About my HTPC and remote control
Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2019 12:37 am
Hi HTPC enthusiasts,
As suggested by Paul I would like to give some hints for making CMC and a HTPC even more comfortable. I also got inspired to introduce my HTPC by other posts in this section of the forum.
What I really like on my HTPC is how I can operate it with my remote control. This requires however a specific case incl. an IR receiver which is connected to the power supply. I found this in the Moneual Moncasa 320 case, in my opinion a breathtaking beauty of a HTPC case which perfectly fits in Home Theater rack. It comes with a VFD display which can be programmed. Behind the display the IR receiver is hidden. Also an adaptor cable which connects between motherboard power and the power supply unit is included. As this adaptor cable is connected to the IR receiver, I can switch on my HTPC very comfortable with my remote control. (Upon request I would provide more info or pictures on this.)
Regarding remote control, I use a Logitech Harmony 525 which is a “universal” remote control. This means it can be programmed to be used for other devices as well. So I included my TV, LED illumination and air condition into my remote control. Not all functions of each device, but the most important, e.g. TV on/off, volume control, mute, channel input, or for my LEDs on/off, dimming, color pattern, or aircon on/off, colder/warmer and so on and so forth… I have linked CMC to my autostart folder, so it takes me two pushes on my remote control to switch my HTPC and TV on, wait 10s and I am in the middle of my movie collection.
Additionally I have the Logitech di Novo mini keyboard. This is a perfect match to CMC because it can be switched from mouse to keyboard mode. Therefore I can control CMC and all other programs on my HTPC with only one device. However, for CMC, watching movies and browse my library in only need the Logitech Harmony. Also it turned out as helpful if the remote devices have a background illumination.
I have my case and remote devices more than 10 years, but still think it is a great combination and enjoying it nearly every day. I am afraid some of these products are out of production already… The more I am happy that with CMC I could move on to Win10 and not depend on Microsoft MediaCenter anymore. Although I still keep my Win7 MediaCenter PC alive with MyMovies and TV tuner etc. but actually don’t use it anymore.
The hardware inside my HTPC has changed several times. Currently it includes an Asrock Fatal1ty ITX motherboard and i8100 CPU which are able to play UHD BD discs. OS and other programs are on a M.2 SSD, and my data on a local 4TB disc. I have only ripped my DVDs so far. For my BDs I need to improve my storage solution. I have a NAS running as well but only for backup purpose. So far I prefer to have a fast local HDD connection instead of a network solution.
I hope I could give you some ideas about my HTPC setup, which is in my opinion very convenient for user with a medium amount of data, but who want to watch movies in a comfortable way and good quality. Last but not least I have attached a picture of my case…
Cheers!
As suggested by Paul I would like to give some hints for making CMC and a HTPC even more comfortable. I also got inspired to introduce my HTPC by other posts in this section of the forum.
What I really like on my HTPC is how I can operate it with my remote control. This requires however a specific case incl. an IR receiver which is connected to the power supply. I found this in the Moneual Moncasa 320 case, in my opinion a breathtaking beauty of a HTPC case which perfectly fits in Home Theater rack. It comes with a VFD display which can be programmed. Behind the display the IR receiver is hidden. Also an adaptor cable which connects between motherboard power and the power supply unit is included. As this adaptor cable is connected to the IR receiver, I can switch on my HTPC very comfortable with my remote control. (Upon request I would provide more info or pictures on this.)
Regarding remote control, I use a Logitech Harmony 525 which is a “universal” remote control. This means it can be programmed to be used for other devices as well. So I included my TV, LED illumination and air condition into my remote control. Not all functions of each device, but the most important, e.g. TV on/off, volume control, mute, channel input, or for my LEDs on/off, dimming, color pattern, or aircon on/off, colder/warmer and so on and so forth… I have linked CMC to my autostart folder, so it takes me two pushes on my remote control to switch my HTPC and TV on, wait 10s and I am in the middle of my movie collection.
Additionally I have the Logitech di Novo mini keyboard. This is a perfect match to CMC because it can be switched from mouse to keyboard mode. Therefore I can control CMC and all other programs on my HTPC with only one device. However, for CMC, watching movies and browse my library in only need the Logitech Harmony. Also it turned out as helpful if the remote devices have a background illumination.
I have my case and remote devices more than 10 years, but still think it is a great combination and enjoying it nearly every day. I am afraid some of these products are out of production already… The more I am happy that with CMC I could move on to Win10 and not depend on Microsoft MediaCenter anymore. Although I still keep my Win7 MediaCenter PC alive with MyMovies and TV tuner etc. but actually don’t use it anymore.
The hardware inside my HTPC has changed several times. Currently it includes an Asrock Fatal1ty ITX motherboard and i8100 CPU which are able to play UHD BD discs. OS and other programs are on a M.2 SSD, and my data on a local 4TB disc. I have only ripped my DVDs so far. For my BDs I need to improve my storage solution. I have a NAS running as well but only for backup purpose. So far I prefer to have a fast local HDD connection instead of a network solution.
I hope I could give you some ideas about my HTPC setup, which is in my opinion very convenient for user with a medium amount of data, but who want to watch movies in a comfortable way and good quality. Last but not least I have attached a picture of my case…
Cheers!