Bought a new home PC

[Falcon21]

for htpc wireless keyboard will be best suitable option
logitech mk220/260/270 would suffice irrespective of mechanical or membrane
its most convenient and comfortable

for XBMC remote or logitech F710 wireless game pad is perfect
i got F710 for gaming but found out it is perfectly compatible with XBMC(Xbox Media Player) and some additional functions work compared to a remote

don't worry about battery life as ats more than 15 months on keyboards minnimum these days and 6 months on mouse for regular usage

Try Power DVD 14 also for HD Movies...much better than XBMC PQ wise
i use XBMC 80% though for regular stuff

 

[reignofchaos]

I do not think this is his HTPC. For HTPC, the best keyboard is the logitech K400r. However its pathetic if you want to do lots of typing.

 

[reubensm]

OMG, after reading this post, I realized that I have a Wipro Super Genius PC from the Fred Flintstone era.

 

[Vinod.R]

Actually Reubensm, after reading some of the "Building my own PC" threads I got the same feeling about my PChyeah:hyeah: But only difference is that my PC was build when "Rama" was building the bridge!

Most of them talk about their PCs with such passion and so much tech jargon that many a time I have to re-read the post to understand what they are talking about!!!

 

[Falcon21]

its not a rocket science and there is always a first time

once you are interested it comes to you on its own i guess

i couldn't take out a HDD out of my cabinet and reinstalling windows was like taking it to a shop deal earlier

HTPC don't need to be very powerful
it depends if one in building from scratch or already has a PC
its much easy to turn already having a PC to HTPC

but these days the HD playback and the future 4K playback do demand horsepower too

i've been using a HTPC set up for more than 8 years now

 

[Vinod.R]

its not a rocket science and there is always a first time

once you are interested it comes to you on its own i guess

i couldn't take out a HDD out of my cabinet and reinstalling windows was like taking it to a shop deal earlier

HTPC don't need to be very powerful
it depends if one in building from scratch or already has a PC
its much easy to turn already having a PC to HTPC

but these days the HD playback and the future 4K playback do demand horsepower too


i've been using a HTPC set up for more than 8 years now

When you are building a new one, it is a major headache:

1) Which MB to choose from the millions available? How would you know which would suite your purpose?
2) Then the processor, which to choose Intel, AMD etc. I am not even daring to get into clock speeds and over clocking.....and making sure it matches with the MB?
3) Then what RAM to choose?
4) Cabinet, god so complicated ordinary,ATX and what not.... why cant those guys make all cabinets fit all MBs?
5) Then PSU as you may be aware I made a mess of and was corrected. If you read the initial few posts you would know
6) Then what drive to choose, BD drive, DVD drive, reader only or writer etc.
7) Then fitting all those bits together (Always afraid that one will connect something wrong and blow the whole thing to king kong!
8) Monitor, keyboard, mouse wireless or not what size monitor etc.
9) Which HDD to choose, SSD, normal HDD what capacity which company etc?
10) Then at the end software installation, if you do not how it is to be done correctly god help you.

Are these not valid points to an average non techy guy to do?

 

[Subha15011976]

".......................................................
HTPC don't need to be very powerful ..........................................................................."

Sorry friend I would like to differ you in this point. If you want to run serious HTPC, I mean htpc with high level upscalling through NNEDI3 and Jinc 3 tap AR, rendered by MadVR, decoded by LAV video and played by MPC-HC then you have to have a powerful GPU and CPU too. In 2014 the concept of htpc have been changed with introduction of NNEDI3.

 

[Falcon21]

When you are building a new one, it is a major headache:
Are these not valid points to an average non techy guy to do?

@vinod.R its alright, of course these are valid questions who said they are invalid?
even tech savvy get confused that's y a homework is more important than forum advises...that's how I do things first hand experience
advise can be help to build platform though but not to follow blindly

@Subha15011976

i think you read between lines
you forgot this line i also wrote in earlier post "but these days the HD playback and the future 4K playback do demand horsepower too"

that exactly translates to what you said but in a very layman terms and not jargons

FYI I currently don't face any problem with any blu-ray playbacks including 3D & 4k media

i admire your desire for the bleeding edge technology but its not a standard by any means and definitely not a reference to this thread

no one is asking about "serious HTPC, I mean htpc with high level upscalling through NNEDI3 and Jinc 3 tap AR, rendered by MadVR, decoded by LAV video and played by MPC-HC":clapping:

 

[Fantastic]

...... In 2014 the concept of htpc have been changed with introduction of NNEDI3.......

Sorry but I think to bring in NNED13 into this discussion of how to pick parts for a decent HTPC by people who know almost nothing about PC's is downright silly !

