Advice please on setup

nantony98

Im in the market for a htpc. Something to store films and music on, not record. I was thinking mac mini but its not cheap, dell zino not easy to find or a nettop but i dont know whats good. Any suggestions.

I would like to start to rip dvds and gradually build up a library so maybe in the future add nas.

I have sky hd. Hd tv and a infocus projector but want surround sound for films on the projector. Do i need speakers with optical input for sky or can you get an adaptor for the toslink output on the sky box. There is a big difference in price and cost is an issue.

I looked at streaming video to WD live or apple tv too. There is too much choice. Im confused.

cauliflower69

With regards the HTPC you can build/buy a PC ( small profile ) with dual output if you wish to supply both units with feeds.

Sound wise you'd need an amplifier with optical inputs that would then feed the speakers.

Put XBMC on the unit and your laughing.

BionicRasher

So I have one of these little Nettop PCs and its the biz. http://www.asus.com/Eee/EeeBox_PC/EeeBox_PC_EB1501P/
It comes with a media remote control and wired keyboard and mouse

If you are just looking to store and play back media then this is just the job I think and it will stream to other PCs etc around the house and has the added bonus of being very easy to set up (30 mins will have you up and running)


If you are looking to go a step further later
I have compiled a quick wish list of stuff on Amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/registry/wishlist/3772GDT0YKYVX and you could add storage (2tb drive or the likes) for additional space later. My little wish list here would cost approx €630 and could be set up in an afternoon and gives you 2 Sat feeds and 2 DTT feeds and a wireless keyboard. (TBH I just flung this list together and I am sure with a little more research and shopping about you could get a better deal – also I didn’t really look at the specs of the DVB-S and T dongles to see if they will deffo work)

I currently have the nettop hooked up to main TV and 2 TB attached and it will run a movie on Windows MC or Boxee app no worries. At the same time it will stream another movie to my Xbox in another room and will also stream (via the Orb application) to our Wii in the kids play room. All this is over wireless at the moment but the house is wired and its just a case of getting it hooked up to improve the whole thing.

I do plan to add more RAM and also hook up the 2xDVB-S and 2xDVB-T dongles and get the full immersed Web/DTT/Sat/Media experience on one planner/application such as Windows Media Centre.

With this I should be able to watch RTE 2 HD in the main room while recording BBC HD and recording something on RTE 1 and the wife can watch Grand Designs on E4 on the Xbox and the kids can watch whatever movie they want on the Wii

Happy days nobody in the same room at the same time – this is what the TV generation has become!!

nantony98

So ive looked into this some more and im pretty sure what road im going to take
Mac mini - connect hdmi to projector and thunderbolt to tv
Logitech z-906 speakers- might be overkill???
Cheap usb dvd
A couple of 5m hdmi cables- one for skyhd and one for mac mini
Plex for osx

In the future more external storage.

What do you think?

BionicRasher

Not in to that type of fruity stuff as I think you are pretty much locked in to Apple stuff unless you do some major tinkering so I dont have a view really on the Mac Mini but if I can give my tuppence I think its a bit expensive for a media player

if you are looking at those speakers try this

GSLogitech15

15% off (I got a few web cams recently)

you must use it here however

http://www.logitech.com/en-roeu/home

squonk

I'm using a setup similar to your preferred one OP. It's pricey but it works very well.

I've got a MacMini running Plex. It's excellent and I've no faults with it. Depending on how you want to roll, you will probably end up doing a bit of scripting to get Plex up and running seamlessly.

I've got a QNAP TS-419P that I use as a source drive for all my media. I've got Plex set up to start when the machine boots into the desktop but I needed to write a script to mount the Movie and TV Series shares on the QNAP to make that work. Generally I mount the shares before loading Plex. it's not working 100% effectively as yet as the machine reboots sometimes if the drives don't come up in time but it's a work in progress.

You might also be interested in AirServer if you're going the Apple route. It adds AirPlay functionality to the mini so you can stream music and video from your iPhone if you have one.

The mini is more than capable of handling several transcoding sessions simultaneously along side playback on the main TV so your friends/family with their mobile devices are covered too via the Plex app for iPhone/iPad and there may be one for Android.

There's some good digital TV software available for the Mini too, e.g. Elgato eyeTV. I haven't used that so far so I can't comment but other people seem to be quite happy with them.

the Mini is a very capable computer too so I think you're on a winner really. It also looks very nice in a media setup so, while it might be pricey, it's well worth the money I think.

nantony98

The mac mini is pricey but i have a friend in USA coming home for Christmas. Its = €440 there! So if I talk nice to him he might bring one over for me.

I thought about the apple tv for streaming from the mac to the projector but because ill have to run a HDMI for skyhd i might as well run one for the mac too.