We've Moved!

For a long time we got by with a basic 1.5Mb DSL connection and were almost as happy as could be. I could play a game online while my wife watched Hulu and be totally fine. Occasionally we would run into a few hiccups with Netflix being a bit of a bandwidth hog, but it was tolerable. We couldn't stream HD, but we also didn't really feel like we needed to.

However, we were never able to really experiment with any of the 'alternative' media collection options--our connection simply couldn't handle it. We were already putting the poor thing through the wringer.

At our old location our ISP choices were simple, AT&T DSL, or Comcast. AT&T DSL got expensive enough quickly that it didn't make a whole lot of sense of go with anything beyond the simple 1.5Mb "Dry Loop" (meaning we were not paying for a phone line), especially with the 1.5Mb was performing so admirably. As far as Comcast goes, let's just say they don't have much of a positive reputation with me. They were never really considered.

However, with our move we were presented with alternative choices. Now while we still had AT&T DSL, in addition we now could also chose from SureWest, and TimeWarner. AT&T could provide the same 1.5Mb package we had, while TimeWarner was able to offer an 8Mb down connection for barely more than what we'd be paying for AT&T's 1.5Mb, so that was the option we went with.

It's a DOCSIS 2.0 cable modem, so the performance still isn't stellar, but it's certainly better than we're used to. It has also opened up the wide world of NewsGroups to us, and I've had some fun playing with SickBeard as a result. I'll talk about about that in a future post.

Return! But what's this?!

Lets get caught up. A lot of things have changed since my last update:

• We've moved (Which lead to a drastically faster Internet connection)
• Our HTPC is in an official case
• The internals of our HTPC have almost entirely changed
• While our HTPC is still running Windows 7, it is now running XBMC along side WMC as sort of a proof-of-concept.
• Hulu is on the chopping block

I'll be preparing a post describing each of these and how they have affected our viewing in more detail, but suffice to say a lot has changed. Stay tuned.

Cheap Acer HTPC solution?

Almost as if they read my blog, Engadget has a preview of a new Acer Revo product that is in very early development stages, but runs Windows Media Center Embedded complete with TV Tuner. Given the price history of Acer's Revo products ($200 to $400), this could very well stand to be the "Sub $500 Box Solution" I explained just yesterday, with a few hard to reproduce bonuses. That touchpad mouse controller is interesting, but my gut tells me navigating WMC with a touchpad would feel clunky after experiencing the native remote support. The keyboard ability is a great feature, though.

Be sure to check out the video below. Clearly, the navigation isn't quite as slick as you'll see on the average Windows Media Center set up, but given that this is still at least six months from store shelves it's possible we'll see some improvements and/or optimizations to make it quite a bit slicker.

Price Check: Cost of our existing setup

Ideally, I'd like our base setup to be entirely replicable by anyone willing to spend around $500. That seems to be the average cost of about 6 to 9 months of cable, depending on your provider and selected options. While I've picked up many of my parts while they were on sale, if someone wanted to do this today, they wouldn't necessarily have that same advantage.

So where do I stand on that goal now? Let's find out.

Case: $69 This is easily the part that is the most debatable for many people. This one actually manages to fit in with our black furniture pretty well, but it's also not exactly mistakable for any other home theater equipment. It's clearly a PC, and that will turn some people off. I like it due to having so many large fan mounts, which means more cooling with less noise. Easy drive access and cable routing make it easy to work on when you need to.

Motherboard: $77 I still think this motherboard is one of the best values around given its features and relative future-proofing. HD-capable onboard video means you can hit the ground running without having to invest in a video card. PCI-Express x16 2.0, being able to take up to 16GB of DDR3, and 6 core AM3 processors gives plenty of room for future upgrades. My only desire is that this motherboard have more than one PCI-Express x1 slot, but so far it hasn't been a problem.

Processor: $50 More than enough power to get you started, as well as take on some of the extra features without having you standing around waiting too long.

Processor Cooling: $30 Considering the processor I linked to is OEM, a purchase here is required. Not the cheapest option, but it's hard to justify skimping in something that can ultimately make or break (literally) your HTPC.

Ram: $45 Similar to the processor, more than enough to get you started, and you can easily add more later.

Power Supply: $33 I am currently reusing an older 650 watt power supply, but according to a few online calculators, this one is powerful enough to get the job done, and is the cheapest one Newegg offers that comes from a brand I feel I can trust.

Hard Drives: $55 Another area were personal preference will trump anything I say, but for those of you looking to get started, anything less than 500GB is a mistake.

