Media Centre - DIY

[maviczap]

Anybody built one?

Thinking about building my own media centre, HD + DVD + Satellite PCi card etc

I've built my own PC's from barebones packages & I like the idea of fixing my own stuff or upgrading components rather than buying a new DVD/HD machine

[L3nny]

I have built a couple but there was always some incompatiability somewhere. I now have a PS3 and Sky+ does everything i want it to do and is easy enough for my Mrs to use.

[Jackie_Black]

I use a PS3 as a front end for mine. I rip all of my dvd's into huge vob files and store them on an old pc running server 2008. Then you get a program called PS3 media server and the ps3 picks up the server no problem. I can now run all of my DVD's from one place using a nice sony remote and it's very slick. The ps3 also has an internet browser and things like BBC on demand. Finally it will play blu rays which are still hard to rip and store (due to their size).

Chances are you will already have a pc lying about that will fit the bill. You will need a gigabit network in the house to stream things cleanly too.

Oh and me lass can operate it too, sorted.

[james160987]

ive built one, HD, sits in my living room under tv, got a good remote which makes it simple to use, about 600 movies on it, some good software called mediaportal that makes the interfact like this, if you want a build spec, let just pm me,

http://www.virtual-hideout.net/reviews/Antec_Veris_Fusion/main.jpg
http://img44.imageshack.us/img44/1544/mp1023tvseries.png


http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/1046/mp1024movingpictureslis.png

[L3nny]

That looks pretty cool (apart from the Mamma Mia bit)

[600+]

I'm looking at one of these at the moment

http://www.digitalera.co.uk/products/Mede8er_MED500X_Network_Media_Player-1299-145.html

unless you wanna browse the net then a Network Media Player will do the same and I believe for less cost

[maviczap]

The one I was looking at on Ebuyer had 3 drive bays, so plenty of storage capacity, plus enough height for full sized PCi cards

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/140118

[boot]

Might be worth nosey at MythTV on Linux, or MythBuntu. You can use one system as a dedicated backend, and access the library and tuner from other systems on your network. Currently trying to get it working with a USB stick I have, but don't have drivers for the stick, so can't comment on reliability and functionality as yet.

[beabert]

I like the antec fusion case

[maviczap]

Got good reviews on the Ebuyer site, which is a good guide sometimes

[-Ralph-]

I just use a normal PC with a couple of 500GB SATA drives. Does everything I want from Internet TV to DVD to viewing my photos and playing my music collection, and it's great only having one central device for everything.

At the moment I live in a rented house and it has a 2.1 speaker system connected and s-video to a 32" CRT.

When I buy a house I'll be getting a big HD flatscreen and a BOSE 5.1 or 7.1 system installed on the walls and I'll connect into those via HDMI and S/PDIF. Doesn't matter then what the quality of the video and soundcards are like as the PC is just outputting pure digital signal as it reads it from DVD, MP3 whatever. The PC has a freeview card, but as this is built into the TV it is only used for scheduled recording of TV to hard disk, or watching TV when you might want to pause it. A wireless keyboard and mouse gives you control from the sofa, and you can sit and surf the org on your 54 inch screen :)

[maviczap]

Lots of helpful advice, thanks

[hongman]

Shameless plug: www.evocomshop.com

But I agree, PS3 + 42" Flat Screen + any cheapy PC with PS3 Media Server + 100Mbps Lan is fine.

You dont need Gigabit to stream HD, unless you have a lot of other stuff going over your network. Wifi is fine for DVD streaming but doesnt cut it for 720+.

On the PS3 there is also a free app which you can download, basically music vids on tap. My very own personal MTV :)

[L3nny]

On the PS3 there is also a free app which you can download, basically music vids on tap. My very own personal MTV :)

Not forgetting youtube.

[Jackie_Black]

Shameless plug: www.evocomshop.com (http://www.evocomshop.com)

But I agree, PS3 + 42" Flat Screen + any cheapy PC with PS3 Media Server + 100Mbps Lan is fine.

You dont need Gigabit to stream HD, unless you have a lot of other stuff going over your network. Wifi is fine for DVD streaming but doesnt cut it for 720+.

On the PS3 there is also a free app which you can download, basically music vids on tap. My very own personal MTV :)

I know I don't need gigabit, but the router was about 50 quid, so i thought why not. transfers to my server are rocket fast too.

[hongman]

Not forgetting youtube.
Aye, but for the purpose of music vids, youtube cant do playlists (or can it?)


I know I don't need gigabit, but the router was about 50 quid, so i thought why not. transfers to my server are rocket fast too.

Yup, just clarifying thats all. Most recent stuff is gigabit anyway.

:)

[maviczap]

I'm going to resurect this thread, just for an update.

Finally got round to building my media centre, although I didn't get the Antec case in the end, as I picked up a case, with mobo + CPU , CPU cooler, 500gb sata HD, 1gb memory & psu for £99

Added 2 x 2Tb hard drives, graphics card,satellite tuner card, another 1gb memory, blu ray DVD drive and a Wifi dongle

All running nicely on Windows 7 at the moment.

All my music & video's have been uploaded, although I've still got a few more of ours and the kids DVD's to rip to the HD

Very impressed with the Media Portal software

I may get the Antec case, as the PSU in my case is a bit noisey, as is the CPU cooler. Everything else will fit, plus there's space for another HD