only output as 2 channel stereo...

i can output lpcm via tmt5

Did you set the windows speaker configuration to 5.1?

erm
i set it usin my sound card
asus xonar hdav
n im usin hdmi