DVD Drive: $18 It's hard to not just say "go with a BluRay drive" since they are merely $40, but we're about replicating our current set up, so DVD is it.

TV Capture Card: $77 Up until a week ago I would say you can live without one, but I'm absolutely shocked at how much a week has changed my mind. HD versions of shows look so much better than 480p streamed versions, and thanks to a few plug-ins, there's still little commercial interruption. This card is a dual tuner, so you can record two shows at once (or watch one while another is recording, etc). This card was only $50 when I purchased it. It's possible the price may come down again soon. If you watch a lot of shows, you may consider a four channel tuner.

Digital Antenna: $50 You'll need one of these (or something similar) to make full use of your TV capture card. This is one the we use, and while it kind of dominates the living room, it works great.

Windows 7 Home Premium: $100 Home Premium is the "lowest" version of Windows 7 that contains Windows Media Center, which is the heart of our system. A free option is to run XBMC on top of Linux, but personally I don't think XBMC has all the features I want.

How am I doing so far? $602. Not bad, but not quite on the mark yet, either.

Many of you can find savings where I myself did by re-using older computer parts. There are also a myriad of case/power supply combinations available for less money, but you'll likely wind up with a very 'computer' look, and a less reputable power supply. There's also a healthy used market of PC parts if you know where to look.

Looking over these parts, I'm honestly not sure it's possible to hit the $500 mark with a fresh set up without giving up features. The TV tuner, antenna or OS are the only things that can really be eliminated without leaving you with an incomplete system. It's possible to go with a single tuner (meaning watch OR record), but considering that's still $45, the savings isn't enough to justify it for me, personally.

Well, at least I'm under a year of cable service...

Going 64bit (and adding a TV Tuner!)

I mentioned in my last post that I installed Windows 7 32bit simply because it was the most convenient operating system to install at the time. Upgrading it became a bit of a priority once Windows started complaining about not being registered, as the notice would break full-screen video, as well as lose application focus, making the remote not work.

Additionally, we purchased a tv tuner a while ago. You may notice that's not the same card I was initially considering, but after doing a bit of research I learned that since we're dealing almost exclusively with ATSC and QAM signals, having an onboard MPEG2 decoder is not any benefit at all. I then started looking for the cheapest internal digital dual tuner we could find.

Windows Install

This whole process was simple except for the fact that our PCI Wireless card (a Linksys WMP54Gv1--Yes, version 1) is not officially supported in Windows 7 to begin with--we had initially cheated by using Vista drivers--and we didn't have even a dream of it working 64bit (apparently version 4 of that card can use a different driver in 64bit and be fine, FYI). I wound up replacing it with a Netgear 311v3, and it worked without incident.

Once Windows was running again, I proceeded to replicate and improve our previous set up. I'll go into more detail with what plug-ins I installed in a later post, but for now I really want to focus on the--

TV Tuner Card

I really didn't know what to expect from WMC7 once we put this card in. I hoped it would be easy, but I was pleasantly surprised at just how easy it was. Once the card and its drivers were installed, it was as simple as running through the WMC7 wizard, giving it my zip code, and letting it detect my channels.

WMC will keep upwards of two weeks of channel listings available at any given time. Want to record a show? Search for it by name and it will list all instances of a show appearing within its listings. You've got all the basic DVR options available such as recording one off episodes, all new episodes, or all aired. You can chose to only record the episodes that appear on a single channel, or any instance the show appears. Finally, you have the ability to record the show in HD only, SD only, or HD Preferred, which will grab the SD only in the event that HD version isn't available.

You can also look at shows based on certain categories like Sports, Specials, Movies, etc. I took a moment last night and ran through all of the movies due to air in the next few weeks, and found a few gems like the entire Back to the Future series, as well as a few movies my wife has always wanted to see. Granted between Netflix and Redbox our movies needs are pretty much already met, and these shows being on broadcast television we may miss out on the full experience, but I was amazed at how easy it was to set up the recording.

The only thing I'm left wanting is for it to be possible to set up recording for a show that isn't currently listed on the guide, specifically some of the new shows that premier later in September. Assuming I remember to go in and schedule them once those show up in the guide, I'll be set. I don't expect this to be an issue very often.

Once I was all set up, I was amazed at how many of our 'clutch' TV Shows were actually now going to be handled by the TV tuner. Combined with a few plug-ins to eliminate commercial watching, and our reliance on Hulu has just significantly dropped. Of the top of my head, and I can only think of a few shows on FX that we will still be watching via Hulu.

What's Next?

