I think I’ve solved my storage problems once and for all. It’s taken me a while to pull the trigger on this purchase, but my previous NAS and its 2TB drive was almost full. The Synology unit is obviously way more expensive, but it does so much more, it’s not […]
Tag: HTPC
IOGEAR Wireless Keyboard
Last year, I wrote about the Lenovo Keyboard I bought, and that I wasn’t a fan. It has its good points, but overall the lack of backlighting is a deal breaker. But I’ve found a keyboard that I can definitely recommend for the Home Theater PC enthusiast. This IOGEAR wireless […]
Rooftop Antenna
I’ve not had much luck with antennas as part of my Home Theater PC build. Up until now, none of the models I’ve tried have worked very well. This latest one, a Channel Master 4228, did not fare well inside my attic, so I finally had to admit defeat and […]
Netopia 3347 DSL Modem/Router
At the suggestion of an AT&T technician, I upgraded my old router and DSL modem to this Netopia 3347 combination unit, and I am very glad I did. He notified me that my old DSL modem, a Slipstream 4100 B that I purchased at Best Buy about a year ago, […]
Quest For A Good Antenna
An integral part of my Home Theater PC build is the antenna, and when I first wrote about the hardware, I wasn’t even aware how complicated things would become in this area. The RCA ANT1251, which is little more than a pair of glorified rabbit ears, did not perform well […]
Lenovo Wireless Keyboard
The Lenovo N5901 wireless keyboard is a small handheld remote with a full QWERTY keyboard and built-in trackball. It seems well suited for home theater (HTPC) applications, however, it has a number of drawbacks. The first, and most noticeable, is that in the home theater environment, there is a desire […]
Bye Bye DirecTV!
Earlier this year, I documented my Home Theater PC project. My primary motivation for this endeavor was to find a viable alternative, preferably less expensive, to my subscription to DirecTV. I had been a customer of theirs for over 10 years, and in that time I watched my monthly fee […]
HTPC Results
[This is the final part in a series on building your own HTPC] The primary reason I set out to build a Home Theater PC was so I could get rid of DirecTV. I’ve been a subscriber since 1999, and I’ve never had any complaints about their service, apart from […]
HTPC Install
[This is Part IV of a series on building your own HTPC] Once you’ve assembled the hardware, and collected the software, it is time to begin your install. You can expect this entire process to take between one and two hours to complete. Please follow these instructions: Install Windows It […]
HTPC Software
[This is Part III of a series on building your own HTPC] I started out thinking this would be a Linux-based PC, but two things changed my mind. First, I’ve written before about my travails with Linux. I want to like Linux, I really do. But I can’t. Mabye I’m […]
HTPC Hardware
[This is Part II of a series on building your own HTPC] Let me start by saying that I did not compile this entire list of hardware through trial and error. Most of it came from Jay Taylor’s excellent blog over at AMD, and a big thanks to him for […]
Home Theater PC
When you start the research, like I did, on building your own Home Theater PC, you inevitably come across a page or two that claims to give you all the information you need to build the “ultimate” rig for yourself. Some of these pages do provide a wealth of valuable […]
iPod Touch
It was time to retire my Palm PDA, but replacing it was something of a challenge since no one really makes PDAs anymore that aren’t part of a smartphone. I’m still happy with my Virgin Mobile service, and you can’t beat the price, so I didn’t really want to upgrade […]