Tag Archives: HomeTheaterPc

ASUS’ new ViVoPC mini PC can take up to 16GB of RAM, your choice of Intel CPU

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ASUS' new ViVoPC mini PC can take up to 16GB of RAM, your choice of Intel CPU

It's only been a few days since we first laid eyes on that newly introduced ASUS ViVoPC, but the Taiwanese company kept details short back at Computex, leaving us with the desire to learn a little more about the device. The good news is ASUS has just posted a spec sheet on its website, which lets us (and you) know that its mini PC will have a number of customizable options. Aside from being 802.11ac- and Windows 8-ready, the diminutive ViVoPC can be loaded with an Intel processor (presumably a shiny new Haswell), a maximum of 16GB RAM and your preference of either a HDD or SSD. There are also two USB 3.0 and four USB 2.0 ports, HDMI, VGA, Ethernet and integrated speakers, which ASUS is dubbing SonicMaster. Mum's the word on pricing and availability, but we'll let you know as soon as we come across those specifics.

Gallery: ASUS ViVoPC

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Source: ASUS

ASUS announces VivoPC home theater PC packing Windows 8, 802.11ac WiFi

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During a chock-a-block event at Computex 2013, ASUS just announced the VivoPC, a compact Windows 8-based home theater PC that can also double as your primary desktop. It'll let you stream HD video via a newfangled 802.11ac WiFi connection, and has a similar spun metal design to the freshly announced VivoMouse. The mini-PC will also feature ASUS's SonicMaster audio, but that's all we know so far in terms of specs -- of course, as soon as we find out such minor details as, say, processor, RAM and storage, we'll update you right here.

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MediaPortal 1.3 exits beta with official Windows 8 support, revamped skins

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MediaPortal 1.3 exits beta with official Windows 8 support, revamped skins

MediaPortal 1.3 is throwing its hat in the air today after graduating from beta to full release status. The Titan skin intended for 1080p widescreen displays has made the final version with plug-in support, but don't worry if it doesn't fit your style or screen, as the default skins have also been refined. UI themes and settings can be easily modified for deeper personalization, and you can now highlight shows in the TV guide to better plan your evening's entertainment. Unencrypted Blu-Rays will work in the native player (with the right decoder) and several improvements have been made to video playback and the bundled codec library. MediaPortal settings can be configured more easily in 1.3 and the "My Videos" section has picked up some new features. Finally, 1.3 adds official Windows 8 support, although the team admits there may be some bugs that remain undiscovered. If MediaPortal is your HTPC software of choice, you might want to check out the complete changelog at the source link, where you'll also find installation instructions if you wanna cut straight to the hands-on.

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Mahogany art deco ‘heater’ houses Intel Ivy Bridge fanless home theater PC

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Mahogany art deco radio houses Intel Ivy Bridge fanless PC

If you have certain interior design tastes, some types of PC case mods may not quite suit your decor. That's where Jeffrey Stephenson comes in, this time with a fanless home theater PC featuring an art-deco style Mahogany shell that slides right over the aluminum chassis. Inside, there's an Intel Core i3-3225 processor running Windows 8 with 8GB RAM, an Intel Cherryville SSD, 150W Pico PSU and Silverstone HE02 passive heatsink. While able to handily perform most media chores (and generate a little heat!), it stays in keeping with his other tasteful, retro designs for those of you who eschew Thermaltake Level 10-type PC cases. Or, almost all of you, anyway.

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Via: Fanless Tech

Source: Jeffrey Stephenson

MediaPortal posts new beta with new look and CableCARD, teases bigger sequel (video)

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MediaPortal posts new beta with new interface and CableCARD, teases bigger sequel video

MediaPortal is a rare veteran spinoff of XBMC -- a testament to its fan base, but also a sign that it needs a fresh coat of paint. A new 1.3 beta might offer just what home theater PC users have been looking for to keep the front end relevant, at least in the short term. It carries a much more contemporary (and less Windows Media Center-like) skin with minor tweaks to the layout and overall interface. CableCARD support also makes its overdue appearance, although the lack of official CableLabs approval keeps the software from recognizing any copy-protected shows. Don't fret if those additions aren't enough, however -- we've been given a hint as to what the long-in-development MediaPortal 2 will offer through a pair of videos. The clips are largely top-level overviews, but they allude to mobile tie-ins, events, extensions, more skin support, video backgrounds and news. With an Autumn Build of MP2 available "right around the corner" for viewers, it might not be long before we learn what those new additions are like through first-hand experience.

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MediaPortal posts new beta with new look and CableCARD, teases bigger sequel (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Oct 2012 23:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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OpenELEC-2.0 Linux distro released, turns your PC into an ‘appliance-like’ home theater device

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If you're itching to park that AMD or Intel PC beside your TV as a dedicated home theater device, OpenELEC would like to offer up the first stable release of its Linux distro, version 2.0, for your consideration. The new build is now available for free (with the option to donate, of course), and the group behind it says that the installation takes less than five minutes and requires "zero Linux experience." Once you've done that, it'll be ready to serve your media needs in less than 10 seconds from a cold start, according to OpenELEC, with only a remote control needed to start surfing. The system updates automatically, including the XBMC V11 media core, and now includes PVR support, improved AMD functionality, CEC adapter compatibility, NFS, AFP, CIFS and SSH shares and Airplay / Airtunes support. If you're already Mac- or Windows-centric, an OpenELEC system will play well with all your existing media, so if you're ready to see how the Linux media crowd rolls, hit the source.