I've been playing a little bit with remote access. My next primary goal is going to be setting up the ability to edit the recording schedule from our phones, and ideally being able to stream media to our phones as well. Our limited internet connection will prove to be a problem for some of this, but allowing the adjustment of the recording schedule should be easy enough.

Secondly, my wife is a big iTunes user, and while her collection is safely being stored on raided hard drives, having her computer keep the entire organization 'indexed' within iTunes seems to be a waste of resources. I'll start diving into some of the media sharing options that iTunes provides, ideally having our HTPC do all of the management while still ensuring her ability to sync iPods and rip CDs as necessary.

Check back for a list of add-ins that I've used, as well as a few tutorials for how to make some of them work.

Windows Media Center 7 - 3 months in

My intentions were to follow up the 'upgrade' post with a few hands-on reports of how things were going at set intervals. Let's just pretend 3 months is the first time I planned on updating everyone.

First, the good:

I love it. The simplified interface and ease of access to watch our movies is great. There are a fair amount of add-ins that fill a few of the small gaps, and simplified things such as ripping DVDs.

The Harmony remote is working wonderfully. We wound up not using as a "super universal remote", but it does its base need of controlling the TV and WMC very well.

I even seem to have earned 'Wife approval' for ease of navigation with the remote. While our set up is still very simple, that's certainly an important win.

Finally, one of the add-ins we used the most is one that allows us to launch Hulu Desktop from the WMC menu, and our remote controls Hulu Desktop flawlessly. While I wish I didn't have to exit WMC, it works well, so I'll consider it a victory.

Now, for the bad:

The Netflix add-in for WMC is atrociously slow. While this doesn't seem to affect everyone, there is a thread at The Green Button where many of us have been sharing our woes, but by and large this issue seems to be entirely unresolved. For us, this problem has translated mostly to minimizing WMC and accessing Netflix through Firefox instead, which I was really hoping to avoid.

This contributes to another complaint, which is that my son almost entirely refuses to use the remote. He watches a lot of Netflix and since we can't control Firefox with the remote, it's understandable. Still, it's frustrating to spend so much time on a tool only to see someone not want to use it.

While I have found a reasonable solution to assist in DVD ripping, I'm aghast that it's so difficult to find a good hands-free solution to ripping episodic DVDs. Right now I'm forced to rip them and keep them in their native format, so when we want to watch the show we essentially launch the DVD Menu, and pick the episode from there. Like Hulu, it works, but not well enough for my tastes.

Finally, while the music player in WMC is great from a usability standpoint, it really lacks the visual punch that I love from the Zune Desktop client. I've yet to find a way to marry the two, but I dream of that day. We don't currently use the music feature much, but I could see us using it a lot more as we eventually entertain more. Maybe by then...

Where to from here?

Most directly, I started this system with Windows 7 32bit, because that was what I had access to when I finally had all the parts together. Sometime this week I will be reinstalling Windows 7 64bit, so that we can leverage the processor a little more when it comes to video encoding (but probably won't see a huge change).

With school about to start up, that means the Fall TV season is about to start as well. This gives us more motivation to set up a TV Tuner so that we're not complete victims of Hulu's delay (or in some cases, their lack of content).

What to consider when upgrading

As with all things computer related, eventually what you've got at home just isn't enough to cut it anymore. Just going out and getting a new one is possible, but when you're trying to make the most of your money, it's important to take your time and weigh options to make the best decision for you. In this article, I'll outline what I don't like about our current set up, and what I'd like to change about it.

Our "Hulu PC" (as we affectionately call it at home), is very old. I'm not sure, but I want to say it the bulk of its components were purchased around 2004. While it certainly does the trick, it doesn't do it quite as well as we would like it to.

Step 1: Identify and prioritize your biggest complaints.

Try to stay focused on the limitations of your solution right now, and not getting too carried away with "nice to haves", that part comes later. Remember that "nice to haves" are typically features that you're currently doing without right now, whereas these complaints are actively in your face and may very well be limiting your enjoyment.

The first complaint that jumps to mind is that while it can display at my TV's native 1080p resolution, it can't really display anything of merit at those resolutions--Hulu and DVD playback stutters.

Yes, I understand that neither of those run at 1080p, but I much prefer the sharpness of 1080p can give you on a TV that supports it--especially in regards to user interface. While we don't currently have the desire to fork over the extra to watch BluRay movies, I want the option to be there when we eventually go that route.

Additionally, for one reason or another the computer simply refuses to install Windows 7. Install begins, but hangs quickly. I'm absolutely in love with Windows Media Center 7, so this is a painful one for me.

