06-04-2007, 07:41 AM
Okay, I've decided to start collecting information to build an HTPC... Primarialy because TiVo is basically non-existant here ^^
Here's my current plan.
Case - Zalman HD160 Home Theater PC Enclosure - Black
Mobo - GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS4
CPU - Intel Core2 Duo Processor E6600 (Maybe a quad)
Mem - 2GB DDR2
HDD - 2x WD RE2 500GB conf RAID 0
GPU - Radeon HD 2900 XT (Definitely has HDCP, I'm unsure about 2600)
OS - Vista Home Premium
^-- That's the basic layout (unlikely to change)
TV Tuners - FloppyDTV S/CI x2 (for dual tuners)
CAM for TV Tuners - T.REX/Dragon Programmable CAM and a CAS2/3 for programming it to decode Videoguard (Sky's chosen encryption scheme, Same as DirecTV afaik)
Optical Drive - DVD+RW (+ DVDRAM support as that's what our current DVD recorder uses) and the winner of the HD Format Wars/A Hybrid Drive
Right My Snags are as follows. Our Television provider, Sky, has basically locked down their network to their boxes and only their boxes. It's only been recently that someone broke the encryption on the network to allow people to watch it on non Sky STBs.
Firstly, The viewing card (to be put into the CAM) has to be activated using the Sky Box every month or they'll cut you off. This is awkward to do, but at least it's a step up from nothing. To use Dual Tuners, I need 2 viewing cards, and that's an extra £10 a month, so that's a no. There is a system called Diablo Wireless CAMs where you put your CAM into the Base unit and then put the Wireless CAMs into the Tuners. This is an ideal solution except the Sky STBs do not accept CAMs, just the viewing card, so automated card activation still wouldn't work, and only one person has actually got it working as of yet... There is another system that would be perfect, as it replicates the viewing card wirelessly as opposed to the CAM, but alas, Videoguard is unsupported
.
Secondly, to use Sky's HD service, I need a DVB-S2 TV Tuner, and the FloppyDTV's are DVB-S. They, however, will be releasing them in the future, I believe. so that one's just a waiting game.
Finally, this could all go to pots if Sky change their encryption cypher as the Firmware programmers for the Dragon CAM are refusing to continue chasing Sky for legal reasons.
Oh yeah, there's also price, but that one can also be overcome with time. ^_^.
More coming soon XD...
Here's my current plan.
Case - Zalman HD160 Home Theater PC Enclosure - Black
Mobo - GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS4
CPU - Intel Core2 Duo Processor E6600 (Maybe a quad)
Mem - 2GB DDR2
HDD - 2x WD RE2 500GB conf RAID 0
GPU - Radeon HD 2900 XT (Definitely has HDCP, I'm unsure about 2600)
OS - Vista Home Premium
^-- That's the basic layout (unlikely to change)
TV Tuners - FloppyDTV S/CI x2 (for dual tuners)
CAM for TV Tuners - T.REX/Dragon Programmable CAM and a CAS2/3 for programming it to decode Videoguard (Sky's chosen encryption scheme, Same as DirecTV afaik)
Optical Drive - DVD+RW (+ DVDRAM support as that's what our current DVD recorder uses) and the winner of the HD Format Wars/A Hybrid Drive
Right My Snags are as follows. Our Television provider, Sky, has basically locked down their network to their boxes and only their boxes. It's only been recently that someone broke the encryption on the network to allow people to watch it on non Sky STBs.
Firstly, The viewing card (to be put into the CAM) has to be activated using the Sky Box every month or they'll cut you off. This is awkward to do, but at least it's a step up from nothing. To use Dual Tuners, I need 2 viewing cards, and that's an extra £10 a month, so that's a no. There is a system called Diablo Wireless CAMs where you put your CAM into the Base unit and then put the Wireless CAMs into the Tuners. This is an ideal solution except the Sky STBs do not accept CAMs, just the viewing card, so automated card activation still wouldn't work, and only one person has actually got it working as of yet... There is another system that would be perfect, as it replicates the viewing card wirelessly as opposed to the CAM, but alas, Videoguard is unsupported
.Secondly, to use Sky's HD service, I need a DVB-S2 TV Tuner, and the FloppyDTV's are DVB-S. They, however, will be releasing them in the future, I believe. so that one's just a waiting game.
Finally, this could all go to pots if Sky change their encryption cypher as the Firmware programmers for the Dragon CAM are refusing to continue chasing Sky for legal reasons.
Oh yeah, there's also price, but that one can also be overcome with time. ^_^.
More coming soon XD...