Reader How Tos: Build a PC for TV

How To Build a PC for TV

My girlfriend and I recently purchased a larger place, which means we now have a living room spacious enough for a large television and surround sound system for audio and video. Now, the question is, what do I buy? The market is flooded with audio video receivers of every kind for nearly every budget. But they are also limited as to the type of sound they can produce: film/ video sound and music/ audio.

I could purchase an AudioTron to play MP3s, but that would mean I would need to spend another $270. (THG took an in-depth look at the Turtle Beach AudioTron in their article entitled Music Across Your Home Network? - AudioTron. And it would only play MP3s. Or, I could shell out another $299 for a Tivo player so that I could also get a digital VCR. But then, what about web surfing and games? For another $300, I could get a Web-enabled X-box, GameCube or PS2. These compact boxes would look great in my stereo rack, but after spending my money on all of these neat toys, I probably wouldn't be able to afford a television.

So, I set out looking for an affordable, compact, quiet and good looking PC case that would fit into the configuration of my living room. My favorite retailer had a large selection of cases, many of which were good looking, including the Cooler Master ATC-201 and the Globalwin GAT001. However, these wonderful boxes were much too large. I wanted something in the Micro-ATX form factor, which quickly limited my options. But there are a few...




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That is awesome I think I am going to look into that once I get my house. I'm not actually even worried about building one that is small though, I will just mod my walls/cabinets to hide or enclose the pc. That is acutally one reason I got my first pc in the frist place. So I could use my ATI AIW to play video on my tv.

One thing I have often wondered, is how a show like The Screen Savers, or Call for Help (on TechTV) get their picture such good quality on their televisions. When I put my pc out to a tv the desktop and words are all blurry. Theirs looks very crisp and clear, anyone know why or how?

my home system has the big TV right next to the main server tower, and it outputs to the TV. I use the PC as a video recorder / player and its all linked to the cable TV and surround sound. I have long supposed that eventually the PC will hit the living room.

Yes but does your desktop look crips? Mine is VERY blurry, I have tried it on multiple TV's

Same problem with me poert. I try using TV-out but the quality is terrible. No idea as to why, though. I would play videos from my PC with my TV, but It's just terribly blurry!

The videos I play look very good, Even if I play a game like CS (I tried a long time ago) it looks decent. Just the text in the start bar, background, etc. If I were to open an IE window, I would have to strain my eyes to read what it said.

Mine are crisp Poert - and I don't do anything special - I can just run an SVHS cable out to the television and it's very pretty - even my games look good as long as I drop res to 800x600.

LNCPapa

yes I knew you had to drop to 800x600, but it just bothers me that I can't get it to work well. I am thinking of getting the new AIW 8500, I found it for pretty cheap online, I wonder if that will help.

I wonder if it would help me in game play as well?

I just watch the dvds, divx, etc, on the tv. Everything else is on monitors...