Finally, the current motherboard cannot support hard drives that utilize Perpendicular Magnetic Recording, which these days is pretty much all of them, and certainly all of the larger (~500gb and bigger) ones. My wife has a very sizable music collection that she has invested a great amount of care and time to keep organized. Currently this is only stored on a single external hard drive. If that drive was to be lost, my wife would be devastated. We already own two 750gb hard drives that we purchased for backup purposes, but since our computer is so old, we've never been able to use them.

If I was to put these in order of biggest problem, it would look something like this:

1. Inability to use PMR Hard Drives
2. Inability to run Windows 7
3. Inability to display 1080p effectively

2. Start dreaming.

Now its time to think about what you wish you had the ability to do. This is not a list of every feature bullet point your next solution will have right off, but merely helps you plan a road map of what you want to be able to do now, and what you can eventually add later. The more planning you do here, the cheaper your solution will be in the long run, as it will reduce redundant purchases (if you have to have upgrade the motherboard to accommodate a certain single feature, for example). Don't go too far off the deep end, because things like wanting active climate control, or automatic light control are projects on their own. Planning for them is fine, but in my situation, I expect those will wind up being separate systems.

Record Live TV - I almost listed this in the 'complaint' category, because due to Hulu's delay to list some content we tend to have endings of big shows or results of shows like The Biggest Loser spoiled before we have a chance to watch them. In actuality though we've learned how to avoid most of these.

Capture HD Video from Other Sources - I'm a huge gamer, and I've always wanted to be able to capture video from my Xbox 360 (as an example) to possibly make guides, or simply to show off something that happened.

More Aesthetic appearance - When I first built this PC, I valued low noise over everything else, and used looks as a close second. While it currently doesn't look "bad", it would be nice if it blended in a little more, and took up a little less space.

More Energy Efficient - This computer is on all the time. While I don't feel like it's particularly inefficient, I know it wouldn't take much to make it 'greener'.

HDMI Output - Currently, it outputs via a bulky VGA cable with a standard 1/4" 'headphones'" style audio cable. It gets the job done but it's bulky, unsightly, and personally I believe its weight is putting unnecessary strain on both the TV and the computer. I also recently had to move the computer, and dealing with the screws to remove the connection was frustrating.

BluRay Support - Pretty self-explanatory. All that's really needed here is a BluRay drive, and enough power to drive the display.

Reasonable Video Encoding Performance - Digital copies are far more versatile than physical ones, and it'd be nice to have the ability for the machine to encode the video in a reasonable amount of time, or without interfering with the experience.

Like the list of complaints, prioritize these. Here's my list:

1. Record Live TV
2. Video Encoding
3. Energy Efficiency
4. HDMI Output
5. Asthetics
6. BluRay
7. Capture HD Video

3. Research and shop

Dig into how to do each of these. Software is easy to change, but changing hardware can get expensive fast. sites like AVS Forum and HTPC Forum are real heroes here, as you can get a lot of information from a lot of different people.

Newegg is where I tend to buy most of my hardware, if not for their low prices, then for the ability to drill down lists of hardware based on features. It's very easy to weed out motherboards that don't have onboard video, or HDMI outputs, for example. They also have a very active client base that reviews products very frequently, and it's pretty easy to tell at a glance if a product tends to be a winner or a dud just by looking at its egg rating.

Remember to keep the future in mind here. A motherboard picked out with all the right features, based on an older technology like DDR2 Memory isn't going to last you as long as a motherboard with all the right features, but instead has DDR3 memory. Keep the future in mind, and try to maximize your 'upgrade potential'. It will save you some serious money in the long run. Addtionally, it would be a shame if something as simple as a lack of PCI slots prevented an upgrade, so try to keep your options open without going overboard.

For those of you interested, here's the list of hardware I decided on buying, and a little bit about why.

1. Cooler Master CPU Cooler
As the primary source of heat, the processor also tends to be the primary source of noise. Going with an efficient, aftermarket heat sink can do wonders for keeping your equipment at a safe temperature while not interfering with your experience.
2. ASRock M3A785GMH
This motherboard really hit the sweet spot for me. Reasonably powerful onboard video with HDMI output means one less card to purchase, which allows me to consider a smaller form factor (helps with my 'aesthetic' desire). DDR3 based system a long with the AM3 processor means I could probably live off this board for quite a while, considering how little heavy lifting the computer actually has to do. If we get more serious about encoding, we go all the way up to a 6 core processor.
3. AMD Athlon II X2 240
2.8GHz is more than enough for what we're currently doing, and the dual core should help us out quite a bit with our light video encoding. It's low price point and power consumption are a two-fold wallet boon. The low power consumption also indicates that it will likely run cooler.
4. A Data 2GB DDR3 1600 Memory
I have to admit I'm a little uncomfortable with this purchase. I've used ADATA products in the past, and have found them to be of sub par quality. However ASRock recommends them (among many others) for the motherboard, the price is good, and the positive reviews tempted me to try them again. Additional sticks would allow for dual (and even triple) channel, but at the moment I don't think those would give us a significant kick in performance. We can always benefit from that later.

