what is a NAS, what is media centre PC, what is a media portal?

TheBearNecessities

can anyone help me understand what these things are in plain english?

and what are these things , I can't figure all this out! :rotfl:

ICY BOX IB-168

hdx 1000

456789

NAS - Network Attached Storage - you can connect the drive(s) to a network and access it via any computer on the network

Media Centre PC - PC designed to manage tv/film/music collections and be connected to flat screen tv/good sound system etc. some come with remote etc. Also known as HTPC

Media Portal - type of management software for a Media Centre PC

ICY BOX IB-168 - Swappable hard drive rack

Networked Media Player - like a HTPC but just a box with firmware on it rather than a full computer - so like a dvd player for playing computer files

TheBearNecessities

Thank-you.

What is the point in the 'networked' part of a Networked Media Player? Is that just so that you can move your music files onto it...from your computer?

Is there a freeview PVR thing that is designed to allow for easy use with a PC. For example so that programs and movies can easily be moved both ways?

Really appreciate your input, been confuddled by these questions for ages.

DCFC79

I think a Networked Media Player is something that will allow you to access your music, photos on other devices and not just the pc,

456789

Yes - Networked means that you can move files over the network rather than copy it onto a disc etc.

Not really sure on that point - You can check the freeview boxes in stores to see if they have usb or ethernet connections or record them onto a dvd

An alternative would be to get a TV card which supports freeview and record direct onto your pc

prowla

Things you save on a computer are files: pictures (BMP, JPEG, TIFF, GIF and others), music (MP3), movies (MP4, MOV), and even the programs you run. They are generally stored on the computers hard disk, but can be on USB memory sticks or CD/DVD ROMs.

Most current computers can be networked, which means that they can talk to the Internet (for email and Web), or to other computers (eg. to access the files on another computer).

A NAS (Network Attached Storage) is a box with one or more hard disks in it that can sit on that network to store files. A computer accesses it in just the same way as if it were another computer that it was talking to.

The advantage of a NAS is that it is a small self-contained unit (or applicance) that just does the one job. It does not have to be in the same room as the computer that is accessing it. (In fact it could be in a different building or even another country if you have the network set up.) So you could have your 1TB NAS storage full of movies and music hidden away in a cupboard, whilst you access it from your nice slimline portable laptop.

Normal PCs are geared towards doing computing. A Media PC (MPC) is a PC that has some extra features for sound (audio) and video replay, including software to present the content in a nice easy way and suitable audio (phono plugs) and video (SCART and S-Video) sockets, and typically a remote control. Basically a Sky+ box is a media PC.

TheBearNecessities

How does a tv card work? do i need a huge broadband connection to use a tv card and how do i know my graphics are good enough?

how can i connect my PC to my computer if i wanted to watch films and stuff that's stored on my PC? it's close by so i can use a wire but don't know what technology i need.

how can i save my stuff from a pvr to free up space on it? like i have a sky+ box at the mo. do you have to by a dvd recorder and plug it into the sky+ box using an MDMI cable?

sorry i know i'm all over the place with the questions but these things have been bugging me for years. even if you can only answer one question please do...:beer: thanks.

456789

a tv card gets plugged into a pci slot or via usb - it gets the signal through an aerial cable not through the internet so bandwidth doesn't matter - it should list gfx requirements on the box

do you mean to a tv? vga to component should work
for sky+ see: http://www.radioandtelly.co.uk/skyplus.html

[FONT=Verdana, Arial]You can connect a video or DVD recorder to your Sky+ box, to allow you to copy shows recorded on your Sky+ box... great for archiving series recorded using Sky's Series Link. Note that there is a restriction on copying Sky Box Office movies.

Connection to a recorder can be made in one of the following ways:[/FONT]

• [FONT=Verdana, Arial]Connect from one of the Sky+ box's two SCART sockets to the recorder, then set the recorder to record from its Line In or AUX input, and it should be able to see and record the output of your Sky box[/FONT]
• [FONT=Verdana, Arial]A lower quality option is to take the RF aerial output from the Sky box using a standard aerial cable and connect it to your recorder. You then need to tune the DVD recorder to the Sky box channel. More in our Modulator FAQ[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial]For help with connecting to a recorder, see our Connection page.[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana, Arial]Exporting recordings[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial]Exporting of recordings as data files from your Sky+ box is not supported - you can't copy off recorded programmes from Sky+ onto a USB stick, or stream off content as data to a PC. Here are your options:[/FONT]

1. [FONT=Verdana, Arial]Connect via SCART to a stand-alone DVD recorder - see our FAQ entry[/FONT]
2. [FONT=Verdana, Arial]Consider something like the Neuros OSD or the Pinnacle PVT Video Transfer, which lets you copy video content to a USB device.[/FONT]
3. [FONT=Verdana, Arial]Connect the output of your Sky+ box to a PC via a PC TV tuner, and record onto PC that way. See our TV on your PC page[/FONT]

Ice_2

456789 wrote: »

a tv card gets plugged into a pci slot or via usb - it gets the signal through an aerial cable not through the internet so bandwidth doesn't matter - it should list gfx requirements on the box

do you mean to a tv? vga to component should work
for sky+ see: http://www.radioandtelly.co.uk/skyplus.html

Hi I have noticed on my sky hd box there s a sata and usb at the back and a usb at the front, can I attach a usb external drive to this and copy movies and series link programs over to the drive.
thanks.