Build A Digital Entertainment Center

By all rights, the PC should be the center of today's digital media universe. Modern PCs, after all, can download and play nearly any media type: music, movies, videos, radio and television programs, photos, games, and more. So why hasn't PC replaced household media devices?

In part, because today's PCs simply don't look the part. While building a true home entertainment system on a PC platform has become both commercially and technologically viable, most PCs still look like office equipment. On the other hand, specialty media players from companies such as Actiontec and cd3o are too limited in their feature set, especially since they come at a premium price.

The trick for white-box system builders is to build a system that not only pushes high-resolution movies and sound through a computer, but also looks and feels like it belongs in a home theater. It is doable, and for less trouble and cost than you might expect.

Ingredients

Just about any PC can play music and video, but here are the components that you'll need to build a truly special media PC. The required PC components ring up just over $800 street price, although adding a dedicated video card for gaming pushes the cost nearer $1000.

• AOpen XC Cube AV: The core of this recipe is this small form-factor PC. It has been designed specifically for this very purpose. The XC Cube sports an array of front-panel buttons and displays that look like they belong on a high-end bookshelf audio system rather than a desktop computer. A radio/TV tuner card is also included. We populated our cube with a 2.8 GHz Pentium 4. While that's overkill for DVD playback, it gives the system some performance breathing room. Also, the small case provides limited cooling options, so stepping down a few hundred MHz is advisable. AOpen specifies the XC Cube only up to 3.2 GHz. Street price is roughly $350.

• LCD TV: Our AV PC displays on a BenQ DV2680 LCD TV display. With a street price of about $1,400, this 26-inch LCD screen provides rock-solid display of up to 1280 x 768 resolution. Plus, it's large enough to pass for a "real TV" without pricing itself into the stratosphere. Copious inputs and a sleek black design make it a flexible and attractive choice.

• Hard drive: The XC Cube supports Serial ATA drives, and its space is at a premium. So we chose Maxtor's 6Y160M0, a meat-and-potatoes, 160-GB drive that can hold countless hours of music and video. Unfortunately, the SATA cable included in the XC Cube packaging is outrageously short, so a replacement is in order. This drive can be had for under $100 street price.

• InstantON CD: This OS, supplied by Aopen, boots quickly to provide music and movies on demand. Keep in mind, it's not a replacement for a full-fledged PC OS, but simply an addition. InstantON comes bundled by AOpen, so its cost is included in the price of the Cube.

• Windows XP Professional: While this is optional, due to the included InstantON software, most customers demand that any machine that looks like a real computer, also acts like one. So let's include Windows. While there are Media editions of XP, the tried-and-true Pro version offers the greatest flexibility for those times when the user isn't stretching the capabilities of the InstantON OS. Another benefit: Windows can play videos in the up-and-coming XviD and DivX formats; InstantON cannot. OEM pricing varies, but XP Professional can be had for $150 or less.

• CD/DVD Burner: Although a simple reader is all that's required, a few dollars more gets you CD- and DVD-burning capabilities, too. So why not? The we used in our build handles all burnable DVD media types between 4x and 12x speeds, and it reads DVDs at 12x speed. Price: Under $60.

• Memory: Because the XC Cube uses a dual-channel memory controller design, exactly matched pairs of DIMMs (dual in-line memory modules) will result in the best performance. We used dual 256-MB DDR 400 sticks. DDR 400 is the highest speed supported by the motherboard, and the narrowing price gap between DDR 400 and DDR 333 makes it worth taking the plunge. Expect a street price of about $80 for the set.

• AGP Video Card: A multimedia system does not require a dedicated graphics card. The XC Cube comes with onboard video, and virtually all onboard video chips are sufficient to the 2-D rendering demands of DVD playback. However, the onboard video is VGA out, while a DVI output found on many dedicated graphics cards is superior for LCD display. If the system will not be used for high-end gaming, a modest card such as the -- which provides onboard DVI and S-Video out -- would be an appropriate choice. Any large-format card with a bulky heat sink or fan will be out of the question, however, due to the cramped dimensions of the case. Also, the InstantON features of the XC Cube cannot be viewed through an external video card. The 5900XT runs about $170.

