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Overview
Build your home entertainment centre using an ordinary PC. This title provides a step-by step guide to constructing a home entertainment system which will enable you to watch and record TV shows, put your entire CD collection on one hard drive and listen to radio stations through the Web.
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9780072227697 |
---|---|
Publisher: | McGraw-Hill/Osborne Media |
Publication date: | 02/13/2003 |
Series: | Build Your Own...(McGraw) |
Pages: | 228 |
Product dimensions: | 8.04(w) x 9.82(h) x 0.54(d) |
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments | xi | |
Introduction | xiii | |
Part I | Assembling Your PC Home Entertainment System | |
Chapter 1 | The Advantages of Building | 3 |
Get Just What You Want | 3 | |
Personal Video Recorder | 4 | |
Audio Jukebox | 5 | |
DVD Player and Recorder | 6 | |
Custom Appearance | 7 | |
Ultimate Game System | 8 | |
Internet Radio | 8 | |
Saving Money | 9 | |
Customizing a PC You Already Own | 10 | |
Chapter 2 | Choosing Basic Components | 11 |
Choosing Your Case | 12 | |
Case Styles | 13 | |
Power Supply Considerations | 16 | |
Selecting a Motherboard | 18 | |
Motherboard Form Factors | 18 | |
The Project Motherboard | 19 | |
Processor Realities | 20 | |
Intel or AMD? | 20 | |
Minimum Speeds | 21 | |
The Project Processor | 21 | |
Memory Minimums | 22 | |
How Much Is Enough? | 22 | |
What Kind of Memory Should You Buy? | 23 | |
The Project Memory | 23 | |
The Operating System: Windows XP | 24 | |
Basic Options for Upgraders | 25 | |
Assembling the Basic Components | 26 | |
Installing the Motherboard | 27 | |
Installing the Processor | 34 | |
Installing the Memory | 39 | |
Chapter 3 | Selecting a Video System | 43 |
Choosing a Video Adapter | 44 | |
AGP vs. PCI Video Adapters | 44 | |
Video Capture | 45 | |
TV Out | 47 | |
Digital Video Output | 48 | |
Choosing a TV Tuner Card | 49 | |
Stand-alone TV Tuner Cards | 49 | |
Integrated TV Tuner/Video Cards | 50 | |
External TV Tuners | 52 | |
Installing the Project Video Card | 53 | |
Some Video Extras | 54 | |
An Amplified Antenna | 54 | |
An Audio and Video Broadcast System | 55 | |
Large LCD Display | 56 | |
A Video Card for Upgraders | 57 | |
Chapter 4 | Choosing Your Audio System | 59 |
Selecting Sound Output Options | 60 | |
Features to Look For | 60 | |
Installing Your Sound Options | 66 | |
Audio Amplification Recommendations | 66 | |
Connecting to Your Existing Audio System | 66 | |
Buying a New Amplifier | 67 | |
Speaker System Options | 68 | |
Understanding Speaker Systems and Sounds | 68 | |
Powered Speaker Systems | 69 | |
Audiophile Speaker Systems | 71 | |
Chapter 5 | Getting the Right Storage Systems | 73 |
Choosing a Hard Drive | 74 | |
A/V Content Burns Space | 74 | |
Disk Performance Equals Playback Quality | 75 | |
Using RAID for Higher Performance | 76 | |
The Home Entertainment System PC Hard Drive | 78 | |
Adding a Floppy Disk Drive | 79 | |
Choosing a Floppy Disk Drive | 79 | |
Painting the Floppy Disk Drive | 79 | |
Installing the Floppy Disk Drive | 82 | |
Choosing a DVD Drive | 87 | |
Playing Movies | 87 | |
Playing Audio CDs | 88 | |
Painting the DVD Drive | 88 | |
Installing the DVD Drive | 88 | |
Installing the Hard Drive | 93 | |
Mounting and Connecting the Hard Drive | 93 | |
Partitioning and Formatting the Hard Drive | 95 | |
Installing the Operating System | 98 | |
Chapter 6 | Distributing Your Content | 103 |
Networking Your Content | 104 | |
Wireless Networking Options | 104 | |
Ethernet Networking | 108 | |
Other Types of Networking | 113 | |
The Bottom Line on Networking | 114 | |
Adding a DVD Burner | 114 | |
Which DVD Format? | 115 | |
Burning Your Own Mix | 116 | |
Creating DVD Movies | 116 | |
Audio and Video Signal Sharing | 117 | |
Wireless Audio and Video Signal Sharing | 117 | |
Wired Audio and Video Signal Sharing | 119 | |
Streaming Your Content | 120 | |
Adding a Second DVD Drive | 121 | |
Part II | Getting More from Your PC Home Entertainment System | |
Chapter 7 | Accessing New Content | 125 |
Internet Access | 126 | |
Internet Connection Options | 128 | |
DSL and Cable | 128 | |
Other Connection Options | 130 | |
Finding Your Web Content | 133 | |
The Issues of Online Content Distribution | 133 | |
Finding the Legal Sites | 133 | |
TV Signals | 135 | |
Over-the-Air TV | 135 | |
TV Signals from Your Satellite Receiver | 136 | |
Cable TV | 137 | |
Recorded Content from Your VCR | 137 | |
Chapter 8 | Nice Extras You'll Want to Have | 139 |
Wireless Input | 139 | |
Wireless Keyboard | 140 | |
Wireless Mouse | 141 | |
Wireless Trackball | 142 | |
Remote Controls | 143 | |
RF Remote Controls | 143 | |
Infrared Remote Controls | 145 | |
Partnering with Your Pocket PC | 146 | |
Streaming Video on Your Pocket PC | 146 | |
Wireless Pocket PC | 147 | |
NetOp Remote Control | 149 | |
UPS | 151 | |
Game Controllers | 152 | |
Chapter 9 | Software to Make It All Work | 155 |
Configuring the Audio Settings | 156 | |
Installing the Audio Drivers | 156 | |
Using the Audio Configuration Panel | 157 | |
Correcting Audio Stuttering | 162 | |
Configuring the ATI Video Options | 163 | |
Installing the ATI Drivers | 163 | |
Configuring the Video Display | 163 | |
Configuring the ATI Multimedia Center | 166 | |
Installing the MSI DVD Player | 172 | |
Using the MSI DVD Player | 172 | |
Configuring the MSI DVD Player | 173 | |
Using the TV Application | 177 | |
Understanding the TV Modes | 177 | |
Using TV-On-Demand | 179 | |
Scheduling TV Player Events | 180 | |
Using the Guide Plus+ TV Listings | 182 | |
Recording Directly to DVD | 183 | |
Using Windows Media Player | 183 | |
Ripping Content with the Windows Media Player | 183 | |
Creating Playlists | 185 | |
Recording Audio CDs with the Windows Media Player | 186 | |
Creating DVD Movies | 187 | |
The Conclusion | 188 | |
Appendix | A Shopping List | 191 |
The Basics | 191 | |
Optional Add-Ons | 196 | |
Online Sources | 201 | |
Index | 203 |
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