| Acknowledgments | p. xi |
| Introduction | p. xiii |
| Assembling Your PC Home Entertainment System | |
| The Advantages of Building | p. 3 |
| Get Just What You Want | p. 3 |
| Personal Video Recorder | p. 4 |
| Audio Jukebox | p. 5 |
| DVD Player and Recorder | p. 6 |
| Custom Appearance | p. 7 |
| Ultimate Game System | p. 8 |
| Internet Radio | p. 8 |
| Saving Money | p. 9 |
| Customizing a PC You Already Own | p. 10 |
| Choosing Basic Components | p. 11 |
| Choosing Your Case | p. 12 |
| Case Styles | p. 13 |
| Power Supply Considerations | p. 16 |
| Selecting a Motherboard | p. 18 |
| Motherboard Form Factors | p. 18 |
| The Project Motherboard | p. 19 |
| Processor Realities | p. 20 |
| Intel or AMD? | p. 20 |
| Minimum Speeds | p. 21 |
| The Project Processor | p. 21 |
| Memory Minimums | p. 22 |
| How Much Is Enough? | p. 22 |
| What Kind of Memory Should You Buy? | p. 23 |
| The Project Memory | p. 23 |
| The Operating System: Windows XP | p. 24 |
| Basic Options for Upgraders | p. 25 |
| Assembling the Basic Components | p. 26 |
| Installing the Motherboard | p. 27 |
| Installing the Processor | p. 34 |
| Installing the Memory | p. 39 |
| Selecting a Video System | p. 43 |
| Choosing a Video Adapter | p. 44 |
| AGP vs. PCI Video Adapters | p. 44 |
| Video Capture | p. 45 |
| TV Out | p. 47 |
| Digital Video Output | p. 48 |
| Choosing a TV Tuner Card | p. 49 |
| Stand-alone TV Tuner Cards | p. 49 |
| Integrated TV Tuner/Video Cards | p. 50 |
| External TV Tuners | p. 52 |
| Installing the Project Video Card | p. 53 |
| Some Video Extras | p. 54 |
| An Amplified Antenna | p. 54 |
| An Audio and Video Broadcast System | p. 55 |
| Large LCD Display | p. 56 |
| A Video Card for Upgraders | p. 57 |
| Choosing Your Audio System | p. 59 |
| Selecting Sound Output Options | p. 60 |
| Features to Look For | p. 60 |
| Installing Your Sound Options | p. 66 |
| Audio Amplification Recommendations | p. 66 |
| Connecting to Your Existing Audio System | p. 66 |
| Buying a New Amplifier | p. 67 |
| Speaker System Options | p. 68 |
| Understanding Speaker Systems and Sounds | p. 68 |
| Powered Speaker Systems | p. 69 |
| Audiophile Speaker Systems | p. 71 |
| Getting the Right Storage Systems | p. 73 |
| Choosing a Hard Drive | p. 74 |
| A/V Content Burns Space | p. 74 |
| Disk Performance Equals Playback Quality | p. 75 |
| Using RAID for Higher Performance | p. 76 |
| The Home Entertainment System PC Hard Drive | p. 78 |
| Adding a Floppy Disk Drive | p. 79 |
| Choosing a Floppy Disk Drive | p. 79 |
| Painting the Floppy Disk Drive | p. 79 |
| Installing the Floppy Disk Drive | p. 82 |
| Choosing a DVD Drive | p. 87 |
| Playing Movies | p. 87 |
| Playing Audio CDs | p. 88 |
| Painting the DVD Drive | p. 88 |
| Installing the DVD Drive | p. 88 |
| Installing the Hard Drive | p. 93 |
| Mounting and Connecting the Hard Drive | p. 93 |
| Partitioning and Formatting the Hard Drive | p. 95 |
| Installing the Operating System | p. 98 |
| Distributing Your Content | p. 103 |
| Networking Your Content | p. 104 |
| Wireless Networking Options | p. 104 |
| Ethernet Networking | p. 108 |
| Other Types of Networking | p. 113 |
| The Bottom Line on Networking | p. 114 |
| Adding a DVD Burner | p. 114 |
| Which DVD Format? | p. 115 |
| Burning Your Own Mix | p. 116 |
| Creating DVD Movies | p. 116 |
| Audio and Video Signal Sharing | p. 117 |
| Wireless Audio and Video Signal Sharing | p. 117 |
| Wired Audio and Video Signal Sharing | p. 119 |
| Streaming Your Content | p. 120 |
| Adding a Second DVD Drive | p. 121 |
| Getting More from Your PC Home Entertainment System | |
| Accessing New Content | p. 125 |
| Internet Access | p. 126 |
| Internet Connection Options | p. 128 |
| DSL and Cable | p. 128 |
| Other Connection Options | p. 130 |
| Finding Your Web Content | p. 133 |
| The Issues of Online Content Distribution | p. 133 |
| Finding the Legal Sites | p. 133 |
| TV Signals | p. 135 |
| Over-the-Air TV | p. 135 |
| TV Signals from Your Satellite Receiver | p. 136 |
| Cable TV | p. 137 |
| Recorded Content from Your VCR | p. 137 |
| Nice Extras You'll Want to Have | p. 139 |
| Wireless Input | p. 139 |
| Wireless Keyboard | p. 140 |
| Wireless Mouse | p. 141 |
| Wireless Trackball | p. 142 |
| Remote Controls | p. 143 |
| RF Remote Controls | p. 143 |
| Infrared Remote Controls | p. 145 |
| Partnering with Your Pocket PC | p. 146 |
| Streaming Video on Your Pocket PC | p. 146 |
| Wireless Pocket PC | p. 147 |
| NetOp Remote Control | p. 149 |
| UPS | p. 151 |
| Game Controllers | p. 152 |
| Software to Make It All Work | p. 155 |
| Configuring the Audio Settings | p. 156 |
| Installing the Audio Drivers | p. 156 |
| Using the Audio Configuration Panel | p. 157 |
| Correcting Audio Stuttering | p. 162 |
| Configuring the ATI Video Options | p. 163 |
| Installing the ATI Drivers | p. 163 |
| Configuring the Video Display | p. 163 |
| Configuring the ATI Multimedia Center | p. 166 |
| Installing the MSI DVD Player | p. 172 |
| Using the MSI DVD Player | p. 172 |
| Configuring the MSI DVD Player | p. 173 |
| Using the TV Application | p. 177 |
| Understanding the TV Modes | p. 177 |
| Using TV-On-Demand | p. 179 |
| Scheduling TV Player Events | p. 180 |
| Using the Guide Plus+ TV Listings | p. 182 |
| Recording Directly to DVD | p. 183 |
| Using Windows Media Player | p. 183 |
| Ripping Content with the Windows Media Player | p. 183 |
| Creating Playlists | p. 185 |
| Recording Audio CDs with the Windows Media Player | p. 186 |
| Creating DVD Movies | p. 187 |
| The Conclusion | p. 188 |
| A Shopping List | p. 191 |
| The Basics | p. 191 |
| Optional Add-Ons | p. 196 |
| Online Sources | p. 201 |
| Index | p. 203 |
| Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved. |