I'm pretty sure my existing power supply will fit the bill for this new computer as well. When the cost comes down a bit, I'll upgrade to one of those 80Plus certified power supplies. Additionally I will be re-using our existing DVD drive.

Looking at the above, I will now be able to:

1. Use PMR Hard Drives to back up our data
2. Run Windows 7 (and most importantly, WMC 7!)
3. Display 1080p effectively
4. Encode Video reasonably
5. Slightly improve our energy efficiency
6. Use HDMI Output

It's not everything I wanted, but it also minimizes the investment necessary to record live tv, improve the visual aesthetics, capture HD video from external sources, or enjoy BluRay videos. Best of all, I can add each of those in any order I want, depending on how my priorities may change.

Silencing hard drives

As one of the few remaining parts within your computer that utilizes moving pieces, the hard drive can frequently be a source of clicks, whirs, and other vibration noises. Various solutions exist to attempt to solve this, but this is the first one I've seen that looks like it keeps the drive quiet, doesn't compromise the drive's cooling, all while keeping the drive mounted in a manor that keeps it safe from the occasional bump.



Basically, the drive is held in place in a 5.25" drive bay by nylon ropes. These ropes keep the drive safe, all while negating any vibrations the drive may cause and air is still able to flow unencumbered over the drive.

More information available here. Found via LifeHacker

The Savant Experience in NYC

The Unofficial Apple Weblog has an interesting look at Savant's 100% Apple (and quite extreme) home automation set up. It's quite jaw dropping, and certainly inspirational.

http://www.tuaw.com/2010/04/12/tuaw-tv-the-savant-experience-in-nyc/

Apple TV review - Part 1 of 3 - Setting the stage

I've been on a never ending quest for the perfect media setup for a mac user. I'm looking for a simple solution to do 3 things.

1. Play my local videos as easy and as high quality as possible.

2. DVR shows over cable as well as Tivo does.

3. Rent/buy/stream movies from online sources. I love action and sci-fi movies, my wife loves drama and comedies.

4. Needs to be kid friendly. This means parental controls, and access to good kids movies and tv shows.

It would be great if I could do this all in HD. I have kids, so I'm not a huge audiophile, just because when I watch an action movie that needs cranking, I can't because my kids are asleep. So surround sound isn't a big deal to me (ask again in 10 years). I don't want to have to use a mouse, or switch a complicated input setup. I also don't need a bunch of unnecessary social features. I guess tv watching isn't something I really need opinions on.

I decided about a year ago to look into the Apple TV It looked like it could fill some of those roles nicely although it doesn't do DVR, and I'm assuming it never will since apple sells movies and tv shows instead through itunes.

I picked up the 40 gig model, and connected it to my 1080p 38" Vizio.

Installation

Apple describes installation pretty well in this pdf, so I won't cover the details, but its extremely simple. There's also a nice page on apple's support site for beginners here.

Installation is a snap, just one HDMI cable to the TV and a power cable from the ATV.

You'll first be guided onscreen to connect to your wireless network.

Then you'll need to wirelessly pair the ATV to your desktop machine's itunes, it will begin automatically syncing (copying) all movies and TV shows you have in itunes to your ATV. Occasionally there's issues finding the ATV in itunes, so if you run into that, this page can help fix it.

I wanted a bit of control, so I chose to update manually, which lets you check and uncheck which tv shows and movies you add. You can also add custom music playlists, photo libraries in the same fashion.

The apple store is where I got most of my movies. But if encoded correctly, It also is a great way to view movies from alternate sources. But movie ripping is bad, m'kay?

If you have a few gigs worth of movies, it will take an evening or so before all your movies will show up. So keep that in mind on your first evening.

Look for part 2 of 3 in the next few days where we look at how it works on a daily basis.

Introduction to MagicJack

Here's something I'm looking forward to playing with in the future. It doesn't seem to take much, and could easily run off our HTPC, but a friend recommended paring this up with a Linksys PAP2 if you wanted it to be free of a PC.

