Laptop vs. HTPC

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nubbin77

Limp Gawd
Joined
Sep 9, 2005
Messages
284
Hello,

I have been contemplating building a HTPC based off of the AMD E-350 platform. My pricing out is roughly $350 depending on case / hard drive I use. I also see that there are Zotac boxes that are effectively the same price. Then I also saw this:

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Acer-LX-RD502-005-AS5253-BZ602-15-6-Inch-Laptop/dp/B004ETLO6C/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1308103037&sr=1-1"]Amazon.com: Acer AS5253-BZ602 15.6-Inch Laptop: Electronics@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31oXbvgqxDL.@@AMEPARAM@@31oXbvgqxDL[/ame]

which seems to have all the same features of a HTPC (and I would add another 2 GB of ram).

What is the benefit of building a HTPC box or buying a zotac box (like this one)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856173022&cm_re=zotac_e-350-_-56-173-022-_-Product

over the laptop I posted. Seems like, spec-wise its almost the same, but I would get the benefit of a screen and portability over the HTPC. I guess I lose a few USB ports. On the other hand, I plan on keeping it for the most part inside a cabinet next to my tv. Heat is a concern of mine, would the laptop potentially run hotter?

It just seems like, for roughly the same price (give or take $25-50) I would get a device with more options.

Any thoughts? is these something major I am missing?
 
I think a non-laptop HTPC will be more aesthetically pleasing. If it's going to be in a cabinet, you're either going to have to pull out the laptop to play media or have a wireless kb/m. Also, is it possible to turn off a laptop's screen with the lid being open? I suppose you could set the power management to do nothing with the lid closed. I'm just worried about light from the laptop's screen. It's a good logical idea, but I guess I would prefer a permanent standalone box. No idea on heat.
 
I currently use my Dell E6400 as my HTPC even though I have a HTPC. With the way my room is it was a pain to try and use a wireless mouse and keyboard to mount an iso to watch what I wanted as well as when typing in something to search on netflix. The end result was using a displayport to hdmi adapter. Works really well thus far and with a decent cable in length I just pick up my laptop and move it around the room when I need want.

To answer your comment about whether you can turn off the screen the answer is generally yes. There should be a button along the F1-12 row that has a function to "turn off" the screen and go into projector mode for lack of a better word.
 
I guess that is a good point for people who have to use a keyboard a lot, but a lot of us HTPC folks use the 10' interface predominantly and use a remote 90+% of the time. (set up media browser to mount ISOs, use the number pad to type in Netflix a la TXT style or set up a queue from another computer).
 
xrintrahx said:
I guess that is a good point for people who have to use a keyboard a lot, but a lot of us HTPC folks use the 10' interface predominantly and use a remote 90+% of the time. (set up media browser to mount ISOs, use the number pad to type in Netflix a la TXT style or set up a queue from another computer).
Click to expand...

Not to hijack the thread and you can send response to pm if you want but how do you setup or what software would you use so that media browser mounts ISOs? I can understand the remote with HTPC but I was to cheap to buy one :)
 
All laptops I've seen go into standby when you close the lid, so you'd have to mod it so the mechanism that causes this is removed (sometimes it's just a little pin that the lid pushes down), but you'd be wasting energy with a screen that is on for nothing (and generating heat). I'd stick to a HTPC box myself.
 
Red Squirrel said:
All laptops I've seen go into standby when you close the lid, so you'd have to mod it so the mechanism that causes this is removed (sometimes it's just a little pin that the lid pushes down), but you'd be wasting energy with a screen that is on for nothing (and generating heat). I'd stick to a HTPC box myself.
Click to expand...

This simply isn't true.....


I use my Dell V13 as a temp HTPC (until I build an awesome one). Windows mobility setting lets you choose what happens when the lid is closed. I have mine set to when an external monitor is connected (such as a 50" HD Plasma) the notebook screen turns off. My other setting is "when the the lid is closed" "do nothing".

Furthermore, I simply use a green button media center remote to control media center on the notebook. Easy stuff.
 
nubbin77 said:
Hello,
What is the benefit of building a HTPC box or buying a zotac box (like this one)
over the laptop I posted.
Click to expand...

I would say upgradability. I have found that it doesn't take much when you start to really use your HTPC to run out of space. Of course you can always upgrade the hard drive. But at what cost? Even if 2.5 does keep up with 3.5 in space (which there is a limit to that) the cost penalty is greater.

Second, at 1TB or so of content you might want to at least Raid your data. That's not going to happen in a laptop for that price.

Third, increases in fidelity / compression techniques almost always require more processing power if not bandwidth. What are you going to do when the laptop becomes obsolete? You'll be able to do memory but that's about it. When you build a full fledged unit if I had for an example an Athlon X2 I could move to X4 then Pheonom X4 or X6. Or if I had a GT 220 now ...maybe in 3 years I want to do 3D video as well all I would have to do is switch out the video card. With a laptop what are you going to do?

Basically what I'm getting at is when you do a full fledged unit you have room to grow and have the unit grow with you without chucking the whole thing.
 
a nice htpc would be nice, but laptops really are a viable alternative now. HDMI out makes it sooooo easy. When I finally fill up my 500g har drive, im planning on just getting an external
 
I use my laptop as my HTPC until I find some money laying around one day to build an actual HTPC. I have all my movies and shows on my desktop in the office which I stream over the network to my laptop hooked up to my TV using a program called Boxee that is free and is the shit. Program has no problem streaming 1080p content over the wireless N network without lagging. My laptop came with an IR sensor and a WMC controller which also works with Boxee, so I never have to pull out the laptop to play a movie. Laptop is always on, with the lcd turned off through the control panel settings. I have it raised on a stand so it doesn't get too hot. Works just fine for me and keeps the girlfriend happy!
 
I'd vote for a home theater PC that is stereo-equipment sized. Close to 17" width. My system is nothing more than the HTPC, receiver, TV and a hidden cable box mounted behind the TV. And of course speakers. Everything looks very clean and matches well.

You can add more drives without messing with external storage boxes, power bricks and wires. You get more control over noise with the fans you choose.

Having a strong CPU really helps if you let it do other tasks like transcoding, virtual machines or whatever else you want to do. Could also be a game machine with a good video card. Power consumption is not an issue, especially with Sandy Bridge processors. Idle is very low and you can always use Wake On Lan to wake it when needed.

Even with a limited budget, I'd do whatever it takes to keep it a traditional sized HTPC with more capabilities. [H]otDeals, Slickdeals, searching for good used parts, whatever is out there.
 
Ultimately it comes down to do you want a centralized box in the apartment/house that stores everything with head units that will pull from it to play. If that is ideal you can get a pretty inexpensive machine to do what you want at the tv, be it desktop or laptop or boxee type device. If the htpc needs to be the storage device as well then you need to first think how you want to store the files, iso, compressed, etc.. and then think about how fast it will grow and what you will do when you run out of space.
 
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