Media PC

Lowell_M
Lowell_M Posts: 1,660
edited October 2007 in Electronics
I made my lame attempt at finalizing my media PC tonight. When I say media pc, I mean that I took a 4 year old PC, put an ATI Radeon 9550 video card in and bought a logitech wireless keyboard and mouse and connected it to the DVI input on my TV. I'm really just going to use it as an Itunes jukebox, internet browser and file server for my laptop.

Video: I'm a little dissappointed in the display through my TV, but it will do. Really, it looks like crap compared to what I expected, but I will play around a bit and see what I can do.

Audio: The difference between the SPDIF output on the soundcard using Itunes (Apple Lossless files) and my CD player is indistiguishable compared to using the DAC in the H/K receiver . If I run the SPDIF through the external DAC it doesn't sound as "Big" as the output from the CD player. I'm pretty happy with audio overall considering what I put into it and what I was looking for.

Keyboard and mouse: HELP!!! I have to be 4 feet from the transmitter to get either to work and that is WAY too close to the TV to make it usefull. What do I need to look for to find a keyboard and mouse that will work 10 - 15 feet from the transmitter?
HT
RTi70 mains
CSi30 center
RTi28 Rears
Velodyne CHT-12
H/K AVR-247
ADCOM GFA-7000
Samsung PN58B860
Playstation 3
2-Channel
Polk Audio LSi15's
Rotel RCD-1072
Nakamichi CA-5 Pre
ADCOM GFA-555
Signal Cable Analog II IC's
Signal Ultra Bi-Wire Speaker Cables
Post edited by Lowell_M on
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Comments

  • bigaudiofanatic
    bigaudiofanatic Posts: 4,415
    edited October 2007
    is the transmitter in direct line of sight to them they are only sapost to work about that far away but if you have a clear line of sight ull be able to get it a little farther GREAT choice going with itunes as aposed to windows media player GREAT
    HT setup
    Panasonic 50" TH-50PZ80U
    Denon DBP-1610
    Monster HTS 1650
    Carver A400X :cool:
    MIT Exp 3 Speaker Wire
    Kef 104/2
    URC MX-780 Remote
    Sonos Play 1

    Living Room
    63 inch Samsung PN63C800YF
    Polk Surroundbar 3000
    Samsung BD-C7900
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  • Lowell_M
    Lowell_M Posts: 1,660
    edited October 2007
    I just found this one. Looks like it should work. Anybody had any other suggestions?

    http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1388753&CatId=537
    HT
    RTi70 mains
    CSi30 center
    RTi28 Rears
    Velodyne CHT-12
    H/K AVR-247
    ADCOM GFA-7000
    Samsung PN58B860
    Playstation 3
    2-Channel
    Polk Audio LSi15's
    Rotel RCD-1072
    Nakamichi CA-5 Pre
    ADCOM GFA-555
    Signal Cable Analog II IC's
    Signal Ultra Bi-Wire Speaker Cables
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  • disneyjoe7
    disneyjoe7 Posts: 11,435
    edited October 2007
    I'm thinking you have a normal Blue tooth keyboard and mouse. They're designed for short range so not to interfere with other keypads and mouse.

    Speakers
    Carver Amazing Fronts
    CS400i Center
    RT800i's Rears
    Sub Paradigm Servo 15

    Electronics
    Conrad Johnson PV-5 pre-amp
    Parasound Halo A23
    Pioneer 84TXSi AVR
    Pioneer 79Avi DVD
    Sony CX400 CD changer
    Panasonic 42-PX60U Plasma
    WMC Win7 32bit HD DVR


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  • Lowell_M
    Lowell_M Posts: 1,660
    edited October 2007
    bigaudiofanatic wrote: »
    is the transmitter in direct line of sight to them they are only sapost to work about that far away but if you have a clear line of sight ull be able to get it a little farther GREAT choice going with itunes as aposed to windows media player GREAT

    It's on top of my center channel, which is about 4 or 5 feet high.

    I've always liked the iTunes interface and playlist organization. Apple Lossless appears not to be too bad either.
    HT
    RTi70 mains
    CSi30 center
    RTi28 Rears
    Velodyne CHT-12
    H/K AVR-247
    ADCOM GFA-7000
    Samsung PN58B860
    Playstation 3
    2-Channel
    Polk Audio LSi15's
    Rotel RCD-1072
    Nakamichi CA-5 Pre
    ADCOM GFA-555
    Signal Cable Analog II IC's
    Signal Ultra Bi-Wire Speaker Cables
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  • Face
    Face Posts: 14,340
    edited October 2007
    My PC looks great on my 56" DLP, maybe you need to play with your display settings. You can't beat Half Life 2 or Team Fortress 2 on such a big display. :D
    "He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
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  • Lowell_M
    Lowell_M Posts: 1,660
    edited October 2007
    Face wrote: »
    My PC looks great on my 56" DLP, maybe you need to play with your display settings. You can't beat Half Life 2 or Team Fortress 2 on such a big display. :D

    What do you have your resolution set to?
    HT
    RTi70 mains
    CSi30 center
    RTi28 Rears
    Velodyne CHT-12
    H/K AVR-247
    ADCOM GFA-7000
    Samsung PN58B860
    Playstation 3
    2-Channel
    Polk Audio LSi15's
    Rotel RCD-1072
    Nakamichi CA-5 Pre
    ADCOM GFA-555
    Signal Cable Analog II IC's
    Signal Ultra Bi-Wire Speaker Cables
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  • Face
    Face Posts: 14,340
    edited October 2007
    1280x768. If it helps, I'm using a G-Force 7800GTX vid card.
    "He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
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  • Lowell_M
    Lowell_M Posts: 1,660
    edited October 2007
    Face wrote: »
    1280x768. If it helps, I'm using a G-Force 7800GTX vid card.

    If I set it at 1280x768 the display is very jittery. I have it set at 848x480 right now and think it will to the trick for now. I really dissappointed in the richness of the picture. I expected colors like a nice HD broadcast (like CSI Miami or something.
    HT
    RTi70 mains
    CSi30 center
    RTi28 Rears
    Velodyne CHT-12
    H/K AVR-247
    ADCOM GFA-7000
    Samsung PN58B860
    Playstation 3
    2-Channel
    Polk Audio LSi15's
    Rotel RCD-1072
    Nakamichi CA-5 Pre
    ADCOM GFA-555
    Signal Cable Analog II IC's
    Signal Ultra Bi-Wire Speaker Cables
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Face
    Face Posts: 14,340
    edited October 2007
    Look in your TV's manual, it should give you a list of resolutions that'll work.
    "He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
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  • surfntomm
    surfntomm Posts: 185
    edited October 2007
    ignore previous comments, i have a htpc that i use to play high def downloaded files (so sue me........not literally ;) ) and i have a wireless keyboard and mouse that works great from 12 feet right now. line of sight is needed but is pretty leniant. It's a laser mouse with great precision, not for gaming but for regular use it is very crisp and smooth. click here for product link
    search ebay, i got mine for 20 dollars shipped last year. if you can find a wireless setup that uses blue tooth then you will have better connectivity than this but this works great for me so far.

    in terms of video connection, you NEED to use the native resolution of your display adapter. for my vizio tv its 1366x768. its a pain to get the resolution but its possible to get it even if it is not listed in your supported resolutions in the nvidia control panel or ati, depending on your vid card maker. you can change the registry values by going going to run-->regedit (search online what tree to go to to find the values to input, its pretty simple).

    hope this helps
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