From Google:
nnedi3
nnedi3 is an intra-field only deinterlacer. It takes in a frame, throws away one field, and then interpolates the missing pixels using only information from the kept field. It has same rate and double rate modes, and works with YV12, YUY2, and RGB24 input.
Nnedi3/nnedi3 - Avisynth wiki
avisynth.nl/index.php/Nnedi3/nnedi3

Do you think an average guy with no knowledge about 'fields and frames' in video will be able to dechiper this ? What was the point in bringing up this in this thread ?
HOW does this improve the performance for an average guy wanting a decent HTPC?

Stick to the topic and "suggest" practical useful things. No need to confuse people with information that is of not much use to them.
Cheers.

For those building a HTPC with restrictions on your mind like 'affordable' etc., use Google to search out web pages describing the basic procedure. Remember that each person writing the article might have a liking for a particular hardware or software like Linux or Windows , Intel or AMD CPU's etc. Some focus on inexpensive solutions and others on sophisticated ones. But read a few and you'll get the basic idea soon. A HTPC is not a Killing Gaming machine ! So don't get carried away while picking parts. AMD systems are cheaper but generally do as good a job as any other. I've had several PC's over time and except for one ( out of over 12 !) all were AMD based . So for a HTPC don't assume AMD is inferior as it costs less! Earlier, on board video was not as good as an add on video card. However many modern motherboards have very good video on board. If your display is very large you might need a better add on video card , but you can't say if your on board video is acceptable without trying. I would also guess that if you have such a large display you wouldn't be building a HTPC yourself !

 

[vizeta]

He is looking for a mechanical keyboard not a membrane. Please read his question properly.

@ reignofchaos

Lets not be hasty to judge and point fingers at people. If you want to correct me, put it in a better way.


If you visit the link and go through the specification you will see below. Hence I shared the link.

"CHERRY MX Red Mechanical Key-Switch for optimized 45g actuation force
Ultra Durable offering 50 million key press life-span"


This link actually shows MW3 version to G105. I am not sure if provided specifications are incorrect.

 

[Vinod.R]

Guys let us not have a tennis match here. Let us share what we know and learn from one another.

Nice info about the NNED13 which if my guess is not wrong is something to the old days of progressive scanning/interlace imaging. You guys can correct me if I am wrong.

Have been doing some research and found "FILCO" keyboards. They are still made in japan and unfortunately very expensive and hard to get.

Anyone know a slightly cheaper source to buy the same? What about WASD, DUCKY etc (He he he I have been doing my homework!!!)

A keyboard is my lifeline and I want to make sure I get the correct one before I jump in.

Vinod

 

[reignofchaos]

All of those are very good keyboards. However none are available locally. Also most are very expensive.

 

[Vinod.R]

Thank you Reignofchaos, Vizeta and Fantastic,

I guess you are right in terms of prices. You have been really helpful to me with advise right thru the thread.

Any one of you can point to a good mechanical keyboard?

I would like a full keyboard, standard layout, no fancy gaming keys etc. Good solid keys and standard colours would be fine.

Any new ones with the relevant links?

Thanks

Vinod

 

[Vinod.R]

Update on the keyboard.

My friend in Bangalore has bought a "Mechanical Keyboard" for about Rs 650! (Good ole china I guess to the rescue!). Since the investment is only Rs 650 I will post pictures and let you guys know it's performance. I have to of course add the cost of transportation and a PS2 to USB cable converter cost to the mix.

If the keyboard is good, I will recommend it to you all, if not then the next buy will most probably be the logitech G105 which I loved the moment I clicked the link, but not in my budget range. I will have to probably save for it.

Will also post pictures so that you can throw stones at the keyboard and brickbats too!!!

 

[Vinod.R]

Here is the picture of the keyboard as promised:

Works smooth, never knew a mechanical keyboard could be so pleasurable! Smooth to type and strain, never a membrane keyboard ever again!

 

[vizeta]

Here is the picture of the keyboard as promised:

Works smooth, never knew a mechanical keyboard could be so pleasurable! Smooth to type and strain, never a membrane keyboard ever again!

Please share more information (source/brand name etc.)

 

[Vinod.R]

Please share more information (source/brand name etc.)

Hello Vizeta,

As quoted in just the previous post, Outlay is about Rs 650. It is a no name china keyboard, in fact has no name at all. It just says made in china which is about it.

Bought it in Bangalore after looking at an OLX ad based in Bangalore and my friend shipped it off to me.

It is good enough on the fly for now I have decided that when funds permit, I will buy a reputed mechanical keyboard.

Checked the build quality. It has all cherry switches (Made in China I guess but pretty decent), a nice solid PCB board and iron/metal plate to hold the PCB and the switches. Weight is about 1.5kg.

 

[reignofchaos]

If its real cherry MX switches, then they are German not Chinese.