Advice request: Gaming Home Theatre with second TV

Firstly my apologies if this has been done before, i could not find a previous thread.

The idea: Is to run my home theatre through my pc so i can play games and have a second tv in the bedroom with xbox as a media extender

what i'm hoping for is some advice on whether this can be done and if so how?

Basic set up:
Lounge - 46" flat screen (what is the most recommended)
Surround sound (probably 5-1)
HTPC ( no idea what spec, and cannot even find suppliers for the HTPC box)

Bedroom - 36" flat screen (what is the most recommended)
XBox to be configured as media extender from the HTPC

i was hoping to load all my games, movies, music, and photos onto the HTPC and connect to the bedroom via lan, then have access to all this media from both rooms.

the idea is in my head, but the how to's and what is needed to get started, i have no idea.

Sounds like this thread should be in the hardware section. Been a few posts about HTPC's there.

*thread moved*

JudeC said:

Firstly my apologies if this has been done before, i could not find a previous thread.

The idea: Is to run my home theatre through my pc so i can play games and have a second tv in the bedroom with xbox as a media extender

what i'm hoping for is some advice on whether this can be done and if so how?

Basic set up:
Lounge - 46" flat screen (what is the most recommended)
Surround sound (probably 5-1)
HTPC ( no idea what spec, and cannot even find suppliers for the HTPC box)

Bedroom - 36" flat screen (what is the most recommended)
XBox to be configured as media extender from the HTPC

i was hoping to load all my games, movies, music, and photos onto the HTPC and connect to the bedroom via lan, then have access to all this media from both rooms.

the idea is in my head, but the how to's and what is needed to get started, i have no idea.

Click to expand...

Sounds good man.Well i can tell you what i have done and you can tell me if this is more or less what you wanna do. I have basically done it the other way around.

Lounge setup:
- Samsung 51inch 3D FHD
- 4 pairs of 3D glasses
- Sony component Surround AMP (upgrading to Denon)
- Sony Tall Boy Speakers 6.1 (upgrading to Jamo)
- AC Ryan Mini 1 Media Player
- DSTV HD PVR
- D-Link 8port Gigabit switch
- D-Link Wireless N Access Point
- Sony Playstation 3

Bedroom Setup:
- Sony 32inch (upgrading to 40inch) Sony moving to kitchen
- HTPC Dual Core, 9800GT, 2GB RAM, wireless N card

Study:
- Gaming Rig in sig
- Media PC similar to HTPC but a lot more storage. 5TB
- D-Link 16 port Gigabit switch
- 5 Portable HDD.

I have everything hooked up to the lan network and then goes through the wireless access point. So i can access everything on any PC in the network (including 3 PCs and 2 laptops i use for work). I can sit on my bed and remote control my gaming rig in my study. It is very cool cause most of the hardware is in the Study (media storage and pcs). Cant remote control my gaming rig from the media player though. . All that i want now is a slingbox to stream the HD content from the PVR to all the devices. I am running a cable through the roof from PVR to the Bedroom tv at the moment which sucks. Anyone know how the slingbox works?

** oh and i tested the 3D on the TV with Bad Company 2 and it is not that good. Movies are awesome!!!

Sounds Brilliant, also sounds a little out of my price range, but yes that does sound about right, can i ask what software you using on your HTPC, at the moment i'm using media centre, with media browser.

but a big thank you fro the hardware specs, i have made a note and will start pricing the setup from a hardware perspective, any suggestions on retail outlets would also be greatly appreciated, especially for the HTPC as very few retailers seem to carry them

Thanks again fro all your help, the info is fantastic