OK... Got a new keyboard last week, finally resolved the monitor problem I was having regarding the LCD deal I posted a while back from Office Depot (didn't get the monitor I had ordered, but managed to upgrade the deal and practically steal a better, larger one), a new desk (converted from a nail salon station - long story, but it works out perfectly), LaserJet printer, dual LCD monitors running concurrently, about to switch out my secondary monitor and mount it to the desk, and maybe pilfer the THX sound system from my other computer for use on this one. Have a new video card, but want to get everything mounted properly before I install it. Pics to follow. (I have to finish the 2nd monitor mounting job, and hide the water-based lubricant tubes scattered around the desk first)...
I have a nice 5.1 Sound card at home(PCI) and a Radeon all in wonder (AGP 64MB(may be 128) with the setup to record TV) if'n you want em. I am getting away from building PCs and could use the space....I have 8 older compaq laptops, 400mhz, that I have no power supplies for, and 6 Dell PIII 750 latitudes that are sitting in boxes...LOL. I need to do an ebay auction. But I am willing to prt with this stuff fsirly cheaply, or if you have a NES and some games you want to get rid of...... Excitebike, RC pro am, Bionic Commando......Mario and Super Mario..... ;D
I've got a bunch of spare parts, might not need the video card, but I'm about to build a new PC for the living room (emu PC) - I'll see if I need anything for that one... Geez, makes me wish I hadn't ebay'd that Packers cap.
Keep us posted on that entertainment system pc. I was looking into it a while back but was frustrated with the available TV tuner cards I would want two tuners and high definition and access to all the available channels. But it seems that the time that was just to much to ask and getting even close seemed a little silly money wise when I could just get the available manufacturer tuner with the recorder. But to combine all the other features would be sweet. Like Windows media player for all the songs showing on the TV screen. I have had two tuner cards one was the ATI AIW 9000 and the other is Hauppauge cheepie. Neither were capable of using their tuner software to choose all the channels I had which were Direct TV and Dish Network at the two separate times. I could just capture video and audio in and use the manufacture tuner but that defeated the purpose or the whole idea.
Yeah I just got in 2 Terabyte drives. Those things are fucking sweet as hell. I'm going build a new desktop like in a month or so I'm fucking going all out on it.
Joe - Office Depot had one of their rebate deals on a pretty sweet case, and I went ahead and bought it. It's nothing fancy, but what I like about it is that it's small and simple. When I finish it, it's going to essentially be the same dimensions, but a little bigger than the GameCube... I think it came out to $60 after rebate. I should be able to salvage most of the parts from shit that I've got laying around to make up most of it. It's not like it's going to have to be a demanding computer, after all, all I'll be doing on it is emulation for all the cartridge-based systems, patched through to my living room TV. Basically, I'll be putting together probably a P4 (or comparable), enough RAM, and a decent video card. I've got a few HDDs sitting around that I haven't used, I think a 160 and a 200, and I should be able to pull all the other parts I need from other towers I've amassed lately. I haven't had cable television for over a decade, and as such, I haven't watched TV in said time. If I get interested in any shows, it's because I bought the DVDs. Your living room PC may have some different demands than the one I plan to build, but at any rate, I do plan to post pictures and details. I'm sure whatever I end up making will be able to handle TV broadcasts, but I probably won't be using those features. Anything that can run Mame32 should be good enough for me, and most of the shit I want to store on that PC are ROM images of games I've got stored in a room
I see now I missunderstood. That does look like a pretty nice case verymuch like a shuttle but without the need for a propriatary motherboard.(assumption) And more card slots. That may actually be the case I need also I 'll go check it out. Is that a ventilation port on the top? Holy shit! What you need to do is setup a system as a server and check out that VMware stuff Phat mentioned. there are a few apps out there that are well rated on that site for doing backups on the whole network. And with two Terabytes of storage hell you can have it setup also as a file server. FTP server. And you got the excuse you need to make everything on the lan gigabit speed at the same time.
You will need a bigger harddrive for the ROMS and things. I mean my mame alone is over 19 gigs. Also it doesn't look good on a TV. Get a 19 inch or 21 inch CTR and you will have a much better picture.
Lomo, those cube cases, overheat a lot. And you have to us a Mini ATX board on it. Look to Newegg or tigerdirect, or even goto Pricewatch.com to find a good case at a steal.
