This is Part of Jon’s HTPC setup. For more, see: Introduction and Table of Contents
Features:
Very high “FF†scores (“FF†is Fiancé Friendly)
Silent
Unobtrusive to the Living Room
6000+ MP3 Music Library (every single tag is correct, and every MP3 has embedded cover art)
AC3 Music Library
Photo Collection
Ability to record two TV shows at once while at the same time watching another
Dual hardware MPEG2 encoders
High quality DVD playback
Local weather information
DVD Library catalog
Instant access to 700+ Super Nintendo games (using real SNES controllers)
Instant access to 700+ Nintendo games (using real NES controllers)
Instant access to 500+ Atari 2600 games
Full control of every single light inside and outside the house
Control of other household appliances
Control of other computers in the house
Two Dual Layer DVD burners
“THX Certified†7.1 output, up to 192khz/24bit resolution
Everything running on battery backups so a blackout won’t affect “Dumb and Dumberâ€
All controlled with a small intuitive remote control (or Gyro Mouse)
Machine Specs:
(not as impressive as Features, but remember it’s not what you’ve got, it’s what you do with it)
2.4c P4 Processor
1 Gig RAM
510 Gigs Hard Drive space
Audigy 2 ZS Soundcard
FX5200 Video Card
Two Hauppauge PVR-250 cards
133 IDE controller (PCI) (max of 4 drives, plus 4 on the motherboard)
Three USB 2.0 hubs
Next Chapter> The Case
[…] l start with a list of features and then go into a bit more detail. Table of Contents: Features & Machine Specs – 10/25 The Case – 10/26 The UI – 10/27 Now For Software – 10/28 Th […]
WOW! 700 Super Nintendo games?! What would you do with all those games? Overall, the system looks sweet, I can imagine it is nice to have all of that running out of one unit, but the cable snake running down the middle of the room ruins any ambiance saved by making the case look so svelte. Great work on this, are you thinking on taking on home entertainiment systems as a second job? Your design seems successful!
“What do you do with all those games?” You throw a Mike Tyson’s Punch Out party, that’s what you do. 🙂
You’re right about the snake. We used to have a rug that the cables went under and then I cut a hole through the bottom of the rug under the coffee table so the cables could come up. That did a decent job of hiding most of the cables. But, then we recently bought that bamboo rug to replace the old rug, and I don’t want to cut a hole in the bamboo. We’re renting, so I can’t do modifications to the house, but if we owned I’d probably go under the carpet or even under the floor. You are correct; the snake is an ugly beast. We just make due for now.