with the pending 'upgrade' of the living room my ugly old (but fairly quick) PC is beign banished to another room

but we'd still like to be able to browse the internet, stream stuff, watch/listen to dvd's, CD's, mp3's (100gb of mp3's between us and growing all the time...) and loads of other little things that you really need a 'proper' computer for
basicaly a smart tv isn't going cut it (and the price is scary )

I know I could get a laptop and plug it into the telly, but I'm looking for a neater 'built-in' solution (hopefuly a bit cheaper too )


Amongst the old odds n' sods in my scrap PC pile I've got a nice SB X-Fi card with a fornt input/output pannel (old fashoned but still quite good)
so I figured that with a basic MB, higher spec i3/entry level i5, x64 win7 (home edition?), a couple of GB of RAM and ~1TB SATA HDD would about do it - what do you think ?

so unless anyone has any other ideas I'm looking for a nice neat little media centre case / barebone to build from (good s/h is not out of the question) ideally with 2x 5.25" bays - any suggestions ?

and any advice on the best way to set these up ?

cheers
-Robert

(the sooner this is all sorted, the sooner I can get back to building the Dax )

I was looking for the same, and eventually bought an "Apple TV" device, which is basically a wifi box that collects / gives access to all your media and other computers. Its not limited to iTunes either, so can be used to play "Personal electronic copies" of your backed up videos...

Good bit of kit for £100.

I'm running a 37" Panasonic TV which is connected to an Onkyo TX NR414 Av receiver. This is hard wired to the internet. In the back of this are 6 HDTV inputs into which I have plugged, Cable TV, Panasonic VHS/DVD/hard drive player, and a Lenovo Q180 Computer/Blue Ray player (the lenovo Q180 is about the thickness and height of 3 dvd cases and only about an inch and a half deeper) into which I can plug usb hard drives and a web cam.

Get one of these:
WD TV LIVE

I 've had one about a year, awesome bit of kit and very compact, all the same features (and more) as a smart TV.

HTH Dan

you could build a media centre based on a raspberry pi

http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/desktops/how-to-tu rn-your-raspberry-pi-into-an-xbmc-media-centre-50008599/

If you can handle the lack of optical media (although it can be included via USB)...

Raspberry Pi everytime. Silent. Full HD streaming etc etc.

JC

I use a gen 1 apple tv, but with XBMC installed instead of the std apple software. Got this hardwired to my network, and access all my MP3's, movies etc from my NAS drive. Used this set up for 4 years or so now and it's great.

have to admit I never thought about a Raspberry... might have to give it a go for all it'll cost


its been along, long time since I played about with this sort of thing (and I was never any good at it) - so any idiot proof hints/tips/suggestions are welcome

[Edited on 23/1/2013 by mcerd1]

quote:

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Originally posted by wylliezx9r
Get one of these:
WD TV LIVE

I 've had one about a year, awesome bit of kit and very compact, all the same features (and more) as a smart TV.

HTH Dan

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by mds167

quote:

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Originally posted by wylliezx9r
Get one of these:
WD TV LIVE

I 've had one about a year, awesome bit of kit and very compact, all the same features (and more) as a smart TV.

HTH Dan

---

I was looking at the hub version of this - includes a 1TB hard drive. But doesn't have integral wi-fi - needs a dongle.

Have you got the Live hooked up to a NAS?

---

Just before Christmas I bought an Android Smart TV Box for the TV in our new bedroom to watch Netflix, iPlayer, 4OD etc. It is sh*t ! Netflix doesn't work, Blinkbox doesn't work. Youtube doesn't work, ITVPlayer doesn't work, 4OD doesn't work. It is clunky and slow (on Ethernet) and crashes a lot!

It's this one - Cyclone NANO Slim+ Plus Black Android Smart TV Box Internet HD Media Player Hub

The device you've linked to Dan looks good! Do the TV players (Iplayer, 4OD etc ) work?

Thanks

Wyn

quote:

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Originally posted by MikeRJ

I would strongly recommend an ethernet connection for any kind of network media player.

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Got to agree with the XBMC setup. I've got it running on a Raspberry pi and for streaming, its great.
It will even stream video from an iPad / iPod etc a huge bonus for me, saved me £100 for an Apple TV!!

Well you've talked me into it - I've ordered my Raspberry Pi

the last time I looked at the inner workings of a computer in any depth it was an 8 bit CMOS 6502 - so I may need some time to update knowledge!

We watch youtube and iplayer wirelessly on a Nintendo Wii

^^^ my house is a CFZ (console free zone)

the GF can't stand them and I'm not a big fan either - so no Wii, PS3 or X-Box's....

quote:

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Originally posted by mcerd1
Well you've talked me into it - I've ordered my Raspberry Pi

the last time I looked at the inner workings of a computer in any depth it was an 8 bit CMOS 6502 - so I may need some time to update knowledge!

---

Cheap Android Tablet with microHDMI port...

e.g. NatPC X2

quote:

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Originally posted by scudderfish

quote:

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Originally posted by mcerd1
Well you've talked me into it - I've ordered my Raspberry Pi

the last time I looked at the inner workings of a computer in any depth it was an 8 bit CMOS 6502 - so I may need some time to update knowledge!

---

Go here :- http://www.raspbmc.com

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quote:

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Originally posted by TimEllershawI've had a bit of a play with XBMC and a Pi and it was all surprisingly easy.

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If anyone's considering buying a Raspberry Pi then I recommend that you get it from Farnell/Element 14 - Radiospares are getting a reputation for long lead times.

got mine from ModMyPi bundled with a case, came the next day
its an element14 one they supply

when playing MP3's of a USB stick it will play the first track perfectly, but seems to freeze up when it loads the next one ?? anyone had this issue ?

- sorted, updated to the latest version and its seems to be sorted

[Edited on 27/1/2013 by mcerd1]