bigdaddyvtec

OK.

USS

I did some research on my 7600GT and it can play HD stuff.

I tried doing it a while ago using component cables and VLC to play some files. I think they were standard resolution movies so the quality sucked on my 32" TV.

I'm going to download some HD ---- and see if it looks better. If it still looks crappy I'll upgrade.

miss-piggy

You guys are making this way too hard.

1 Video card with dual outputs(VGA and DVI or DVI and DVI depending on your monitors) of your choice and budget. Anything in the $100 range at this point will handle HDTV assuming you have the ram and processor to compliment it. Shove one DVI cable to your computer monitor and the other to your to your big screen. Most likely you will want to use VGA for this as most TVs use VGA vs DVI but more expensive ones have DVI. Then just switch screens on a needed basis. Assuming your card doesn't suck, it should be able to put out at least 1920x1080 which is full 1080p.

1 HDTV Tuner Card. Read some reviews and make a choice. You are only going to get 1080i from your TV signal so don't get too caught up in the OMG I need 1080p. That is only for BlueRay and Video games which would be shoved directly to your monitor though an input. Do not run these through your computer or you will have a 5 second delay.

4GB of RAM and lots of HD space(I wouldn't think of anything less than 500gb) and Vista w/ Media Center.

That's it. You should be more than able to do what you want.

USS

I looked into things and I need a VGA/DVI to HDMI (or component) adapter for my graphics card.

I'll keep looking into HDTV tuner cards.

cdscivic

I just built one of these, w the help of one of my buddies. We fucked up on the RAM though and itss an OLD *** processor. Athlon XP 1600 on a Abit KG7 LOL...you like that ----! Anyway, we fucked up on the RAM and only used 1 gig, that was def not enough. The Video card is a bare bones fanless piece that supports HD up to 1080i, and it chops so bad. I am upping the RAM soon and i think that will solve the chop issue, as my boy runs the same setup and his has 2 gig of ram and plays HD no problem.

I need to upgrade my ----, my regular PC is pretty decent though.

I NEVER had sucess with my 360 playing any kind of movies, it always pisses me off that you couldnt play Divx on there, that is so ------- gay. Did I read right and it CAN play that now?!?

So who has the hookup on sweet HD flicks on torrents? I use Pirates Bay, but they dont have a ton of HD stuff. I saw a poster say they had a good site, any chance you can PM me the site or no?
I understand if not, I have been in that scene ever since freedreamcast.net/FTP Daze/Resurection FXP ... lol. wow, those were the days!

MAJORAHOLE

is your 360 on xbox live, beacue you have to be connected at all times to be able to play non-wmv ----.
as far recording hdtv you should remember that 1hr of uncompressed hd video is equal to about 1gb.

i used my 360 with a 350gb external hdd. i had to used macdrive, or something, to format it to a mac files system so the 360 would be able to play hd ---- thats more than 4gb.
as far as hd over the 360, most files out for download are in mkv format, you have to convert them over to wmv-hd vc-1, i think? its been a while since i have done it becasue it takes my comp 25hrs for 1 movie. 768mg ram 2.4gh celeron laptop.
im sure your comp would be much faster though. i used widows media editor, i think, to convert them.

Jorsher

I can't invite people because my ratio is too low, but yes there's a good tracker out there that will max j00 connection

USS

Well, I sold my TV and am looking at buying a 22-24" flat panel to go along with my 19" (Josher, cough cough)

I'm researching HD tuners, but I'm definitely going 1TB on the hard drive.

If I have cable, does the coaxial go right into the TV tuner? I know my HD cable uses component but I don't remember if it had a coaxial out or not.