Which display and accessories to buy?
Posted: Thu Oct 26, 2006 1:01 pm
I am very new at this. I have been messing around with putting together a HTPC for about 5 months now. I have assembeled a decent HTPC with the following specs (just as a background in case it is relavent):
Case: Antec NSK2400 (color might be hard to match)
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-K8N51PVM9-RH u-ATX
RAM: 1GB Corsair XMS
CPU: Opteron 165 (moved from another system)
Optical Drive: Pioneer DVDRW with Silent Drive
Video Card: Gigabyte 7600GS with Silent Pipe
PVR: Diamond Xtremem PVR USB
So, now that I have it all up and running smoothly, I would like to add an LCD/VFD display to the HTPC. There are no precut holes in the case, so I was thinking of getting a 5 1/4 drive bay adapter. If there is another way to easily cut a nice looking hole for a display, I am open to suggestions. I need a display that will fit in a drive bay adapter that is not too expensive. I do not need the display to measure temps or control fan speeds. I hope there is software to upload that kind of information? I was looking at a 20x2 size display. It appears that the parallel models are cheaper than the USB models, is this the case? Is there a disadvantage to parallel displays? Do any of the MOP parallel displays fit in a single drive bay adapter? Maybe something like this: http://www.matrixorbital.com/product_in ... acter-lcds
or this:
http://www.matrixorbital.com/product_in ... cter-pleds
Those are the parallel models I was looking at. This one here is the one I was really eyeing:
http://www.matrixorbital.com/product_in ... acter-lcds
The Intelligent Displays look at bit out of my price range, so I did not really look much at those. What do you recommend I look at/purchase? Again, I need a simple display that I can program simple HTPC info on that fits in the single 5 1/4" drive bay adpater. I am very eager to get one of these things, so someone please help. Thanks
Case: Antec NSK2400 (color might be hard to match)
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-K8N51PVM9-RH u-ATX
RAM: 1GB Corsair XMS
CPU: Opteron 165 (moved from another system)
Optical Drive: Pioneer DVDRW with Silent Drive
Video Card: Gigabyte 7600GS with Silent Pipe
PVR: Diamond Xtremem PVR USB
So, now that I have it all up and running smoothly, I would like to add an LCD/VFD display to the HTPC. There are no precut holes in the case, so I was thinking of getting a 5 1/4 drive bay adapter. If there is another way to easily cut a nice looking hole for a display, I am open to suggestions. I need a display that will fit in a drive bay adapter that is not too expensive. I do not need the display to measure temps or control fan speeds. I hope there is software to upload that kind of information? I was looking at a 20x2 size display. It appears that the parallel models are cheaper than the USB models, is this the case? Is there a disadvantage to parallel displays? Do any of the MOP parallel displays fit in a single drive bay adapter? Maybe something like this: http://www.matrixorbital.com/product_in ... acter-lcds
or this:
http://www.matrixorbital.com/product_in ... cter-pleds
Those are the parallel models I was looking at. This one here is the one I was really eyeing:
http://www.matrixorbital.com/product_in ... acter-lcds
The Intelligent Displays look at bit out of my price range, so I did not really look much at those. What do you recommend I look at/purchase? Again, I need a simple display that I can program simple HTPC info on that fits in the single 5 1/4" drive bay adpater. I am very eager to get one of these things, so someone please help. Thanks