My notebook is a decent Toshiba with the following specs :-
I5 540
4gb ram
Nvidia Geforce 310m
Hdmi out

Tv :- Lg Plasma 42in

Can it be connected to a denon 3311 and be used as a HTPC? Anything I need to be aware of?

This post has been edited by DannyOP: Dec 23 2010, 02:02 AM

Yes. You can use laptop as htpc

Nice laptop u got

Cool was shopping around for media player or contemplating a htpc and realized I got a notebook that may be used. Got myself an extra hdmi cable so will test out how well it works.

was wondering if we use hdmi from laptop to lcd tv and then use digital optical out from lcd tv to AVR optical audio in, will we get at least 5.1 channels for audio (assuming the video source is 5.1 or 7.1 channels)?

Good news is it works great! The HDMI transfers video and audio signals to the Denon 3311, and both Video and Surround Audio can be heard. I'm using the VLC media player software to play movies. Tried Avatar and it looks and sounds great. Was using my notebook for surfing only all these while.. glad to know it's useful as a HTPC too!

This post has been edited by DannyOP: Dec 23 2010, 09:16 AM

What movie format is that? BD or BD.iso ?

the only thing is they can't bitstream or decode HD-audio
am using my pariah notebook to watch so sometime liao

I will need to check. My laptop uses the ATI 5xxx, it shd bitstream as far as I know.

Yeah...ATI 5xxx series should be able to bit-stream. And get yourself an Windows Media Centre controller to make full use of the Media Centre.

the avatar file is .x264 1080p. I'm able to get DTS Surround which was the sound format on the file since it's only a 10GB file. As for software I'm using Tixati and the site is under isohunt.com . Any other good sites to recommend?

There was many seeds for the file so on a UNIFY 5Mbps which is the lowest unify package I can still get 400k/sec and too approx 2 hr+ to download. My friend's 20Mbps Unify he could get up to 1200k/sec

mpyw - what is the requirement for bitstream/decode HD audio?

This post has been edited by DannyOP: Dec 23 2010, 09:43 AM

Will test, but I don't plan to use my HTPC as a media player. The output levels are not stable, sometimes u get RGB 4:4:4 even when u set YCbCr 4:4:4. Framerates are also messed up, it sometimes defaults to 60Hz even when I specify 23.967. I prefer a proper media player.

haven't happened on mine yet. outputs 0-255 nicely.
read that playing BD/ISO/BDMV using a player like TotalMedia Theater 3 have some sort of protected path (HDPAP? PVP?) to isolate it from tempering by the OS.

If ure viewimg movies it sh be 15-235.

yet the htpc is capable of outputting everything from 0-255. can't seem to detect any white crush or black crush. maybe my eyes not sensitive enough.
following the avs manual, it's recomended to set the visible black from 16 and the whites up to 255. so i just followed that.

If you use ATI 5xxx, there is a serious problem on RGB 4:4:4 as it doesn't output at 0-255. You better use YCbCr for ATI. Anyway, I switch to Dune Prime 3.0 so my wife no longer complain that I need to switch the output colorspace before watching movie.

I just worry that the notebook will fry and turns your av system the whole cabinet or worst the av room to ash considering notebook prone to heating up especially when watch youtube or heavy flash online game.

How you manage to place the notebook on the av cabinet with proper ventilation? Can show photo ar?

hmm...i use to use a ATI 4850 to output to my LCD TV....no problem at all. This problem only applies to 5xxx series?

Huh .. Notebooks aren't that destructive. Most newer ones have good cooling system. I just got a long hdmi cable and use the notebook on my couch/coffee table area.

i am using YCC for my setup.

Well, its quite true but really depends on what's inside.

If it has dedicated gpu from 1yr ago, they still run the gpu all the time. Newer ones allows switching between intel hd and gpu.
I bought a 2nd hand Dual Core Ultra Low Voltage and very surprised to find that its not as hot as my previous acer with 8600gt despite having it lay on my bed blocking the ventilation hole. The previous one would cook my eggs if I had them on my laps for too long.