Media Centres & Players

Kelsey

Lacehim wrote:

I think there is also a WDTV hack that allows it to run XBMC. I haven't checked it out yet. Also all my media runs on cables. I've found wireless to be a bit hit and miss, but that might depend on how big your house is I suppose.

Yeah, most of my bits are cabled as well, except for ATV, which is really close to the router anyway.

Brett_H

I am running the latest fritzbox and a wireless n repeater. I cabled the house with cat5e 10 years ago and am using those connections less and less. The bandwidth of some of the latest domestic hardware is amazing especially given its not at Cisco prices.

Kelsey

I'm on the FritzBox also. It's pretty great, though it's still not ideal with the amount of devices I have running at once, even on N band. I think I'd still wire up my house even so. Are you running any repeaters?

Brett_H

Yep but not the fritz repeater. I use a bog-standard net gear repeater not running WDT.

Kelsey

I've got a spare linksys wrt, might go ahead and flash that to cover the house more effectively and provide some b/g band love for older devices.

derrilex

Ummmm, what ? Geez, I hope I'm not the only one that has no idea what any of you has said ??? :rofl: :rofl:

UNM

Derrilex, it's not hard to understand. Kelseys box is on the fritz and his house needs rewired. He is on the lookout for love from oldies BrettH claims he is not repeating even though he is, but he lives in a bog need any more translations? :rofl: :rofl:

Brett_H

UNM wrote:

Derrilex, it's not hard to understand. Kelseys box is on the fritz and his house needs rewired. He is on the lookout for love from oldies BrettH claims he is not repeating even though he is, but he lives in a bog need any more translations? :rofl: :rofl:

Spot on mate :thumb:

Kelsey wrote:

I've got a spare linksys wrt, might go ahead and flash that to cover the house more effectively and provide some b/g band love for older devices.

Don't bother... I did and for as often as it was used just puts unnecessary extra load on your DHCP. Get an N repeater that's backwards compatible if you must and run it on a separate SSID... They're as cheap as quite expensive but undoubtedly delicious chips.

derrilex

Ahaaa, I get it now. I think you fellas better slip down the chemists' and some IBS meds for the repeating and pick up some cream for that linksey wart on your DHCP (ouch) . Sexpo might be the place to pick up something "'backwards " compatible :rofl:

ash

I'm in the process of planning on a new media centre build, based off an AMD A6 or A8 cpu. Strictly for media - no gaming as I'm not a big gamer. This will be for TV watching/recording and disc based playback and hooked into the home network. I've got a spare copy in Win7 not doing much which I'll use initially, but I'm looking at some of the open source stuff as well. Maybe mythbuntu or another linux based distro. It may be my first adventure into the world of linux! I've got a Thecus N7700 NAS filled with 7x2TB HDD's in RAID 5, which I've managed to half fill, to store all my media files on. Still got to rip another 150 or so DVD's to it, then I'll be reripping my cd's to flac and adding them on. I'm still tossing up whether to replace the 2TB drives with 3TB. By the time I decide on that, no doubt there'll be 4TB ones on the market... or SSD's will get cheap enough to use instead of mechanical.

UNM

Replace with multiple one or two TB drives and go raid. Saves a lot of effort when a drive dies Edit. Forget that, I see you are already raid 5.

derrilex

Just googled RAID. Wish I hadn't. I suspect that all of this gear, like all IT stuff is redundant as soon as its made. So, is there a device, 1 device, in a box, that I can buy off the shelf that does everything - Stores and plays back all forms of media in any format with mind boggling capacity, does games of any kind, lets you record 10 TV channels at once, lets you surf and download from the net, is a fully functioning computer with all the normal desktop stuff, can be used from any room that has a monitor/tv and keyboard etc..., etc.. ? PS, Kelsey, if you have covered it in the most excellent post above I'm sorry.

Kelsey

I believe that variants on the Cost - Time - Quality triangle are everywhere. It's absolutely possible to have a media centre that does everything and might be easy to use, but it won't come cheap. In reality, XBMC is about the closest you're going to get - you could build a custom stand alone machine stick a bunch of drives and a bunch of TB tuners in it and get it to do all that. But the reality is that it'd be a hot, noisy machine that you wouldn't want anywhere near your living room. It's also true that you wouldn't use most of it's capabilities. You'd spend 80% of your effort building the remaining 20% of the features. For most people an AppleTV is good enough. It's cheap, it's easy and does most of what they want. Combine it with an iPad or other tablet and you've got a great general purpose computer for browsing the web, social networking and email as well as a media centre that does a lot of what you want to do.

derrilex

Roll on technology - as long as its gets proportionally easier to use and much cheaper, which I doubt 😃

Kelsey

It totally is tho. I spent $5500 on my first bottom of the line Mac laptop 12 years ago, the horsepower you can now get for a fifth that price is ridiculous. The AppleTV is great value for $129 and the Rasberry PI is just ludicrous at $25. iOS devices are super simple to use and the iPad is cheaper with the new model - and for most general purpose tasks I prefer that to my desktop. If I didn't think I'd need photoshop, I would've used it as my sole work device on a recent Sydney trip. Xbmc can be tricky to setup, but there a projects out there with the aim of making it easier. My media centre cost me about $200 to build three years ago - these days I think I could do it for $75.

derrilex

Fair call Kelsey. It is pretty cheap these days eh. The user freindliness aspect I'm not so sure about though ;D , maybe thats just me. I long for the day when I only have a screen and 1 box of tricks, 1 remote and 1 cable between the two that set up does everything known to man. Its pretty bad when you have to write a 3 page booklet on how to use the TV for the house sitter, or heaven forbid my parents. :rofl:

Brett_H

DX that's an easy one and a cheapie too but will take a little setting up. Get a universal remote that works with MMC or XBMC. I used a Logitech before getting media kb's. I used to have two logitechs, one for me and one for guests. The guest one was a $25 eBay cheapie Thad did 'watch tv,' 'watch DVD' etc. I have children and a life these days so the setup maintenance time for this is not worth the hassle currently.

UNM

I formally throw down the gauntlet

Kelsey wrote:

My media centre cost me about $200 to build three years ago - these days I think I could do it for $75.

Get me a shopping list of what I need and I'll make me a $75 media centre. Has to be currently available items. Is raspberry.pi actually available? Thought it was still limited production and over subscribed. Should be fun. Even though I can't really spare the time, I know I'll learn something.

Kelsey

My apologies UNM, I thought the Pi was available, hence that price point. When it is tho: $54 for vB, delivered to Australia. $15 for a case, delivered to Australia. $5 for a cheap HDML cable A spare USB stick or SD card. Controlled by the XBMC app for iPhone or Android.

derrilex

I tell ya, sometimes its just easier ( and nicer ) to look out the window and watch life.

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