New computer

[wilkoturbo]

Hi all I've been given a small computer and would like to make it a media player eg I player 40d itv player and channel 5 , it's only in our bedroom but it's really really slow , so how can I make it fast !!! To play the videos


Many thanks paul

[X5Sport]

What are the system specs? Need to know what CPU and it's speed, RAM, Network Card, OS, hard drive capacity. How old is it? Finally, what is the PSU rated power?

Are you intending to store the video on it, or pull that from a network storage device? Do you intend to convert video (rip) from DVD and Blu-Ray?

I've just built my own media server system but have also used a NAS to hold video in the past. You obviously have broadband, or you would not be considering doing this any way. Your basic requirement is to install Windows Media Player. That will cope with DVDs, and a 100Mbps LAN capability will work fine - 10Mbps is a no go.

Looking at the picture, it appears to be an old office type workstation which don't tend to be high spec or fast.

If you want to go down the video storage and conversion route, throw this away and start again if its spec is low. Buy a dedicated Mediaplayer and external storage.

I have all my music, pictures, DVDs, CDs, BluRays and system back ups on an 18TB server, but the storage was the pricey bit. Video conversion needs some serious grunt - I use an i7 based system with 16GB RAM, and it still takes 4 hours to rip a BluRay to both iPad and DLNA standard ready for the media players (Internet connected TVs) on a 1000Mbps network. But that's at the other end of the spectrum.

You cn convert video on a decent spec home PC and stream to a device with Windows Media Player installed.

[wilkoturbo]

Wow wow slow down where can I find the info for all of that plus I think to start with just I players will do

[X5Sport]

Look at 'my Computer' and the 'system' properties for most of it. Let us know what you find.

If you want just a streamer player look at Western Digital for options as one choice, or just search for Media Players. They start at less thn £100.

If all you need is the software then have a look here: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/wind ... dia-player Media Player 12

If your system meets the spec, it's a free download.

Typically to make a system faster you need a faster CPU, more memory and for graphics a decent card. As this box looks old there may be an issue with all of these, hence needing what it currently has to play with. The reason I say this is that CPUs have moved on at such a pace that the faster ones may no longer be available that fit your motherboard. RAM speeds have again moved on a long way and older motherboards have max limits that may be too low (I 've just binned one that could only take 512MB which isn't enough today). Also graphics card connection interfaces have changed. Yours might be an AGP type and they are very rare now as PCIe is the standard. You might need a 256/512MB card and that may be more than the PSU can handle. Hence needing to know what your box has.

The model number off the backplate might help track down the specs too.

[wilkoturbo]

[wilkoturbo]

Is that any good ??

[dirtymonkey29]

Seriously lacking in memory, looks like a really old IBM thinkcentre S50. Think maximum memory it will take is 2gb. Memory type is standard DDR. Assuming it is an S50. Is there a small black sticker on the bottom right hand side that says 81??

[wilkoturbo]

No sticker it is a think centre , any good then ???

[dirtymonkey29]

Take a pic of it sitting the right way up (flat) so I can see the slats and the writing under the cd rom

[X5Sport]

That means ft's probably one of these..from around 2004 or so.

http://www.andovercg.com/datasheets/ibm ... esktop.pdf

Not ideally suited to what you need as you may well struggle to get the right memory anymore (we're going to DDR3 now) - and you need a lot more than is installed. The CPU should be Ok, but only just

Graphics are integrated, which means you will need a TV out card for the AGP standard, and they are very rare. I struggled to get just a normal AGP card a year ago for a 2004 Sony, and that now struggles to cope with decoding streamed video to itself and was built for that exact job 8 years ago. How things have changed! I now use it for basic work as HD video just kills it even with 2GB RAM, a 3.4GHz P4 HT, 512MB Graphics Card inside it. HD video using H.264 standard is too much for it and with a 100Mbps network card, it's too slow to stream it anyway.

My honest opinion is don't bother as it will cost you more than the hardware is now worth. Sorry, but it was never built for what you now want it to do. I can't thnk of an easy way to get it up to spec, but if you can get second hand or surplus old cards you might be able to get somewhere. Still thinking about it though.

[dirtymonkey29]

Get a ps3, has most on demand players and you can hire films too, you can play videos off a USB pen drive, has a built in bluray which will also play DVDs CDs, as well as games. You can also stream from your pc or laptop. I have mine connected up to my nas drive so I can play movies music and photos from it

[wilkoturbo]

Same here I've got one in the living room and it's brill how could I make it work on two TVs ?!?!?? Many thanks for trying x5 sport :/)

[X5Sport]

If you want to send the same video signal to two TVs, that's easy....

I'm assuming one up, and one down yes?

Buy a video sender. I bought one from Maplin that sends the signal via radio link simultaneously. We used to do that when the Sky box was downstairs and we wanted to watch it upstairs. Plug onE end between the TV & PS3 in Room one and it send to a receiver connected to the TV in room 2. Can even send the remote control signals the other way too.

Go for a 5GHz version as that avoids interference with your 2.4GHz wifi and microwave cooker (or your neighbours) as both are in the same band. Worked a treat.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/search?criteria=Video+sender

[wilkoturbo]

Wow very nice but the ps3 is hd cable only will this still work ??

Yes one up one down

[X5Sport]

I don't have a PS3 (got an almost unused PS2 for SWMBO but she got motion sick using it! It's in the loft) so I don't know what the connections are, but there are HDMI versions on the video sender.

The SCART version had a connector that had a male/female adapter with a cable coming out of the adapter to the transmitter end so the connector plugged into the source (Sky box) and then the normal SCART cable to the TV plugged into that. Best thing to do would probably be to ring Maplin and tell them what you want to do.

One note of caution is that the range can be affected by the type of construction of your house between the two points, and the angles. Avoid trying to send through brick walls! Floors & ceilings are fine up to about 30 feet, as are stud walls.

One of our old cats worked out were the signal used to come through the floor and would sit at that spot so the picture would break up. We were sure the little varmint was doing it deliberately too! We got quite accurate at throwing soft toys at her to get her to move out the way....