DCA Computers Home Theatre installation set up and training

One of the most rapidly expanding areas of interest within the PC industry at the present time would have to be the Home Theatre PC (HTPC). This has mainly come about due to the rapid uptake of large widescreen High Definition Television sets. The days of the old Square Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) Television has well and truly passed and most home users are opting for Widescreen Plasma, LCD or LED backlit LCD Television sets capable of displaying a crisp 1920 X 180p resolution . What you now have is pretty much a huge computer monitor which also comes in handy as a TV! 

5.1

What this now means is that you can plug a home computer into your television and use it just like you would sitting at the office, except from the comfort of your lounge chair by virtue of a Wireless Media Centre Keyboard with built in touchpad.

KeyboardSurf the web, send emails, play games, listen to music or watch movies and TV shows. Connect to and share files with other PCs on your home network or stream content directly from a Network Attached Storage device. A HTPC is basically built using the same components that we would find in a standard desktop PC, but there can be many variations, depending upon the exact usage requirements. One of the main differences between a HTPC and a standard desktop PC is the case or chassis. Many  HTPC cases are designed to blend in with existing hifi equipment like amplifiers and tuners and are quite often designed to be of about the same size and “look” such as gloss black or brushed Aluminium. Another modern trend is the use of tiny Small Form Factor (SFF) cases, sometimes of a cube shape, designed to fit on the shelves of existing TV unit furniture.  Another trend in the design of modern HTPCs is towards energy efficiency. Many PC component manufacturers are offering extremely small, low power usage motherboards with specialised low power CPU chips such as Intel’s “Atom” processor. Your entire HTPC can draw as little as 30W of electricity compared to 300W plus for a desktop computer. You would be surprised at the savings to be had on your electricity bill, if, like me, you use your HTPC for 4 hours or more every night.

TV Unit

DCA Computers have researched and built a wide variety of HTPC setups for our customers over the years and are constantly updating our packages to reflect the latest trends and technologies. Click on the links on our front page to view the current range of HTPCs in our line up, but don’t forget – DCA Computers specialise in custom designs and are happy to discuss any configuration of parts you could possibly think of to build your dream HTPC. 

Home Theatre System

DCA Computers  offers a complete Home Theatre PC onsite installation, setup and training service. We will organise one of our highly experienced onsite technicians to install, setup and teach you everything you need to know about getting the most out of your new Multimedia machine.

And if you are not in Sydney don’t worry - we will arrange for one of our certified affiliate installers to come out. Call DCA on 02 9634 2555 to get a quote for your area, anywhere in Australia.

Sydney local charges are the same as our regular onsite service. That is $110 call out fee including the first half hour, then $50 per half hour thereafter.

Setting up a home Theatre PC is usually completed in less than half an hour if you have a modern TV with HDMI inputs such as this:

HDMI

Training may then add to the time on-site.

HDMI carries both full high definition video signal as well as up to 7 channel surround sound.

The Lounge room gaming experience

Gamers often will comment “bigger is better” when it comes to computer monitors. Well when you combine a powerful graphics card with a large high definition TV screen , the gaming experience becomes quite immersive. The modern games being churned out nowadays have
incredible sounds tracks which are reproduced brilliantly on relatively inexpensive home theatre speaker systems. Coupled with a vibrant 42” high definition TV, and you have a level of gaming experience unimaginable just several years ago. When played in a lounge room the gaming experience can become something the whole family can join in on too.

From board games & educational games, to ‘quick & the dead’ shoot em ups, it can really amount to some quality entertainment for a group of people.

The Information Society

Apart from gaming, turning your TV into an Internet capable computer can also provide a highly efficient conduit to your inquisitive side.
On a personal level I find my wife & I regularly switch from TV to Internet (pausing our Fox HQ box) to investigate further, that titillating piece of new information delivered by our favourite TV presenter.

This is possible because the HTPC has a standard wireless adaptor which seamlessly communicates with the wireless router that also lives in our house.

There are no extra controls to manipulate any of this. Once set up, it is a simple matter of using your TV remote control to switch between the HTPC and the TV. Then, when you touch the multimedia keyboard, the HTPC breaks from hibernation to spring to life in a mere second.
Even my 5 y.o. nephew has no problem running this entertainment powerhouse.

Nowadays my HTPC has become a natural extension of my lounge chair and to be quite frank, I don’t think my wife & I could live without it.