HTPC vs. AV distribution

[fuzzweed]

So my friend has just had his new house fitted with loads of gear that sends his DVD, TV, PC, radio, games console, CD and ipod to any room in the house all controlled by some master remote thing - It cost him tens of thousands of pounds, looks like a nightmare in a spaghetti factory (well in the 'server' cupboard and behind each TV anyway) and utilises 14 boxes of individual rack mount kit sucking away on kilowatts of electricity. I asked him why he hadn't just had an HTPC put in each room (OK so GBPVR isn't for commercial use, but we'll leave that for a mo) and run a bit of cat5 around the house.
His answer was that he (and I guess his professional installer) wasn't even aware of the concept.

So that leads me to my poll. Are we (HTPC / PC-PVR users) really that cutting edge????

[soccerdad]

I don't think that we are cutting edge. Instead I just think we are more aware of what is available out there. The cool thing about this board is that everyone has their own solution to the problem that fits them the best. My guess it that most of us are techies to a point, but like elegent, simple solutions. Anyone can do it the expensive hard way. I like to be able to do real cool things without having to spend a ton of money.

[martint123]

We're all dabblers, otherwise we would all have shiny silver boxes under all our TV's.
We are also probably trying to do it on the cheap.

I suspect an "average" computer user wouldn't have a clue how to put something like this together - maybe a computer user of a few years ago, but not nowadays.

Now, why did I vote that way?

[fuzzweed]

may a computer user of a few years ago, but not nowadays.

There was a bit on the news a short while back about a predicted lack of software and hardware engineers because computers are now being taught with rather than about in schools.

Computers didn't used to do anything when you turned them on - you had to know how to make it do something. Now if you turn it on and it does nothing, it's back to the shop...
[/reminiscing]

[AndyPro]

I install and maintain all that AV stuff for a living, but usually on a much larger scale (commercial, educational, medical, scientific, etc). Honestly, the answer is yes and no.

A PC can do just about anything that a high end AV dist. solution can do. It would cost an arm and a leg either way. Properly set and configured, an HTPC server/client setup is ideal for a home. One of the big pittfalls with the racks and racks of equipment is that except in very limited circumstances, you can still only do one thing at a time. With a client/server setup, you can do whatever you want, wherever you want, whenever you want.

To have a truly integrated house, though, you'd still need those racks of equipment. There are some things that computer jsut cant, or dont (or shouldn't!!) do. Namely things like audio and video distribution amplifiers, audio power amplifiers, and the like.

the pro's of the racks of equipment are that once it's going, it really doesn't need updating, maintenance, or tweaking. It doesn't crash, cant catch a virus, and can actually use less pwoer depending on what it's doing.

Theres no clear cut answer. It's all horses for courses.

--andy

[fuzzweed]

It doesn't crash

--andy

OK I'll give you that one!