Logitech Harmony remotes for Windows control (Part 3: Activities!)

Now comes the productive part: creating activities. In this example, we'll be setting up an activity to launch and control Hulu Desktop on your PC, using the Harmony remote.

In order to continue, be sure you have your devices added to the Logitech Harmony Remote Software. Primarily, you'll need your TV and the "Media Center PC" that we added in Part 2.

Note: The following directions were written for Logitech Harmony Remote Software 7.7

1. On the 'Activities' tab of the Harmony software, click the 'Add Activity' button.
2. Choose to manually add the activity.
3. Type of activity is 'Utility'
4. Chose Chose 'Generic Activity (Create a custom Activity)
5. Chose Next
6. Add your TV, as well as the 'Media Center PC'. If you're using some type of sound processor or receiver, you'll want to add it as well (I will not be using one for this example). Chose Save.
7. Chose the proper input for your TV (Input RGB on my Vizio)
8. Chose 'I don't need to set the input on my Microsoft Media Center PC)
9. Verify that in the report your TV is on, set to the proper input, and that no unnecessary devices are powered on. Hit Done.

Now you'll find yourself back at the Harmony Activities page. In the 'Generic Activity' box, click Customize Buttons. Now you'll have to go through and specify what each button on the Harmony is going to do for this activity. Each button must have the device, as well as the command programmed. Keep in mind that you only need to program the buttons you want to use, but that any button you leave unmapped will have no function. My button map looks like the following:

Click to enlarge.

We're almost done. Click the 'Additional Buttons' tab. This is where you can program the screen buttons to perform particular functions. Remember the Ctrl+Alt+A functions that we taught the Harmony earlier? Here is where we'll use those.

Label one Start Hulu, specify the Device to be Media Center PC, and the Command to be Ctrl+Alt+A

Note: Whatever you list as the 'Label' is what text will be displayed on the remote's screen. It's recommended that you keep this screen fairly simple to keep you from having to cycle between screens frequently.


Click DONE. Now you're almost ready to program the remote. In the Generic Activity box, click Settings. Choose Rename Generic Activity, and give it something more appropriate, like 'Watch Hulu'. Hit Done, then you find yourself back at the Remote Software's main screen. Make sure your Harmony is connected via USB, and click 'Update Remote'. Go ahead and minimize the Remote Software while it programs your Harmony.

Now you'll want to download and install Hulu Desktop if you haven't already. Once it's installed, make a shortcut to the application. The install process likely put a shortcut on your desktop, so we'll use that one.

Right click the icon and choose Properties. Click in the 'Shortcut key' field, and press the A key on your keyboard. Windows will automatically append Ctrl+Alt+ in front of it. Click OK.

Click to enlarge.

Now that you're remote is likely programmed, make sure your USB IR Receiver is plugged in, and give it a whirl. Launching your activity should now power on your TV, and set it to the proper input. From there you can launch Hulu by pressing the 'Start Hulu' screen button.

It's possible to combine the 'Start Hulu' function with the rest of everything else when you start the Activity, but as I use my HTPC for more than just Hulu, I like to have them separated.

Any problems, questions, or suggestions, use the comments!

Logitech Harmony remotes for Windows control (Part 2: Command Teaching)

So, by now you've got your Logitech Harmony remote, as well as the remote you'll be using to teach the Harmony how to control your PC.

(See Part 1 if you're lost)

2) Add a new Device in the Harmony Remote Software. Give it the following information:

Device: Computer > Media Center PC

Manufacturer: Microsoft

Model: A90-00007

This is the model number of a generic Microsoft Media Center Edition remote control. For our purposes, it doesn't matter what you put in here, but loading in the profile of a Media Center remote control requires the least amount of clean-up later, and makes it simple to keep the mapping of the functions between the DealExtreme (DE) remote and the Harmony logical.

If you purchased an actual Windows Media Center remote, you'll want to put in your remote's actual model number. If you're having trouble with that, call Logitech for support. You will probably also not need to follow the rest of this guide.

3) Chose 'Learn IR' under the Media Center PC

Plug the Harmony in to the computer running the Harmony software via USB. You can program ANY button on the DE remote to ANY command listed here. You can even create additional commands if you want to use one that's not listed here (we will do that, too).