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OpenELEC-2.0 Linux distro released, turns your PC into an 'appliance-like' home theater device originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Oct 2012 07:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Plex launches new Web Client and PlexPass subscription, updates Media Server

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Plex launches new Web Client and PlexPass subscription, updates Media Server

Plex fans among us just got treated to a smorgasbord -- albeit one that isn't completely free. The media front-end developer hopes to boost its bottom line through PlexPass, a subscription service that amounts to a paid beta program. Shell out $4 per month and you'll get early access to in-development features, including a slate of premium-only extras during their incubation phase. One of the more ordinary (if important) features is going live today: a revamped Web Client not only rivals the native OS X app for speed but offers full media playback on top of the usual queue management. Whether you subscribe or not, you'll want to get an updated Media Server app that supports both PlexPass and the new client along with improving the server's behavior in several areas, such as lowering its memory use and supporting RTMP transcoding. We hope Plex keeps enough components on the free side of the fence as time goes on. For now, at least, we'll see the paid model as a way for loyalists to reward a company that has been powering their home theater PCs for years.

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Plex launches new Web Client and PlexPass subscription, updates Media Server originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Aug 2012 22:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Biostar Hi-Fi Z77X gives audiophiles 7.1-channel analog sound, overpriced cables thankfully optional

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Biostar HiFi Z77X motherboard gives audiophiles 71channel analog sound with amp, overpriced cables thankfully optional

There haven't been many choices in PC motherboards for audiophiles -- the 'real' kind that might see even a good dedicated sound card as slumming it. Biostar wants to fill that untapped niche with the Hi-Fi Z77X. Along with run-of-the-mill expansion for an Ivy Bridge- or Sandy Bridge-based desktop, the board's built-in 7.1-channel audio flaunts six 3.5mm analog jacks, an amp and the kind of exotic-sounding language that leads audio addicts to buy $2,000 cables they don't need. We're talking "metal-oxide film resistors" and "non-polarized electrolysis electric audio capacitors," here. Whether or not the changes have an appreciable impact on sound quality, listeners are ironically left out of S/PDIF audio, which exists only as a header on the board unless buyers spend a little more on parts. That said, if we assume the as yet unknown price isn't stereotypically high -- and that audiophiles don't mind a big, potentially noisy desktop as a home theater PC -- the Hi-Fi Z77x could be a treat for those who want to wring every nuance out of music and movie soundtracks.

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Biostar Hi-Fi Z77X gives audiophiles 7.1-channel analog sound, overpriced cables thankfully optional originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Jul 2012 19:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ask Engadget: Best sub-$310 power-efficient HTPC for a caravan?

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Ask Engadget: Best sub-$310 power-efficient HTPC for a caravan?

We know you've got questions, and if you're brave enough to ask the world for answers, here's the outlet to do so. This week's Ask Engadget inquiry is coming to us from Is from Martin, who is looking for a hyper-efficient media streamer for his retro caravan. If you're looking to send in an inquiry of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.

"My partner and I are renovating a small '70s caravan and would like a power-efficient media center/PC purely to watch our library of movies and TV shows. We're in Australia, so getting hold of kit like the Raspberry Pi would be difficult, we're looking for something that's equally power efficient, even up to $300 AUD (around $310 USD). Cheers!""

That's this week's challenge, Engadgeteers -- do you feel up for it? Can you help our southern hemisphere friends find a power-efficient HTPC for under $310 that won't drain a retro-caravan's batteries? Can we help these people turn the temporary home into a rockin' media-streamin' paradise? Hit us up in the comments if you've got some expertise to share.

Ask Engadget: Best sub-$310 power-efficient HTPC for a caravan? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 Jul 2012 22:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How-to: Build a multi-talented HTPC for (roughly) $1,000

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How-to: build a multi-talented HTPC for (roughly) $1000

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This is an auspicious year for building an HTPC or indeed any type of sub-$1,000 rig. Intel's new Ivy Bridge processors are about to exert a nice downward pressure on last year's finest, despite the fact that Sandy Bridge still holds up well for many people's needs -- and much the same can be said of AMD's Llano APUs following the arrival of Trinity. In fact, thanks to the market's regular churn, the HTPC parts we look at after the break could easily fall below their $1,019 total bill before you even pick up your screwdriver. (Okay, so we went slightly over $1,000. It's a free country.)

On the other hand, you'd have to be mildly loopy to drop serious cash on a PC that's solely for media consumption. Times have changed since our last build in 2009, and they're unrecognizable compared to the time before that. These days, even ARM-powered smartphones can handle 1080p in and out, nettops with Blu-ray drives can be had for $500 and even totally silent fanless HTPCs are available for around $1,000 (albeit with very modest specs). From that perspective, this might actually be a terrible time to persuade people that spending a grand on a plain old home-built HTPC makes sense -- and that's why, after the break, we're not even going to try.

Continue reading How-to: Build a multi-talented HTPC for (roughly) $1,000

How-to: Build a multi-talented HTPC for (roughly) $1,000 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 May 2012 14:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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