Sam
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Premium Member
Registered: 24th Dec 99
Location: West Midlands
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Just doing a bit of research...
If you've got one, could you kindly answer these questions for me?
- Did you buy it ready-built or did you build it yourself?
- What brand is it if you bought it ready-built?
- What operating system does it run?
- How much did you spend on it and when?
Thanks guys! 
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Brett
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Registered: 16th Dec 02
Location: Manchester
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Doesn't answer your question, but do you think there will still be a need for a separate media centre soon? TV's like the LG's have Netcast which can do iplayer, youtube, etc. and you can plug USB hard drives straight into most TV's and play movies, music, etc. right off now.
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Sam
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Registered: 24th Dec 99
Location: West Midlands
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quote:
Originally posted by loafofbrett
Doesn't answer your question, but do you think there will still be a need for a separate media centre soon? TV's like the LG's have Netcast which can do iplayer, youtube, etc. and you can plug USB hard drives straight into most TV's and play movies, music, etc. right off now.
I think there will always be a market for media centres for the foreseeable future.
Even if from today onwards ALL new TVs had those features you speak of, people will still want a 'box' that a computer or other device can connect to wirelessly to stream music and videos for example - if the TV offered this, presumably you'd need to keep your TV on for that work, whereas with what is effectively a PC you can just leave it running in the corner of your living room and not using much electric etc.
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Brett
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Registered: 16th Dec 02
Location: Manchester
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Yeah but you could achieve that with the same desktop pc you're using to download them.
Not trying to piss on the bonfire, sorry  It's just, I did my dad a media centre at the end of last year and now he's got an all singing and dancing TV so it's not been turned on since.
[Edited on 24-01-2011 by loafofbrett]
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Russ
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Registered: 14th Mar 04
Location: Armchair
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sell it to sam?
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Brett
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Registered: 16th Dec 02
Location: Manchester
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You're a strange one, Russ.
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Russ
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Registered: 14th Mar 04
Location: Armchair
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thanks, i have 2 hats and 1 scarf
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Sam
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Premium Member
Registered: 24th Dec 99
Location: West Midlands
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quote:
Originally posted by loafofbrett
Yeah but you could achieve that with the same desktop pc you're using to download them.
Not trying to piss on the bonfire, sorry It's just, I did my dad a media centre at the end of last year and now he's got an all singing and dancing TV so it's not been turned on since.
[Edited on 24-01-2011 by loafofbrett]
So what happens if you have an external HDD attached to it, can you share it wirelessly with other computers/devices from the TV?
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Sam
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Registered: 24th Dec 99
Location: West Midlands
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quote:
Originally posted by Russ
sell it to sam?
I have enough computers here to give Andrew a run for his money so no, thanks!
[Edited on 24-01-2011 by Sam]
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Brett
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Registered: 16th Dec 02
Location: Manchester
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quote:
Originally posted by Sam
So what happens if you have an external HDD attached to it, can you share it wirelessly with other computers/devices from the TV?
There is still currently the inconvenience of him having to unplug his USB HDD to transfer files, yes.
The TV also doesn't have the ability to record like the media centre does I don't think.
I haven't actually played with a Netcast tv tho tbh, so I'm not sure if you can just stream over the network anyway. Only going off what my dad has mentioned.
[Edited on 24-01-2011 by loafofbrett]
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Sam
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Location: West Midlands
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http://www.lg.com/uk/netcast/index.jsp
I'm not sure I can see this as a replacement for a media centre TBH.
Nice features though, admittedly. 
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Brett
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Registered: 16th Dec 02
Location: Manchester
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Well, I did mean in the future rather than at the moment in time really. It was just a question I was waiting for the right moment to ask anyway
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Sam
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Registered: 24th Dec 99
Location: West Midlands
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I guess if TV manufacturers added full HTPC capabilities then yeah I reckon HTPCs won't have much of a future.
But at present there's still a big market for these little magic boxes.
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Brett
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Registered: 16th Dec 02
Location: Manchester
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I think cost-wise it's cheaper to have a media centre anyway I would've thought. I'm not denying they're great 
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Sam
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Registered: 24th Dec 99
Location: West Midlands
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quote:
Originally posted by loafofbrett
I think cost-wise it's cheaper to have a media centre anyway I would've thought. I'm not denying they're great
Yes you are. You just want an excuse to justify getting a new LG telly! 
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adiohead
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Registered: 28th Sep 01
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I use my macbook pro
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Sam
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Registered: 24th Dec 99
Location: West Midlands
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quote:
Originally posted by adiohead
I use my macbook pro
Fanboy.
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A2H GO
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Registered: 14th Sep 04
Location: Stoke
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My Samsung came with AllShare and @Internet Connect. Didn't know what it was until I played about with it one day and realised it can play all the files I couldn't previously stream through my xbox. It even gives quite a nice thumbnail screenshot view of each video file.
Took two mins to setup and i've got youtube/iplayer etc, can stream MKV's etc and can play via USB. I record using Sky+ (although not to USB at the moment).
I can't really see any need for purchasing an additional box and then installing additional software, mountains of codecs etc.
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Toby
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Registered: 29th Nov 05
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I have a media player.
Its a popcorn hour A110, had it for 2 and half years,
Still plays everything i thrown at it.
There are better popcorn hour products out there but im not a posisiton where i need to upgrade yet due to my requirements. There are a few NMT (network media tanks - basically a few products all with basically the same inards just differnt casings) but PCH lead the field.
Other good products include WDTV and Tvix and the revo
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noshua
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Registered: 19th Nov 08
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A110 or one of the newer ones (only had a A110 so can't comment on the newer models) if you want something to play downloaded or ripped files (avi, mkv for example).
If you're interested in watching on-demand stuff (iPlayer, ITV Catchup, etc) then a HTTP such as the Acer Revo will do the job as well as being able to play any filetype you throw at it. Some models come with Windows installed so no worrying about getting it setup or what have you.
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