You don't have to do them all, in fact for my purposes, I only mapped the following commands:

PowerToggle
VolumeUp
VolumeDown
DirectionRight (6 on the DE Remote)
DirectionLeft (4 on the DE Remote)
DirectionUp (2 on the DE Remote)
DirectionDown (8 on the DE Remote)
Back (Backspace on the DE Remote)
Enter (5 on the DE Remote)
FastForward
Mute
Pause
Play
Rewind
Stop

Now for the custom commands, I made 5 of them (Why? Because these Ctl+Alt key commands are great for launching applications!) :

Name: Ctrl+Alt+A
Map to: Blue-green 'A/Music' button on DE Remote

Name: Ctrl+Alt+B
Map to: Orange 'B/Movie' button on DE Remote

Name: Ctrl+Alt+C
Map to: Blue 'C/Photo' button on DE Remote

Name: Ctrl+Alt+D
Map to: Yellow 'D/TV' button on DE Remote

Name: Left Click
Map to: 'L' button on DE Remote

Note: The reason for these names is because these are the key combinations that those buttons on the DE remote are permanently mapped to.

If you're feeling adventurous, you can try to capture the mouse movements from the DE Remote. However, the DE Remote's mouse controlling feature is the worst part about the remote, as it's very difficult to capture absolute directions from it. Even still, using a digital remote to control a mouse is frustrating and slow--even when it works perfectly.

Keep in mind that the command's name is what the Harmony software will use to reference that command, it has no bearing on what the command actually does. For the sake of simplicity, you'll want to map them as directly as you can (DE Power button to the PowerToggle command, DE 0 button to 0 command, etc).

Also, it's a good idea to not have the USB IR receiver plugged in during this process. You don't want the DE remote accidentally telling your computer to shut down while you're teaching the Logitech its commands.

Now that the commands have been taught to the Harmony, we'll have to move on to configuring the Harmony's "Activities", which we'll continue in Part 3.

Logitech Harmony remotes for Windows control (Part 1: Introduction)

Anyone who has used a Logitech Harmony remote knows that while the programming interface is simple, it's no small task to get the remote configured 'just right'. You can fully expect to be in the application a lot for the first few weeks, always mapping a button, or tweaking an 'activity'. Making the remote control a PC is quite a bit more of a headache than I expected, but the end results are quite satisfying.

What you need to make this happen is a bit confusing, as the Logitech Harmony series of remotes are not 'Universal Remotes' so much as they are 'Remote Aggregators'. Chances are unless you've used a Harmony, you're wondering what a 'Remote Aggregator' is. Honestly, I just made it up, but it fits.

With a normal universal remote, you provide some Manufacturer's codes and in a few minutes you're able to power on your DVD player, cable box, and TV within a few seconds of each other.

Harmony remotes work a little differently. It's an "activity" based remote, which means you set up "Activities" (duh) involving multiple pieces of equipment using Logitech's programming interface. Usually you can just tell it the make and model of the device you wish the remote to replicate, and away it goes.

Unfortunately, even though Logitech is a company that is almost entirely based around PC peripherals, you cannot just punch in "Windows Computer" and watch it blow your mind. You have to make it replicate an existing Windows remote. Doing this is not time efficient, but is not too painful.

1) Acquire a PC remote control (yes, you must actually buy a remote to make your Harmony remote work). This is why the $9 DealExtreme remote stands out as such a good deal; you need both a USB IR Receiver, and a Remote to copy commands from. The remote is junk from a quality standpoint, but has a number of nice features, requires zero configuration to work on most computers, and being you only need to use it for maybe an hour, has a nice pricetag. You should be able to use the following guide for ANY remote to teach the Harmony, but an official MCE remote would take the least amount of work (I think, anyway).

2) Wait for the remote to be delivered. Once it shows up, continue on to part 2!

I can eliminate my cable bill? Where do I sign up?!

Most non-geeks' ears only perk up when I finally get to the 'cost' of our setup. In a world with 'triple-play packages', most people find themselves paying well over $100 a month to their cable/phone company. While our current setup doesn't have any phone capabilities, nor quite competes with TIVO's level of functionality, it covers the basics. Still, it's not for everyone.

What's the easiest way to see if it's for you? Simple. Take it for a test drive.

Assuming you've got an HDTV and a computer (a laptop would work well), taking a system like this for a test spin is simple.

First, get the right video cable. Check your TV's manual (or just take a look at the back, if you know what you're looking for) and see what types of inputs it accepts. Most LCDs these days have either VGA or DVI, and almost all of them have HDMI. Adapters are available if your TV has VGA, but your computer has DVI. A local computer store should be able to sell you one inexpensively. HDMI to VGA (or DVI) conversion is also possible, but it gets a little tricky. Don't get fooled into buying some pricey fancy HDMI cable. Cheap cables work just as well as expensive. I promise you.