• Speakers: The Creative Inspire 6.1 6600 is a good entry-level multi-speaker system. It takes advantage of all six channels of audio on the output of the XC Cube. While a true audiophile client may specify a different speaker set, or prefer to supply their own, this cluster is a good choice for a small home theater. Expect a street price around $80-$90 for the set.

• Video Decoders and Playback Software: To ensure that Windows is fully loaded for all media types, install the free XviD and DivX video decoders. Both offer a spin on the MPEG-4 video compression format (DVDs use the older MPEG-2 system). To provide clients with yet another media interface option, also install Winamp 5, which is also free.

  Here's a look at the Winamp setup page:

  

  
  

  And here's Winamp in action:

  

  
  

  13 Steps To Building a Digital Entertainment Center

  1. Open the XC Cube by removing the three external thumbscrews, then the outside cover. Next, remove the two screws fastening the drive bay to the case. Set aside the drive bay; if you need more room, disconnect the pre-installed media card reader. Remove the heat sink. Install the Pentium 4 CPU. Then replace the heat sink.

  2. Install the DVD and SATA hard drive in the drive cage. The hard drive will run perpendicular to the optical drive, as is fairly common in small form-factor designs. To attach power to the SATA drive, you will need to use the supplied adapter to convert the standard 4-pin hard drive connector to the SATA power plug.

  3. Attach all drive cables between the storage devices and the motherboard before replacing the drive cage. Make sure the cable for the internal media reader has not come loose. Then, replace the drive cage and re-fasten the screws.

  4. Install the included radio/TV tuner card in the XC Cube's single PCI slot. The tuner audio connector, which feeds its sound through the PC's output, is literally hidden behind the front panel audio and SPDIR connector audio right by the stack of audio plugs. Next, connect the external FM antenna. This step can wait until the Cube is installed at the client site, but regardless of who attaches the antenna, the antenna wire should be strung out as long and flat as possible.

  5. If you are supplying an AGP graphics card, install it now. The card secures in the slot with a sliding sheath on the motherboard. Replace the case housing and thumbscrew it into place.

  6. Unpack the LCD TV. Connect the graphics card's DVI port to the DVI port on the TV. Then connect the system's onboard VGA to the VGA port on the TV. (Although the graphics card's DVI will be used almost exclusively, the display of the InstantON software works only through the onboard video, not through an external AGP card.) Next, connect any external AV devices to the TV. The TV has three conventional video inputs: one dedicated component-in, suitable for a DVD player or HDTV receiver; and two secondary ports, each offering either composite or S-Video in.

  7. Boot the PC. During startup, press the Del key to enter the BIOS. Go into Advanced BIOS Features. Ensure that CD-ROM is the first listed boot option. Next, boot the PC from the InstantON installer CD. Follow the prompts to select the language to be used for the InstantON display. Then click Next. InstantON will claim a relatively small (100 MB) partition of the hard drive.

  8. Install Windows XP Professional. Be sure not to format the first partition on the drive, which is already hosting the InstantON software. Configure XP to use the customer's Windows workgroup or domain name, so the PC can be used as both a media server and playback device for the LCD TV.

  9. While Windows is installing, unpack and install the Creative 6-speaker set. The plugs are color-coded to match the three audio ports on the back of the XC Cube.

  10. Once Windows is fully booted, use the included driver CD to enable all hardware devices.

  11. Install Winamp. Accept the default settings. Decline the statistics-collection options.

  12. Install InterVideo Home Theater from the included AOpen CD. Home Theater provides DVD playback and otherwise roughly mirrors the capabilities of Windows Media Player and Winamp.

  13. Install the two special video codecs, DivX and XviD. This will ensure that the user can play the latest digitally encoded videos. XviD is a small package and a simple installer; accept all defaults, and reload any open media players to begin displaying AVI videos that use the XviD codec. For DivX, accept the default settings, but select No for the DivX Pro trial.

      Here's a look at the DivX setup page:

      

      
      

      And here's a look at the XviD setup screen:

      

      
      

  Congratulations, you've built a system that will play nearly any music or video format available in either stores or online, and with a large enough hard drive to build a considerable library of content. Your customer's biggest challenge? Finding coffee-table space for yet another remote control!

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  JASON COMPTON is a technology writer who has covered topics ranging from 8-bit entertainment to supercomputing for more than a decade.

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