Making use of an old computer

enor

Hi

We have an old PC (around 4 years old) which we would like to make some use out of and I have a few questions:

1)

My plan was to use our main TV as a monitor and hide the CPU away in the living room. It could then be used to browse the internet when we're not watching TV, with a wireless mouse and keyboard. The TV is a 26 inch LCD and is a few months old, would it be possible to do this and if yes how would they connect?

2)

I would also like to use it to record SKY digital using it like a PVR. Can this be done as well?

3)

Would I be able to use the old monitor as a TV in another room with a digital signal receiver?

I've been trying to find out how to do this for a while but it everything seems to point towards using windows media center. I already use this on my main PC to watch TV but I think its, a) not going to work with SKY and b) cost too much for the hardware.

Any advice would be very welcome


enor

dag_2

1) Does your TV have a PC input? If so, then you'll probably be able to connect your computer to your TV with an ordinary monitor lead.

If your TV doesn't have a PC input, it could be more complicated. Your TV may have a SCART input, however, computer screen scan rates are usually much higher than TV screen scan rates. And although (pricey) converters do exist, you wouldn't want to be doing computer work close up to an ordinary TV screen for any length of time, because the flicker will make you ill.

2) If you've got a TV card in your computer - that's a gadget whcih allows you to use your computer to watch TV - then yes, you can connect the output of your Sky receiver to the input of your computer's TV card, and it can record anything. Bear in mind that you will need reasonably good CPU speed and memory spec to be sure that the computer is able to keep up with the video feed.

However, if your TV card has a digital input, it may be possible to record the MPEG compressed feeds, without your computer having to recompress an uncompressed video signal. This means that recording will put much less demand on your computer, and a computer with lower spec is more likely to be able to do it successfully without missing frames.

To be honest, though, PVR's are getting cheaper. You may find that getting a standalone PVR is either not much more expensive, or possibly even cheaper, than the TV card you need for your computer that allows your computer to do it, if don't already have a suitable TV card for your computer.

3) Unless the old monitor also doubles up as a TV, probably not.

aliEnRIK

The internet will look AWFUL on your tv. I would advise against it if just to save straining your eyes!

wanye

it all depends on the spec and what expansion ports are available.

first off, plugging it into your TV. it depends on what inputs the tv has. it could have a 15pin vga input (aka PC in) - if so, you just need a monitor cable.
another option is if your video card has a DVI output (depends on the graphics card in the PC) - if so, youll need a DVI>HDMI cable (assuming the tv has hdmi) - you can pick on up from sainsburys for around a tenner (or online. they are widely used these days)
your pc may have a composite output. this is low quality compared to the others, but it would work.

finally, you would need to fit a new graphics card with some sort of compatible output.
if you want to record, you would need a video-in device. again, your graphics card may have it onboard already (my old gforce4 card had video in/out on it as well as DVI and 15 pin VGA)

you could use a USB capture device. you can pick these up for £20 upwards nowadays. unlikely you would get it to control your sky box though (more elaborate devices can be sourced though)

personally, i would say it all depends on how noisy the PC is. i would stick the base unit in the spare room, hook it up to a network (power lan kit could be used - see http://www.hotukdeals.com/item/240541/devolo-dlan-200-aveasy-starter-kit-/ )
get a media centre pc. a mac mini is a good one. you can pick up a second hand one off ebay for ~£200-250 now. use PLEX media centre software, and then host the videos on the old PC and stream them to the media centre. an xbox360 or PS3 could also be used for this.

ill warn you now, web browsing on a PC plugged into the tv isnt the best way to do things, especially when sat 10 feet away on a sofa looking at a 26" screen (closeup will be ok, but youll still need a comfortable sitting position)

if you have the make/model of PC then this would be a start. a full spec list would be even better. it all depends on what it has in it already.

HTH.

shadowdragon

I had my PC linked to my 32" LCD TV and was sat "ontop of it" for over a year and there was no flicker whatsoever. The quality wasnt as good as the 19" Widescreen monitor im using now but it was acceptable and far from poor quality.

The only reason I dont have the pc still hooked up to it is because we remodelled the lounge and it wasnt feasable to use the pc in there anymore.

mdbarber

damm fine idea, check these out, and the forums are more specific to what you are asking
http://www.gbpvr.com/
http://www.team-mediaportal.com/
and my own baby
http://www.members.lycos.co.uk/maddogbarber//DSCF0077.JPG
Thats a "50 and is fine for internet on a vga cable
you'll need a/or 2 sat card available from about £45.00incl remote
To get scrambled you are looking at a fair bit more in expense and complexity

enor

Thanks everyone.

Lots of food for thought here. The main problem we have is space, we simply have nowhere in the house to sit another computer with monitor and everything else.

At the moment the PC is boxed up at a relatives (we can't even store it here!) so I've no idea about the spec. To be honest if it needs a new graphics/tv card I probably won't bother. The TV does have a PC input which is what gave me this idea in the first place. If its just a case of plugging the monitor cable into this I might give it a go with this PC and see how it looks.

I do have a USB TV tuner thingee which we tried to use with freeview, however we are in a poor reception area so only pick up a handfull of channels. I wonder if this would work with sky and if so how would I connect it?

I'm now going back to read the comments again and try a fw things out, I'll let you know how I got on.

Thanks
enor

fwor

enor wrote: »

I do have a USB TV tuner thingee which we tried to use with freeview, however we are in a poor reception area so only pick up a handfull of channels. I wonder if this would work with sky and if so how would I connect it?

No, sorry - the transmission standard for Freeview is not compatible with Sky.

A good outdoor aerial can make a really big difference in a poor reception area, so that may be worth looking into as well.