Most LCD monitors allow you to remove the cable from the back of them, so you can typically just use the cable between your desktop and its monitor. If you're using a laptop, first make sure it has a VGA output (or HDMI output if it's new enough), then find a local computer store (avoid BestBuy/Target type stores if possible, they charge too much for these) and buy the cable you need. If you're using VGA you'll also need a 3.5mm stereo audio cable. HDMI will carry both your audio and video signal. Make sure the cables are male on both ends and 6 feet should be plenty for each of these cables, assuming you've got room around your TV for your computer.

Once you've got the cables connected to your monitor, make sure your inputs and resolutions are set properly, and you should be seeing your computer's desktop on your TV screen. You'll need to make sure your PC has a network connection, either wired or wireless. This may be ugly, but it's just for a short period.

Once you're online, congratulations, you're done!

From here, simply launch/view whatever media you wish. Using a keyboard and mouse may not be terribly convenient, but remember that you're just testing the waters here to see if the media selection available will mesh with your desires before you begin to sink money in fancy remote controls and/or wireless mice.

Below are the websites that we frequent when watching content:

http://www.hulu.com

http://www.adultswim.com

http://www.quicksilverscreen.com

http://www.netflix.com

Want to take it up a notch? Disconnect your cable or satellite box from the TV. Now you're actually simulating what it would be like if you didn't have cable (except the bill still shows up). Not having the ability to just 'switch over to watch the game' will really force you to feel out the setup's limitations.

If you're like us, you will also very quickly find one of the biggest bonuses of this type of setup: no more zombie-like "I'm just going to watch whatever is on." style of watching TV. Now you're watching a show because you want to watch THIS show, not just because you're bored and can't think of anything else to do. In the beginning, being forced to get up and try to find another show I wanted to watch was usually enough motivation to do something else entirely.

I encourage you to stick with this "test setup" for at least two weeks, to give you a chance to get over the honeymoon period, and to really begin to cope with what the system both offers and lacks. If you wind up hating it you can disconnect it all and put the computer back in the den. If you love it, you can then start thinking about what kinds of functionality you want to add, as well as begin working on a more permanent (and easier on the eyes) setup.

Page launch, and the current setup.

I've been finding myself enjoying playing with this type of tech lately, and a lot of it can be pretty overwhelming if you're not sure what you're doing. I also wanted to kind of 'give back', and help other people pull off what we're currently enjoying.

Our goal was to eliminate as much of our monthly home entertainment bill while making the smallest amount of 'content sacrifice' possible. While our setup isn't perfect, it certainly gets the job done, and doesn't leave us missing out on too many 'must haves'. Our current monthly bill for all this sits at $33: $8 for Netflix, and $25 for 1.5Mbps 'Dry Loop' DSL (means no phone service is required).

Our current setup:

- Vizio 42" 120hz TV

- Custom-built Windows XP computer (it's least 5 years old) connected via VGA.

- Terk HDTVa amplified digital antenna

- Logitech Harmony 520 Remote

- IR Receiver/Remote combo

The computer provides us with access to media sites like Hulu, QuickSilverScreen, and Netflix. The antenna gives us HD access to important live-events like the Olympics, and standard local channels for sports/news/weather/shows we can't catch on Hulu, like American Idol (my wife watches it... not me. Really!)

Everything is controlled with that Logitech Harmony 520 remote. The 520 is an older model, but almost all of the now-discontinued models are widely available on eBay. The cool thing about Harmony remotes is that they are all literally capable of the same stuff, it's just a matter of form factor, screen, rechargeable battery, etc. The one exception is if you want to use RF for some of your equipment, that is only available with the higher-end remotes. As an extra-frugal bonus, Logitech's configuration support is tied to when your user profile is created, not the purchase date of the remote. This means that even buying a used remote will give you 90 days of free phone support from Logitech.

I purchased that $9 remote almost exclusively for its IR Receiver, but the remote also proved useful for 'teaching' the Logitech the proper signals to control our PC.

Our computer currently doesn't support recording but I'm hoping to upgrade it soon so we can run full HD on it, and record shows off of the digital antenna. We could also use a bump in the bandwidth department, if only because it's just about impossible to download anything without causing the TV to begin pausing to rebuffer, even with QoS running on the router.

I would also like to tie the system in to some basic home automation, including light control, door notification (mostly to make sure we don't leave our garage doors open overnight, as we've done quite a bit before). The ability to put cameras on the house to monitor things like cars parked in our driveway over night would be a nice security addition, as well.

Throughout this blog I'll cover how we configured everything above to work together, as well as document the changes and evolution of our setup.