A Home Theater PC (HTPC) or Media Center is your do-it-all home theater device.  Think of it as the center of your home theater – a single device that can play music, play DVDs, stream movies from online services like Netflix, stream TV & videos from Hulu, YouTube and other sites, show off your photo albums, record and playback TV, browse the web, and more.

With a home theater PC, you can enjoy your favorite movies, TV shows, music, and radio without needing a cable box, TV tuner, or radio tuner.   Because a HTPC is usually connected to the internet, you can get access to just about any entertainment choices that you wish.

Some things a HTPC can do are:

  • Stream movies through Netflix
  • Stream TV through Hulu
  • Record and play back TV from cable, satellite, and over the air
  • Play regular DVDs
  • Store your entire DVD library, so you never have to swap discs
  • Play Blu-ray high-definition DVDs
  • Play your music
  • Store your entire CD library
  • Organize your music, including automatically downloads of album covers, and display artist / album / genre info
  • Play music from Pandora, Last.fm, and other online music services
  • Sync your music from your iPod, Zune, or other MP3 player
  • Play radio programs from anywhere in the country or the world.

Typically a HTPC is custom built PC made specifically to connect to your TV and home theater.    They range in size from large boxes that are as big as (or bigger than) a typical home theater receiver, to small mini computers the size of a Mac Mini.

While you certainly don’t need to build your own HTPC – and in fact there are quite a few options for pre-built, all-in-one media centers – building a HTPC is a lot of fun and will provide you with a media center that is both very flexible and customized to you.

If you’re looking to build your own home theater pc, take a look at our monthly hardware recommendations, or read the 10 tips for building your home theater PC.