Yeah go with newegg as they prices are great and the shipping is great. I get most everything from them. Try this case I think it would fit your needs for what you're building. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811204007
Also Lomotil if your doing this to play the old cart games and what not. You can do that with the modded Xbox and save yourself a lot of effort. All you need too do is get a hard moded box and a bigger harddrive and you can play everything from NES to Dreamcast. Right on the TV without building a new system. Might be the smarter way to go.
I thought it might have a problem in that department, but I didn't worry too much because I won't be putting together such a powerful system in it. Also, I was going to run one of those PCI slot case fans in it, and maybe drill a few ventilation holes in the thing. Apparently the thing houses 4 regular-sized PCI cards, so I should have the room - but I'm holding off on cutting the barcode off of the box for the rebate until I talk to you about that modded Xbox...
I plan on running the emu computer on the 47" HD in the living room - probably using a DVI-to-HDMI cable (which I already have), and running the audio through my 5.1 Denon system (won't add anything to the emulation, but in DSP mode, I'll get full use of the 6 speakers). Only problem I see is that the TV is a 16:9 widescreen, and as far as I can tell, HDMI input doesn't allow 4:3 display (by way of the TV, at least). I still planned on getting a modded Xbox for a different room, where I have a 20" flat CRT TV with the digital comb filter and component video input. This brings me to a question regarding modded Xboxes - since there is a standard LAN port on the back of it, I would assume you can network a modded Xbox with your PC and transfer ROMS/etc back and forth, right? A friend of mine had one a while back, and he didn't seem to be able to do it. That's one of the main reasons I wanted a PC-based system for the living room. Another is that I have all these cool accessories meant for a PC that probably won't work 'out of the box' for the Xbox. Plus, I wanted the added expandability of a PC for future upgrades, as I'm predicting that Xbox modding has probably reached it's peak and will dwindle down to nothing as the programmers move on to the more powerful systems. At least, that's what happened with the Dreamcast. I still have homebrew CDs that play on my DC, including one that has all the NES roms on it, complete with Game Genie codes, and my own customized interface. I just sorta lost touch with the emulation/homebrew community the last few years, and have a bit of catching up to do.
Yes you can using FTP. Or you can stream them straight off the box. Now what kind of HDTV is it? If it's LCD the picture will look like shit.
I haven't gotten an LCD or plasma yet (I even let that 60" LCD projection WEGA go), this one's a Samsung rear-projection 16:9 HDTV. I've been thinking about getting one or the other for a while now, as I could finally use my 3 pairs of floor-thumping old school 5-way Kenwood speakers with the 16" woofers for the surround sound. I can't have them in the same room as a regular TV, because the magnets are so large that they fuck with the colors on even a 19" CRT from 8 feet away.
I was interested so I found it thats and antec case and interestingly I found they do not have that one at discound but they have another one I like. It's small they call it a "book" hell I cannot remember let me find the link. Any way they sell the "open box" cases for a fair discount. http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=15102 53.97 direct from them what they call "B-Stock" Antec makes nices cases and this one has a decent 300 watt power supply. I just wonder how nice the "B-Stock" units are. http://www.antec.com/us/pro_b_stock.php
Seriously, though - I haven't actually gotten around to the cleaning of said computer area, but I went ahead and snapped a couple pictures (as I'm known for promoting 'pics to come' and never following through... Those tornado pics are coming, guys - I promise... Just have to find them first...) Pardon the mess, but at present, it looks like this: And the whole time I'm sitting here, I've got a real nice white pussy sitting on my lap: I plan to clean it up a bit, and mount the left monitor a bit closer to the main screen, using that elevated section of the modified 'nail station' desk I acquired. But for now, this is working for me. Also, I plan on replacing the 15" Samsung LCD shown with a newer black LCD with a smaller profile. Oh, and the black THX speakers, too. Oh, and the monitor is a Viewsonic VX2035wm 20" HD Widescreen LCD. I raised some hell with the Office Depot people for not coming through on that 19" Norcent LCD that I had ordered a month prior, and ended up getting this one instead. Honestly, I can't complain. Specs: TFT Active Matrix Max Resolution: 1680 x 1050 Response time: 5 ms Contrast ratio: 800:1 Image brightness: 300 cd/m2 Max horizontal/vertical view angle: 160
